Mrs Bennet looked at her husband, devastated, “Oh Mr Bennet, are we never to have peace? I am sure the law will find a horrid man who will turn us all out of the house before you are cold in your grave.” She cried dismally.
“Oh, let us not dwell on such gloomy thoughts Mrs Bennet; let us hope thatIwill outlive you all.” Mr Bennet said leaving the room to hide a chuckle.
As sad as the news was about Mr Collins’ passing, Mr Bennet could not bring himself to feel neither regret nor sorrow about it. The ridiculous little man had not made too many friends at Longbourn, when he left in high dudgeon at being denied the hand of Elizabeth in marriage. Soon afterwards, to prove he did not care he had proposed to Charlotte Lucas only two days after being rejected.
No, Mr Bennet did not feel a thing, so as soon as he entered his book room he returned to the novel he had been reading, which he had been enjoying immensely before he had been rudely interrupted.
***
Indeed Charlotte, as Lydia suspected had written a far longer letter to her own family... for according to Maria shehad divulged that Lady Catherine had murdered her husband with poisoned cake. Maria also breathlessly elaborated that her ladyship would most likely hang. But until that wondrous day her ladyship was being kept prisoner in her own bedchamber while Charlotte, Lizzy and Jane enjoyed the luxuries of Rosing's Park.
Lydia and Kitty, now armed with the latest, most delicious gossip quickly made their way into Meryton to relate the shocking news to their Aunt Phillips. When they arrived in the little town, there was a group of officers milling around. The moment they spied the two young ladies they approached them and bowed charmingly.
“Miss Kitty, Miss Lydia,” Wickham said with an overly sweet smile, “We were just now talking about going to Longbourn in search of you.”
“La what a good joke, for we came into town in search of you,” said Lydia laughing loudly.
“Well, since nothing interesting ever happens in Meryton we were hoping the two of you would entertain us.” Wickham said and winked at the two young ladies suggestively. The two teens laughed and did not even blush.
“We would be delighted,” Kitty answered enthusiastically, unaware of the man’s lewd suggestions and intentions.
“But we have wonderful gossip to share first.” Lydia stated grabbing the attention back to herself.
“Oh yes please, for we are starved of news.” Capitan Denny also winked, not wanting to leave Wickham to do all the seducing alone.
Kitty nodded at Lydia to start the tale, and she would fill in the gaps when needed.
“Well,” Lydia started, “We have just come from Lucas Lodge where Maria informed us that Charlotte is now a widow.” Andshe launched into the long story about how Mr Collins had died, with intrigues, seductions, poison cakes, witchcraft, mad ladies and revengeful servants, culminating with Lady Catherine being tarred and feathered and then hanged in the public square.
While the other officers laughed and made thinly-veiled ribald jokes about the tale, Wickham scratched his chin and remained thoughtful. He asked several questions but since the answers became increasingly more ridiculous he assumed the girls knew very little. When they decided to finally go to Mrs Phillips' to share the news, Wickham excused himself under the pretext of urgent business and left in a hurry.
Chapter 17
The mood at Rosings Park was definitely sombre. With Lady Catherine locked up in her room the house was quieter and saner but not completely peaceful.
One positive thing was the improvement of Charlotte’s health. The day after the tragic event she perked up enough to get out of bed and take a few steps in her room. This process increased with each passing day. As the week wore on she improved by leaps and bounds, every day going a little further inside the house. Soon Dr Denville proclaimed her strong enough to venture outside to take short walks in the garden and enjoy the sun shine.
Dr Denville, having fulfilled his obligations with his patient returned to London, leaving strict instructions for Charlotte to follow regarding her diet and daily exercise, leaving Elizabeth in charge of looking after the mother-to-be.
Elizabeth took her responsibility seriously and made it obligatory for Charlotte to join her on a stroll in the garden every day. They often chose the rose garden, which was at that time of the year a spring riot of colours, with a bright maze that had plenty of tall shrubberies around it, making it perfectly warm and sheltered from the cold northerly wind.
One brilliant afternoon the two ladies were enjoying a quiet walk when they heard angry voices behind the shrubbery. Onevoice was unmistakably Miss de Bourgh’s, the other was, to Elizabeth’s great surprise, Mr Wickham’s.
Elizabeth touched her lips asking Charlotte to remain silent so they could hear the altercation.
“There is no need to get high and mighty with me Miss de Bourgh for I intend to get my way with you. I will get you with child if I have to. But compromise you thoroughly I will, if you refuse to accept my hand in marriage.”
“Mr Wickham I have no idea what precipitated this absurd notion in you that I would agree to marry you... a mere servant.”
“I am not a servant; I am an officer of His Majesty’s Army serving in the Militia.” They heard his angry retort.
Anne actually laughed. “Mr Wickham the day that you do something as selfless as to actually serve in a real army is the day that Hades freezes over. That day I might even agree to marry you.”
“Miss de Bourgh I am getting tired of this conversation. I mean to marry you, so how do you propose to save yourself from me? Your mother is a mad woman who goes around killing innocent clergymen and will most likely hang in a few days.”
At that moment Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam joined Elizabeth and Charlotte who were rooted to the spot looking pale and slightly off balance. The ladies indicated for them to remain quiet and pointed to the other side of the hedge. They all stood stunned, silently listening.
Colonel Fitzwilliam seemed ready to go around the hedge and simply kill Wickham forthwith, but Darcy held his arm firmly keeping him rooted while Wickham revealed in full his wicked plans and more importantly, his character.
