“What of that sycophantic simpleton of a cousin of mine? Who notifies him? The court?” Bennet enquired.
“That is one of our duties. We need to inform him as soon as possible once you are in receipt of the deed,” Phillips stated. “Given how he has ignored letters from the court to date, at great cost to himself, I will do what the bailiff did. A man will be sent to deliver the documents, but this time we will want Mr Collins’s signature on the page proving delivery.”
“Would he have prevailed had he defended against the suit?” Bennet probed.
“No, I do not believe so. However, he may have succeeded in dragging out the process for up to a year, and in a worsecase, indefinitely,” the barrister interjected. “Since he did not present himself, it is now too late for him to do so.”
After thanking the barrister and providing him with the agreed upon gratuity, which he slipped into the special pocket in the man’s robes, Bennet joined his brothers in Gardiner’s coach. He decided he would make for home on the morrow after a visit to Hatchard’s. He still loved the store, but he would not be looking for rare and expensive books. Bennet would always be a bibliophile, but no longer at the expense of his family’s security and wellbeing.
Chapter 32
Collins had been nervous as the date of the illegal court case had come and gone, but here he was, a sennight past the date and not a word. He had just begun to relax when his housekeeper informed him a messenger was asking to see the master of the house.
“Just take a message, why would I want to see one as low as a courier, or some such,” Collins responded pompously.
“Master, the man said it is to do with the estate of Longbourn,” the housekeeper elucidated. “He said that only you would do, Mr Collins, he could not trust his message to anyone less.”
“Why are you wasting time?” Collins bellowed. “Show him into my study right now.”
Although Collins was disappointed the man was not cowed being in the presence of not only an exulted vicar like himself, but also one who was connected to the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh, his eyes fixed on the thick packet of papers the underling was holding in his hands.
“You be Mr William Wilberforce Collins, son of Clem Collins of Bartonville in Wiltshire?” the man asked.
“I am,” Collins returned as he puffed up with pride.
“Please sign this ‘ere paper attesting you received wat I am givin’ ya.” The courier proffered the clergyman a document which stated he had received the pouch of documents the man had placed before him on his desk. Thinking it was notice from the court affirming what his patroness demanded, Collins’s signature was affixed above his printed name. The courier andhis housekeeper signed as witnesses.
Collins waved them away with great expectation of reading about how his cousin had been humiliated. Now that was done, he would beg Lady Catherine to expel the Bennets from his land as soon as may be.
There was a flap to the pouch containing the documents which was held in place by a large seal. Collins took up his penknife and broke the seal. Once the flap was open, he was able to extract a sheath of documents. On the top was a letter in a hand he did not recognise. Collins began to read.
19 January 1811
Mr Collins,
My name is Frank Phillips, and I am Mr Bennet’s local solicitor. It is my duty to inform you that due to your not being present in the Court of Chancery, the land matters division, on the 14th day of January 1811, at the prescribed time of 10 o’clock in the morning, the Lord Judges ruled against you in absentia.
Rather than defend your claim, you had one Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a lady both unknown to any of their Lordships and without standing in this matter, write a laughable letter berating the authority of the court and the Lord Judges.
Per the Rules of Procedure, not appearing on your own behalf indicated your agreement with Mr Bennet’s suit. As such you have been irrevocably removed from the line of succession. Enclosed with the documents are copies of the Order of the Court and the new deed naming Thomas Henry Bennet as the owner. Due to the irrevocable ruling against you in this case, he may leave the estate to whomever he chooses.
At this point I must inform you that my client has instituted a new entail. Only a direct descendant of his, male or female, can ever own Longbourn after him. Therefore, Mr Collins, if you try to unlawfully remove Mr Bennet, under the new entail neither you nor anyone in your line will ever be the heir to the Bennets’ estate.
If you or your patroness take it in your heads to attempt to impose yourselves on Longbourn’s land, youwillbe arrested and prosecuted for trespassing.
F Phillips
In a stupor, trying to convince himself that the letter was not factual, Collins looked through the rest of the documents. From the judgment of the court to the new entail document, everything this Mr Phillips had written to him was listed in black ink on the white paper before him.
This could not be! His patroness had assured him none of this would occur. He was about to leave his house to go throw himself on his patroness’s mercy, so she would make everything right, when the doorbell was rung. Being in such a state, Collins did not wait for his housekeeper, but rather wrenched the door open himself. Before him stood a man dressed in the garb of a clergyman like he himself was.
“I do not have time to confer with a fellow man of the cloth, it is imperative that I go see my patroness,” Collins blustered as he practically pushed the other man out of his way.
“I assume you refer to Lady Catherine de Bourgh?” the unknown member of the clergy verified.
Given how great she was, Collins would not have been surprised if every member of the clergy, from the Archbishop of Canterbury on down knew who his patroness was. Collins puffed his chest up with pride at being able to confirm the other man’s speculation. “That is correct.”
“In that case, allow me to offer you a ride in my carriage. I need to speak to both of you as I have a message from the bishop of Kent. I am Reverend Jacob Whitlow, the Right Reverend Grace, the Bishop of Kent’s assistant,” Whitlow stated.
