It had taken a dozen drafts of the letter over many weeks before Lady Catherine was satisfied and told Collins to post it.
What Collins did not understand was that Lady Catherine had him in such a dither about getting the letter just so that he had completely forgotten to ask her how his investment was doing and when he would be receiving his first dividends. She had succeeded better than she could havehoped, because the very last thing on Collins’s mind was the funds he had handed to Lady Catherine.
It had taken well over a month to get the letter to the point his patroness had not felt she needed to make changes.
If Collins had bothered to compare the last version Lady Catherine approved against the first one he wrote, he would have discovered that they were the same save a word here or there.
At last, on the final Wednesday of August, Collins sent the manservant who worked at the parsonage to post his letter from the inn in Hunsford.
Now that she no longer had the letter to distract her parson, Lady Catherine made sure to keep him running hither and yon to accomplish all sorts of tasks she called important. One stratagem she used was to criticise his first drafts of each new sermon, sending him home to try again. Just as it had been with the letter, this and other tasks made asking about hisinvestmentthe farthest thing from the simpleton’s mind.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Bishop Lankershim was not very happy with the reports he had been receiving about Mr Collins in Hunsford, but so far, he had not discovered anything which could be termed misconduct.
It was true that the man was not a very effective rector and that his sermons were not exactly what the church would like to hear, but if Collins were to be removed from his post for being a bad parson, almost half of those serving the Church of England would have to go as well.
There were no accusations of his importuning any of the women in the parish or any other such thing. There were some whisperings that his parishioners did not like to confide in him because whatever they told him got back to LadyCatherine de Bourgh. Unfortunately, when the man he sent had asked about the rumours, the members of the parish had refused to say anything. The investigator had the impression that the people were afraid of retribution from Lady Catherine.
All he could do was keep watch to make sure no dismissible offences were committed. How Bishop Lankershim regretted sending Collins along that day to meet with Lady Catherine.
Other than watching and waiting, there was not much else to do.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The four Bingleys—Aunt Hildebrand had arrived a sennight previously—departed Bingley House at sunup on the final day of September.
A very sullen Miss Caroline was in the coach. She had railed against rising at such an ungodly hour, but when Aunt Hildebrand promised to empty a bucket of cold water on her head if she was not out of bed at the required time, Caroline decided not to test her aunt. She knew only too well what Aunt Hildebrand said, Aunt Hildebrand meant. That her siblings and aunt were all cheerful only added to Miss Caroline’s pique.
Since the day her brother had stolen a quarter of her dowry, she had made sure not to set a foot out of line. She had even managed to bite her tongue when Charles had informed them Mr Darcy would only join them on Thursday. Caroline would have had immense enjoyment by having him as a captive audience for the time they travelled towards the backwater town.
At least, she had acquired one new ensemble with her available allowance. It was the colour she preferred, burnt orange, and she had had enough to purchase a matching turban and four ostrich feathers, all dyed to match. At the firstpublic event that they attended, she would wear the outfit to show Mr Darcy how much more sophisticated she was than the country mushrooms they would have to lower themselves to be among.
Thinking of going out in public, Caroline hoped that Louisa would remain sequestered and not embarrass her with the blemished cheek which left Louisa so ugly, and if she did, she would be heavily veiled. She was distracted from her thoughts by her aunt’s voice.
“Nephew, what, if anything, do you know about your neighbours?” Hildebrand enquired.
“Mr Phillips, the local solicitor as well as the agent for the landlord, told me that there are four and twenty landed families in the area, one of them being his late sister’s family, who are my nearest neighbours. In fact, their estate borders Netherfield Park,” Bingley revealed. “If my memory is accurate, he said he has five nieces at that estate.”
“A solicitor,” Miss Caroline sneered, “is but a tradesman, so these nieces are far below our notice.”
“My late brother wasted every penny he spent on that expensive seminary to which your late mother demanded he send you. Caroline, did you learn nothing? Being a solicitor is acceptable for a member of the gentry, even though most become barristers. Also, regardless of their uncle, the daughters of a landed gentleman are far above you, the daughter of a tradesman,” Hildebrand lectured. “If your mother was alive, I would berate her for the stuff and nonsense with which she filled your head.”
Seeing the way her brother was watching her with raised eyebrows, Miss Caroline realised that she should have held her peace. Only four more days and Mr Darcy would arrive. She was certain he would agree with her. She gave a sniff and turned to look out of the window at her side withoutseeing anything.
“It will be good to meet Mr Phillips’s nieces,” Bingley mused.
“Please tell me you do not fall in love with pretty faces any longer,” Hildebrand teased.
The younger and greener Charles Bingley had displayed the propensity to fall in love with pretty, blonde, blue-eyed, willowy young ladies. The problem was he fell out of love just as quickly once he understood there was nothing there aside from a pretty face. Hildebrand had admonished her nephew by telling him he should not raise expectations he had no intention of fulfilling.
“Aunt Hildebrand, stop jesting with poor Charles,” Louisa said with a smile. “You well know it has been some years since he made such shallow judgements.”
“As much as I would never denigrate Lulu for her birthmark, I realise that my judging women purely on their outward beauty made me as bad as those who make judgements about Lulu based on her port-wine stain.” He looked directly at his younger sister when he said the last. She did not see him look at her as her face was turned towards the window.
“Charles, you know I understand, do you not?” Louisa responded. “I never took it personally, ascribing your tendency to immaturity. I was correct, because you grew out of that way of judging women you want to get to know.” She paused and sighed. “Even though there is little chance of me making a match, Perhaps Charles will be lucky enough to meet a lady who is beautiful outside and in.”
“As long as she is wealthy and high enough in society,” Miss Caroline mumbled to herself.
