Once the other man confirmed that it was as it should be, while the men looked away, the curate added his own note. He folded and sealed the epistle, added the direction, and handed it to the brute. Collins was intelligent enough to know that if he wanted to make sure the letter was posted, he had to do so himself.
When the reply breaking all connection between the Bennets and Collinses was received, once it was read to him, Collins went home and told his wife and son how he had broken with the Bennets.
Not long after learning that the one Bennet who remained between him and Longbourn had married, Collins travelled to Meryton. He had enough money to stay at the local inn for a night or two. He was sure that would be enough time for him to find someone to do his bidding.
He found a serving wench at the Red Lion Inn who would send him a letter each time a Bennet was born with information on the sex of the child. He did not think they would have so many, but he paid her for him to be notified for up to four children. At the time, he intended to send her moremoney if the Bennets had a fourth child.
Collins did not waste time praying, but he did pray there would never be a son and heir to supplant himself as the heir.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Whenever Collins was frustrated or angry, he took it out on his wife and son. Although she was not a large woman, Ophelia Collins attempted to shield her son from the worst of her husband’s abuses. At times, she was more successful than others. In order to comfort her son, she took to feeding William whenever he was upset. She could not know that as her son associated food with comfort and a mother’s love, in later years, it would lead to her son being extremely obese.
When William was six, Ophelia Collins began to teach her son to read and write. At first, Collins did not notice William was being educated, but when his son was ten, he saw him reading and beat him for hiding it from him: then, Collins beat his wife for teaching William behind his back.
At first, Collins was not at all happy that his son had learnt something as useless as sums, reading, and writing. He changed his tune when he discovered that William was able to read and write letters for him, and he no longer needed to make his way to the church to know what was contained in the missives.
After being hit hard, the first time William questioned why some lady in Meryton was writing to his father, he never questioned his sire again. When his father ranted about how the Bennets stole his birthright, William drank it in, and like those who had come before William, it became absolute truth to him. He liked the idea that they would be part of the landed gentry one day.
Thanks to her husband’s frequent beatings, Ophelia was never able to carry another child to term, so all of her love wasdirected at William, and with it, even more food.
By the time William was thirteen, he was already corpulent. It was at this time that Ophelia’s life force was beginning to fade. Infections from the last time her husband had hit her were ending her time in the mortal world. One evening when her husband was at the local tavern downing his sorrows, she summoned her son to her bedside.
“William, you know I love you as much as any mother could love a son, do you not?” She managed.
“Yes, Mama, I do. But why are you speaking like you are leaving me?”
“Because, my son, I will soon be with God. I am sick, and soon, I will no longer feel pain. I need you to make me a promise.”
“Anything for you, Mama.” William did not want to believe she was to die.
“You know Mr Fergus Davidson, the man who is now rector at St Peter’s in Faversham?” She watched her son nod. “When he last called on me, he agreed to tutor you. I want you to go to him every day for a few hours and allow him to prepare you so you may go to school.”
“But, Father says we have no money because the Bennets…” William stopped speaking when his mother placed a finger on his lips.
“William, there is money in the funds, it is what provides the interest we live on each quarter.” She did not tell her son that as his father was the fourth generation of Collins men, he had sold off almost all of their land to pay gambling debts, only leaving the house and a small garden. Thankfully she knew the money in the funds was safe because her husband believed he could not touch it. His not being able to read worked to their advantage in this case because he wasignorant of the true state of affairs. Since William had been born, the money became his and could only be accessed by her son. Her husband was unaware William was allowed to withdraw principal from the seven thousand pounds which remained in the fund. He was also unaware that when he had inherited the money from his own father the restrictions regarding the principal had lapsed. “I want you to use it to study when Mr Davidson thinks you are ready. Swear that you will not allow your father to stop you from studying. If he objects to the cost, he will be told that the church is paying for your education.”
As he respected his mother as the ultimate authority, William could not but agree and vowed it would be as she wanted.
Once she had William’s word, Ophelia felt like she could let go. When she stopped breathing some minutes later, she had a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Had there been any land left to farm, Collins would have made sure his growing son—who was getting taller and wider—would have been put to work in the fields. He would not have done the work himself unless he had to do so, but that was moot thanks to his selling off all of the fields. As there was nothing to farm any longer, he cared not what his son did unless the boy got in his way, and if he did, a good cuff to his head sent him scurrying away.
Having used up all of the funds from the sale of his land at the tables at the gambling hell in the town, except for the Sabbath when it was closed, Collins was left to seek his entertainment in the local tavern, which meant he was in his cups by about midday each day. He, like Collinses before him, had learnt the lesson not to borrow money they could not pay back. The death of the first William Collins for failure torepay his debts had left an indelible impression on those who came after him. At least, Collins had the good sense to keep some money aside for the maid and cook in one person, and of course, provisions. After all, he did need to eat, did he not?
Thanks to always being foxed, Collins had forgotten to send more money to the serving wench in Meryton, therefore, after the birth of the fourth Bennet daughter, he never heard from her again. In his addled state of mind, he assumed it meant that no more children had been born to his distant cousin.
For his part, other than the occasional beating from his father, William Collins was as happy as he could be. He was learning what he needed from the clergyman with whom his mother had recommended he study, so that one day, he would be able to enter an institution of higher learning.
Mr Davidson was under no illusions that William was intelligent, he was rather the opposite, but he did apply himself. William had decided he wanted to become a clergyman. Rather than being ready at seventeen like most, Davidson did not recommend William enter the seminary for another two years past that age.
One thing the mentor noticed was as William became older, he began to exhibit sycophantic behaviour towards those above him in society, especially titled persons. His worst obsequiousness was reserved for females. Although he did not know all, Davidson supposed that the close relationship William Collins had enjoyed with his mother made him more deferential to women, and the behaviour had been beaten into him by his brute of a father. Until his protégé entered the seminary in Westerham, Davidson tried what he could to make changes to William’s behaviour, but it did not keep.
When William Collins was in his first year—for the second time—at the seminary, he was notified his father was dead.
Clem William Collins had been deep in his cups when he tripped and fell face first into a shallow stream. Thanks to his state of inebriation, he had not been able to extricate himself and had drowned.
