Even though the corpulent man did not ever think about anything, he seemed at that moment deep in contemplation.
“I agree, it would not do to trifle with my time. What do you suggest?”
“The assembly is a very public place; simply compromise her. That way you will save yourself from having to wait for her to play the silly game.”
“As her father, you are giving me permission to do so?” Collins verified.
“Indeed, I am,” Bennet confirmed. He may have failed to gain a document to discompose Fanny, but in this, he would not fail. Lizzy would learn there was a very high price to her crossing him.
All Hill could do was shake his head. He could not believe that a father would plot against his daughter in this fashion. He retired to the small office he and his wife shared and dashed off an epistle. When it was sanded and dried, he handed it to a trusted groom to have him deliver it to the dower house at Netherfield Park.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Even though we suspected that Mr Bennet would plan something this disgusting, to read the confirmation of his plans nevertheless shakes me to my core. How could he think this way, all in the name of entertainment?” Elizabeth lamented.
“I have told you how selfish I believe Thomas is, have I not?” Henry verified.
“Yes, Uncle Henry, you have on multiple occasions. What point do you make?” Elizabeth queried.
“Just that in his world, only self-gratification is important. It seems that everything he has ever done has been to please himself without thoughts of the consequences for others,” Henry explained. “The only reason he signed thevarious agreements with me over the years was due to his belief that he was the one who would benefit most from them. As such, anything he does to please himself has to be right.” Henry paused as he cogitated. “There is one more possibility for the reason he is determined to see you married to that buffoon.”
“What is that?” Elizabeth enquired.
“Revenge,” Henry responded succinctly.
“Revenge? I have done nothing to him,” Elizabeth claimed, and then she thought hard. “I supported Mama against him. He was trying to make her upset, and I backed her up, and not him.”
“Exactly correct,” Henry agreed. “I would wager that he feels betrayed by you. In his mind, he singled you out for his attention, and then you stabbed him in the back when you foiled his attempt to amuse himself at Fanny’s expense.”
“I never thought him so very petty and vindictive,” Fanny claimed. “From what the Hills have written, his bad moods have only intensified while he is being subjected to Mr Collins, rather than me and my girls having to suffer that man. He is not the same man I married, or even as he was a year or so ago.”
“Lord and Lady Matlock, Viscount Hilldale, and Miss de Bourgh will be with us at the assembly, correct?” Elizabeth checked.
“They will be, as well as some special guests that I amsurethis Collins man will be overjoyed to see. On a different subject, what have you heard about the talk of Collins’s character and my Bennet nephew’s behaviour?” Henry questioned.
“Very effective,” Jane spoke up. “Aunt Hattie has done an excellent job of spreading the news. It has been embellished, but we knew it would be so.”
“It was perfect to have Hattie think she had overheardsome juicy gossip. Her feeling of guilt at revealing our presence at the assembly has driven her to spread this news far and wide,” Fanny added.
“What think you of the report regarding the Bingleys and Hursts from the Nichols?” Elizabeth asked to change the subject from Mr Bennet.
“Much as we expected. Mr Bingley is led about by the nose by his younger sister. She rules the roost, while the Hursts seem to tolerate Miss Bingley’s behaviour for convenience’s sake,” Henry stated. “According to what you read, there is one more to arrive on the morrow, is there not?”
“Yes, Mr Darcy, Anna’s brother,” Elizabeth agreed.
“I am so looking forward to Anna arriving on the morrow,” Kitty enthused. “It will be most enjoyable that she will be here with me while all of you are at the assembly.”
“Do not forget her companion, and Mrs Bellamy will also be here with you,” Felicity pointed out.
There was a knock on the door, and the two who had taken a ride to get away from the Bingleys were admitted.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Charlotte, you will not believe the wild story Hattie Phillips spun about Mr Bennet’s guest, some clergyman, and how Mr Bennet is attempting to hurt his family,” Lady Lucas stated when her eldest daughter entered the sitting room at Lucas Lodge.
“What is it she said, Mama?” Charlotte asked calmly. It was time to do her part.
Lady Lucas relayed what she termed thefantastical taletold to her by Hattie Phillips before that lady rushed off to visit more families, beginning with Haye Park and the Gouldings.
