About a year previously, they had received a letter full of bitterness and rancour announcing the death of Clem Collins. The son had not told how his father had died.
“Given the grasping nature of the Collinses, I cannot but agree with you my love,” Bennet responded.
“How does Mrs Phillips?” Becca asked as she changed the subject.
“Charlotte is very well, thank you, Mrs Bennet. She is a little uncomfortable as she increases, but she only has about two months to go,” Phillips replied. “She greatly appreciates the calls from her Bennet friends. Miss Bennet seems to be sanguine with her suitor travelling on his long voyage to the east.”
Andrew Fitzwilliam had been sent to India to oversee some of the Fitzwilliam holdings, and he would more than likely be gone for upwards of a year, and possibly two. It was the reason he had not proposed to Jane; he felt it would have been selfish. They had made solemn vows they would wait for one another.
“Janey is a very sensible girl, and she knows that wailing and gnashing her teeth will not bring Andrew back to her any sooner. We have permitted them to write to one another, even though they are not engaged yet, but with letters taking many months, above a half a year, it is a long wait from one letter to the next,” Becca related.
Soon after, Phillips made his way back to his office and sent a copy of the signed and witnessed documents to the barrister in London.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As Phillips predicted, the new deed naming Thomas Bennet the owner, and not the lifetime tenant, of Longbourn arrived a few days short of a fortnight from the signing. Thankfully, there were several official copies of the decision.
Bennet wrote the letter he needed to notify the remaining Collins that he would never be in line to inherit Longbourn.
The reply was received about ten days after Easter. Bennet had Hill request that the mistress join him. “I received this from Mr Collins.” Bennet held up the missive. “It just arrived. I thought you would enjoy some of his pearls of wisdom, such as they are.”
“Thank you, Thomas. Lizzy is not the only one who enjoys laughing at the ridiculous.”
Bennet came around his desk, and the couple, whose love still grew each and every day, sat on the settee under the windows. With Becca’s head resting on his shoulder, Bennet broke the seal and held the letter so they could both read it.
10 April 1809
12 Sparrow Lane
Petersford, Worcestershire
Mr Bennet,
What kind of man are you to steal my birthright from me without conscience?
I received the scurrilous decision from the court when I arrived home for the Easter break. I would not allow myself to reply until after the holiday. Let us not pretend that you do not know you cheated me out of what should rightfully be mine. More than that, a property which should have belonged to a Collins all along!
How dare you institute a new entail stating that only those of your body may inherit the estate, male or female? That you would allow a delicate female to inherit the estate, demonstrates your unfitness to administer my rightful property. It is widely known that females do not have the mental power close to that of a male, and therefore are unable to be landowners.
If I had the money to challenge this unjust miscarriage of justice, I would do so. My misfortune is that I live on a small stipend while I am studying at a seminary in Kent. As a future clergyman, once I take my orders, I will beg the Archbishop of Canterbury to intercede on my behalf and have you evicted from my property.
I take no leave of you; I send neither you nor your family any compliments. I am most seriously displeased.
William Collins
“Is being delusional in the makeup of all Collinses?” Becca asked as she shook her head. “Do you think he has the capacity to understand everything if you told him how and why the entail was instituted?”
“No, Becca, my darling wife, I do not think he would understand it. The Collinses have proved over and over again that there are none so blind as those who will not see,” Bennet mused. “This Mr Collins seems no better than his sire, although I know not if he is a bully like the late Clem Collins.”
“He complains about the new entail, but all it did was fix a glaring error that was made in the original one,” Becca asserted.
“You are correct, my dearest,” Bennet agreed. “It was indeed a miscalculation by my great-grandfather that descendants of the banished man who caused the entail, were not specifically excluded from the line of succession. With the new one, that has been set to rights.”
“Thomas, I can see now that replying to the drivel in his letter would be like casting pearls before the swine, so I am in agreement with you. There is nothing to be gained by responding to him. Come, my love, let us return to more pleasant thoughts and the drawing room.”
After expressing their deep and abiding love for each other with their lips, the master and mistress of Longbourn made their way to where their family was sitting.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
