Mrs. Bennet blinked. “Mary?”
Mr. Collins bowed with great dignity. “My request was very intentionally addressed to Miss Mary.”
Mary rose slowly, her colour heightened but her composure admirable. She looked first at Jane, then Elizabeth. “Very well, sir.”
They withdrew together to the small parlour.
The door had scarcely closed behind them before Mrs. Bennet turned toward Elizabeth in complete bewilderment.
“Well!”
Elizabeth could not suppress a smile. “For once, Mama,” she said quietly, “I believe Mr. Collins knows precisely what he is doing.” Then she added more thoughtfully, “I hope Mary does, too.”
And, though the house had only moments before been full of disappointment, Elizabeth suspected that before long it might contain something very different.
The door of the small parlour remained closed for some minutes.
Mrs. Bennet, who had attempted several times to resume her lamentations over Miss Bingley’s letter, found her attention continually returning to that door. “Well!” she said at last. “What can they possibly have to say to each other for so long?”
Elizabeth did not answer. She suspected very well what might be occurring, though she could not yet determine how the matter would conclude.
At length, the door opened. Mary re-entered the drawing room. Her countenance was flushed, but there was in her expression a composure – even a quiet satisfaction – which Elizabeth had rarely observed in her before.
Mr. Collins did not follow. Instead, he crossed the hall with an air of solemn determination and was seen disappearing toward Mr. Bennet’s library.
Mrs. Bennet stared. “Mary,” she said at once, “what has Mr. Collins been saying to you?”
Mary seated herself before replying. “Mr. Collins has done me the honour of expressing a very serious attachment.”
The announcement produced instant astonishment.
“An attachment!” cried Lydia.
“To you?” added Kitty.
Mrs. Bennet blinked several times. “Well!”
Mary continued with calm dignity. “He has requested that I accept his hand in marriage.”
Elizabeth could not help smiling. “And what answer did you give him?”
Mary lowered her eyes slightly. “I accepted.”
For a moment, Mrs. Bennet seemed entirely unable to speak. Then she exclaimed, “Well! I never heard anything so extraordinary in my life! Oh, we are saved!” She stood and hugged her daughter.
Lydia burst into laughter. “Mary engaged!”
Kitty stared in undisguised amazement.
Jane, however, rose at once and embraced her sister warmly. “My dear Mary, I wish you every happiness.”
Mary received the congratulations with evident satisfaction.
Elizabeth watched her thoughtfully. If Mr. Collins had sought a wife whose mind was inclined toward reflection and improvement, he could scarcely have made a more suitable choice. She was already half inclined to believe that Mary, in time, might manage him more than anyone yet suspected.
At that moment, the door of Mr. Bennet’s library opened, and Mr. Collins emerged with an air of the deepest self-importance. He bowed to the company with great solemnity. “My dearcousins, I have had the honour of informing Mr. Bennet of the happy engagement which has just been concluded.”
Mrs. Bennet was still recovering from her astonishment. “Well!” she repeated faintly.
