“I know you do not want to be separated from Andrew, Jane dear, but he will need to wait in the adjoining room with the rest of the family and our very special guest,” Becca stated contritely. As much as she and everyone else would have preferred that Jane’s and Andrew’s presence was not needed and that they could have been on the way to their weddingtrip destination—Campton Place in Eastbourne, one of the many Devonshire dukedom houses—everyone needed to be present when they applied the death knell to Mr Collins’s delusions.
Jane was holding her husband’s hand and was loath to relinquish it, but she did anyway. Today was the first time she and Andrew had left their suite at Netherfield Park since arriving there after the wedding. They would spend the night at that estate tonight and depart for Eastbourne on the morrow. They had planned a leisurely journey of two days.
“It will not be long before I am back with you,” Andrew assured his beloved. He kissed her hand before he followed the rest of the family members present into the parlour. As he was the last one to enter, Andrew pushed the door until there remained a three-inch gap.
Richard slapped him on the back. “You will survive without Jane at your side for a short time,” he jested with his brother.
“I suggest you two do not prattle on like schoolgirls,” Devonshire gave his nephews a look of mock censure. “After all, we want to be able to hear what is being said in the drawing room.”
Darcy understood Andrew’s feeling at being separated from his wife. It was not the same thing, but whenever he was not in Elizabeth’s company, he felt like a piece of him was missing. In the time he had resided at Longbourn, he knew that he was tumbling over the precipice of irrevocable love. He did not yet know how Elizabeth felt about him, but time was one thing he had.
Those within the adjoining parlour became still as they heard Hill’s voice announcing Mr William Collins.
Collins bowed to those within the drawing room. It was only when he came erect that he saw the four younger ladies standing before him. They were all beauties, each one more so than the next. His eyes locked onto the tall, willowy blonde. She was the one who he would honour with his hand in marriage. She was exquisitely beautiful. Even his late father would not have been able to find fault with his choice.
Jane wanted to go slap the man who was leering at her, a married woman! She controlled that particular desire by reminding herself that he did not know she was married and had not taken the time to look at the rings on her left hand. It did not change the fact he was evaluating her as one does a side of beef at the butcher’s shop.
“Mr Collins, rather than stare at my daughter, allow me to introduce my wife and children to you,” Bennet said sharply.
Hearing his cousin speak snapped Collins out of his lust fuelled lassitude. “It will be my pleasure…” He stopped speaking when he finally noted the two younger men in the drawing room. “This is an outrage that you would attempt to have me meet your lowborn changelings!”
“Biggs! Johns! Please join us,” Henry called out.
He heard the door behind him open and in walked not just the one huge man he saw when he arrived, but a second who was just as intimidating as the other. Collins tried to stop his knees knocking together, but his fear of the two giant men would not allow him to cease the involuntary reaction.
“Now, you will be silent until I have named my family,” Bennet commanded, and Collins nodded. “My wife, Rebecca, and mychildrenfrom eldest to youngest. Jane, Henry, Elizabeth, Mary, Tommy, and Elaine.” Each one gave a shallow curtsy or bow when they were named.
Seeing permission from his cousin to speak, but fully cognisant of the enormous men either side of him, Collins gulped and then cleared his throat. “My patroness assured me that the documents about the end of the entail were forgeries, so why would you have these changelings here today? The jest is overdone now; there is no reason for their continued presence.”
“Mr Collins, are you able to see or are you completely blind?” Becca demanded.
“Yes, of course I am able to see, Mrs Bennet,” Collins replied indignantly. He had forgotten about the two men for an instant but remembered when one of them growled.
“Watch ‘ow you talk to the mistress,” Biggs hissed near the parson’s ear.
“Thank you, John. I do not believe that my husband’s cousin will forget himself again.” Becca turned back toward the clergyman, who was shaking with fear all over again. “If you are, in fact, not blind, then I suggest you look at my husband and our eldestson, Henry. Unless you are desirous of lying to yourself, please tell me how achangelingcan look like a younger version of his father?”
As much as he did not want it to be so, Collins had to admit the two looked like father and son. “His eyes are not the same as my cousin’s,” he asserted, grasping at any straw he could to attempt to disprove the facts before him.
“No, they are not; they are the colour of my own eyes. You do realise that children inherit certain characteristics from both parents, do you not?” Becca inclined her head to Tommy. “For instance, Tommy here is a mixture of my Thomas and me, and looks very much like my brother. Then we have Lizzy,” Becca smiled at her second daughter, “who looks just like me except that she has her Bennet grandmother’s eye and hair colour.”
“I must believe my patroness because she is a peer of the realm.” Collins did not want to admit it to himself, but he could see the two young men were sons. He could breathe easier, thanks to the two huge men having moved from his side.
“Lady Catherine is not a peer of anything; she is in fact a commoner with a courtesy title.” Becca paused. “Are you telling me you accepted everything she told you and did not take the documents she claimed forgeries to a local solicitor to review for you?”
“I did! Of course, I did not question her!” Collins exclaimed. “She is always right.”
“Tell me, Mr Collins, what were these amends you intended?” Bennet asked seemingly for no reason.
“I am to marry Cousin Jane, so that your widow and daughters will still have a home when you soon go to your final reward. My cousin will be elevated by my offering for her, as a clergyman, I am above all of you,” Collins claimed as he puffed out his chest with pride.
“Even were I not already married; do you imagine I would ever marry one such as you?” Jane stated vehemently.
“You cannot be married! As the heir, you need my permission! I will have your so-called marriage dissolved! You will be my wife,” Collins blustered. He shut his mouth as soon as he felt a huge hand on each of his shoulders. The fear caused beads of cold sweat to begin to drip off him.
“I was remiss when I made the introductions, as it seems I omitted some names andtitles,” Bennet drawled. “My wife’s corrected name is Lady RebeccaCavendishBennet, and my eldest daughter’s name is Jane Fitzwilliam, Viscountess Hilldale. Unlike your know-it-all patroness, my wife is the daughter of a duke.”
“Nooo! This cannot be so,” Collins wailed. “You are lying to me to try and cause me to recede and allow you to steal my birthright.”
