All my wife’s personal belongings and the items which she brought into our marriage or which she since has bought with her own money are hers to remove. In addition, I leave to her my mother’s jewellery which is not part of the entail as well all monies in my personal account.
My own personal belongings I leave as follows:
As per the attached lists itemising my possessions, I leave my books to my daughter Elizabeth, the contents of my wine cellar I leave to my daughter Jane, the memorabilia to my daughter Mary, the artwork to my daughter Catherine and my personal horses and their tack to my daughter Lydia. My clothes may be given to the poor.
There were various small bequests to friends and servants.
When he finished reading, Phillips looked up and asked, ’Are there any questions?’
‘I would like to see those lists,’ demanded Collins. ‘How do I know that Bennet is not giving away things which are rightfully mine.’
‘Because those list have been notarised by the magistrate as being an accurate account of items not included in the entail.’
Being denied, Collins huffed, ‘Very well, you all may have until nightfall to remove those items. Anything still there at sundown, will become my property.’ He turned to the widow. ‘That includes you and your possessions, Mrs Bennet.’
That statement earned him disgusted looks by all the men in the room, but Phillips only said, ‘I have arranged for the carriage to take you to Longbourn.’
~T~
As soon as Collins exited the carriage, it took off again, leaving him standing in front of the door.
He waited a moment, expecting the housekeeper or the butler to rush to open the door for him. As this did not happen, he pounded on the door, determined to fire the wretches.
When that still did not produce any results, he tried the door which opened easily to his touch, allowing him to enter.
Collins looked around and found everything clean, neat, and tidy, but there was no sound and the house felt deserted. As he checked out one room after another, he found that everything was in order, but no fires were lit, and the house was completely empty of occupants.
When he entered the study, Collins saw that virtually all the books were missing from the shelves, and he realised what had been nagging at him since he entered the silent home. There was no artwork, there were no personal belongings, there was nothing to indicate that anyone was living here.
Absolutely everything which had belonged to the previous owners was gone.
But there was one object which was out of place. An envelope was propped up on the desk… addressed to him.
The letter read
Cousin Collins
You will find everything to which you are entitled in perfect order.
Everything to which you are not entitled by the entail is gone. That includes my family and the servants. The horses are in the paddock to ensure they have browse and water.
I wish you joy with your new possession.
Thomas Bennet
Collins stared in horror at the note and collapsed into the chair behind the desk.
Was it his imagination or did he hear sardonic laughter?
~T~
Within six months, Collins realised that he was incapable of managing Longbourn. Not only were his neighbours unhelpful and showed him not the slightest deference as the master of the second largest estate in the neighbourhood, he also had trouble getting staff.
In contrast, Netherfield under the rule of Mrs Bennet was thriving, which irritated Collins even more, as he had expected to lord it over the woman who had denied him his rightful bride.
When Phillips approached him with an offer from an anonymous client, Collins was only too happy to sell the estate as the entail had ended with him. Afterwards, he was never heard of again as he had resigned his living at Hunsford upon inheriting Longbourn.
The Gardiners were delighted to have an estate so close to London, allowing Gardiner to manage his business interests and giving his family an easy opportunity to spend time in the country.
