“Mr Collins, if we were as poor as you keep claiming, do you think that my father would have supported my refusal of your proposals?” Elizabeth deftly cut off whatever it was Collins thought he should say, knowing whatever it would not reflect any version of truth, much like his patroness in that one aspect.
“Ehm, well,” he frowned and was completely caught off guard, “that is to say my dear Charlotte tells me you are his favourite, so maybe he would not have forced you, even though it would have been an honour for you to marry as high as me.”
“My father did not support your application because we have no need of you, your money, or your protection. Have you heard of Gardiner and Associates?” Elizabeth asked with calm assurance while his cheeks proved his heightened agitation.
“Of course, I have; it is one of the largest and most successful traders in the Kingdom. What of it and him? And I cannot see how that has anything to do with you.”
“We will apply to the one person that we both value truly and deeply so you can know I do not offer any falsehoods, Mr Collins. Charlotte, what name did my mother resign when she married my father?” She asked, smiling when Charlotte’s smile turned amused.
“Why, her name was Gardiner, Eliza. Everyone in Meryton knows that” she answered when Maria was about to interrupt with asking what that signified.
“And what, pray tell, is my Uncle Gardiner’s name, my dear Charlotte?”
“It is Edward, or Uncle Edward to me for many years, as with us you hold as close as family.” Charlotte’s smile widened as she and Lizzy talked.
“Thank you, Charlotte. Now what you do not know is that my father provided over seventy percent of the funds for the business and accepted a fifty percent stake. I and all my sisters have dowries of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and each of us owns five percent of Gardiner and Associates. In my own right, I am more than four times wealthier than your venerated patroness, Mr Collins. Just because we do not flaunt our wealth like some others, or look down on others that are honest, good people, does not mean we do not have it.” She turned and looked on him with hard, angry eyes.
The parson sent a spray of spittle in all directions as his mouth opened and closed so he resembled a fish, and no sound emitted from said orifice. Elizabeth was thankful that she was out of range. Had she not been, she could not have suffered being hit by his excretions with calmness.
“For your further education, we own both Netherfield Park and Bennington Fields, which has been renamed Bennet Fields. An enormous amount of land has been added to both, and they each earn more than twenty thousand per annum. By the way?Iown Netherfield Park, which I intend to rename Bennet Park, and Jane owns Bennet Fields.”
“I am rich! All of this belongs to me!!” The bumbling parson exclaimed, forgetting that his Cousin Bennet was still very much alive and kicking while claiming the Bennet’s wealth as his own.
“In that you are also wrong, as with so many other things. None of it belongs to you. I remember my father gave you a copy of the document containing the terms of the entail. If you have it, please fetch it.”
As Collins scurried toward his study, Lizzy was amused at the looks on the countenances of both Charlotte and Maria. “I was not able to tell you before today, Charlotte, but now that the truth will soon be widely known I have decided to reveal all. I would have written to you in a few days, but I had had quite enough of your husband’s haranguing me. I am sorry.” Elizabeth offered her sincere apology.
Before a shocked Charlotte could reply, her hapless husband returned with the document in hand.
“Thank you. If you would kindly do so, please read number eleven point ‘a’ for us,” Elizabeth requested.
Collins cleared his throat, and with his usual smug, self-important expression started to read. “11.A.1: Only when the current holder of Longbourn Estate dies or is no longer capable of performing his duties shall any income derived from the estate belong to the beneficiary of the estate. No money earned in any way prior to the date and hour that the beneficiary assumes the role of master of Longbourn is the property of said beneficiary.
“11.A.2: Any and all profits, funds, or any other assets not listed as part of the entail shall be distributed according to the will of the previous master of Longbourn. There are no exceptions to this clause.
“11.A.3: If the beneficiary tries in any way, by legal challenge or other means to lay claim to any funds from before he becomes master, the entail shall be deemed broken and the estate shall revert to ownership of the previous master’s heirs, regardless of gender.”
It took a few minutes for the not very intelligent parson to absorb the meaning of the clause he had just read. As it sunk in the clergyman burst into tears. “None of it is mine. I was just certain I would be as wealthy as Lady Catherine.” As his agitation grew in proportion with his understanding of the entail’s meaning, he felt a familiar tightness in his chest and his upper left arm. As he always did, he ignored the pains as incidental and caused by stress.
“There is one way that you can get money now, Mr Collins. Before I came, my father authorised me, if I felt it was warranted, to make you an offer. It could be many years, and I pray that it is, before my father passes. There is always the chance that you may go to your eternal reward before my father, meaning that you will receive nothing. If you will join my father to break the entail and resign all claim to Longbourn, we will pay you twenty thousand pounds.” She held up a hand to waylay immediate responses. “Think carefully, as that is more than ten year’s income. Not profit, income. In profit that is more than twenty years’ worth. It is up to you; but we are making the offer because we have an emotional attachment to Longbourn, though tiny when compared to the other land that we own.”
‘Papa authorised me to go as high as fifty thousand pounds, but with the avarice that he has displayed? I have the feeling that he will forget all other considerations and just see the money and what he can do with it.’ Lizzy thought about the actual conversation while the parson considered her offer.
“I recommend that you take it, husband. If we invest the money wisely, it will grow for us.” Charlotte offered calmly and sweetly, knowing that Lizzy would have offered even less were it just Mr Collins to consider.
The parson immediately saw that this was the quickest way to get funds, and more than he likely would have if he eventually inherited Longbourn due to the section he had just read and had pointed out to him, so he begrudgingly agreed. Elizabeth informed them that she would be leaving on the morrow as she had requested her uncle send her personal carriage to collect her. No one seemed surprised that she had a personal carriage.
Chapter 3
An astounded Richard Fitzwilliam had seen that look on the battlefields at Roliça, Buçaco andduring both sieges of Badajoz.He never expected to see it on his cousin and for him look so very defeated. Yes, William could be taciturn and unsociable, but not this, not looking like his whole world had just come crashing down around him.
“Why do you look like the world is at an end?” Richard frowned, worried it was about Georgiana, for whom Darcy and he shared guardianship.
“It has for me, Richard. The world has indeed fallen down around me,” Darcy replied quietly.
“What do you mean, William? What can be so bad the Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley feels as if he cannot go on?” Richard tried to tease his cousin so he would have less of a scowl. It was no small feat he attempted so he did not take it hard when he did not succeed.
“I am in love with Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” William admitted, saying it out loud to another person today was an irony he did not miss.
