“Even if it is true?” Lydia queried with a wide smile.
“Lyddie, some things are better unsaid,” Bennet stated, even as he fought to keep a grin from his face.
“Lyddie’s description was very accurate,” Kate said in support of her younger sister. She was very protective of her younger sister who followed her example closely.
“That may be, but we will not comment on his girth in his company, will we?” Jane stated as she looked at each younger sister in turn. Jane was not overjoyed that the arrival of their cousin had made it so their friends would not call this day.
A little after two that afternoon a note from Lulu had been delivered telling Jane that Mr Bingley had just returned to his leased estate. Due to their knowing that the Bennets were expecting a guest to arrive, those at Netherfield Park would not call until the morrow. It had been almost a full week since Mr Bingley had taken the youngest Miss Bingley away, and Jane was missing him far more than she expected.
Another sister who did not like that their distant cousin had interfered with calls was Elizabeth. In the days since Mr Darcy had returned to the area with his sister and cousin, either those residing at Netherfield Park or the residents of Longbourn had called at the other’s estate daily. Elizabeth remembered how nervous Anna had been on the day after she had told all to Kate and Lyddie, and per her request, they had disclosed all to her. It had taken Anna a moment to realise that no one blamed her and thought no less of her because of being the target of such concentrated manipulation. It was after she saw that she was not looked down upon by any of them that Anna had asked Jane, Mary, and herself to address her informally, something they had all agreed to and reciprocated.
The only two Elizabeth blamed were the dastardly Mrs Younge and Mr Wickham. If she ever came across them, she would love to set John and Brian on them and watch them squirm.
When Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam told what would occur with the libertine when he was apprehended, not one Bennet had felt bad for what the man would have to face. Elizabeth could not help but smile when she thought about Mr Darcy, and more specifically, the Colonel; not for herself, butfor Mary.
Mary found she loved speaking of military matters with Colonel Fitzwilliam. She had always been interested in the subject and had studied the history of many past battles. She enjoyed that Colonel Fitzwilliam spoke to her as an intelligent being, not as some fragile woman who needed her sensibilities protected.
For his part, Bennet was missing Miss Louisa Bingley. They were in the middle of a hard-fought game of chess, and as he was only one up in wins, Bennet’s competitive nature wanted to win this game. His thoughts of this very pleasant topic faded away when the drawing room door was pushed open, and Bennet discovered that Kate and Lydia had in no way exaggerated regarding Mr Collins’s girth.
William Collins froze on entering the drawing room. Aside from a man, who he assumed was his cousin, two older ladies, who he thought looked like servants, were five of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. They must be Mr Bennet’s five daughters. Why had he not known how much beauty there was among his cousins before he resolved not to marry one of them?
“William Collins, at your service,” he said as he bowed low. Suddenly he realised they did not know about his determination. When he stood from his bow, he allowed his eyes to rake over his cousins. He would marry one of the three beautiful blondes, and he would have all of them under his thumb to do with whatever he chose.
“Mr Collins!” Bennet barked when he saw the lecherous way in which his cousin was looking at his daughters.
Collins reluctantly pulled his eyes from the five beauties and bowed deeply again, just as his patroness taught him to do. As he was ranked higher than his cousin, he was about to ask for an introduction. He was pre-empted when his cousin beganto speak.
“Jane, Lizzy, Mary, Kate, and Lyddie, this is our distant cousin, Mr William Collins who is the heir presumptive of the estate. Mr Collins, Miss Jane Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, Miss Mary, Miss Catherine, and Miss Lydia, mypreciousdaughters,” Bennet introduced. Each of his daughters gave a shallow curtsy when her name was mentioned.
“And who are these ladies? I trust one is not your wife as I forbade you to marry again,” Collins stated haughtily. He was not happy his cousin had usurped his right to ask to be introduced, but his worry over the footmen, whom he was sure were not far off, kept him from voicing his displeasure.
“The ladies are Mrs Dudley and Miss Jones, companions to my daughters. Mr Collins, let me be rightly understood. If I chuse to remarry, it will bemydecision with no thought of what your opinion on the subject is. Unless you want me to show you the door, you will not mention another word on that subject while you are here, and do not allow me to catch you leering at one of my daughters again. When I said they arepreciousto me, that was not hyperbole.”
“But daughters can mean nothing to their father,” Collins responded. He chose not to address anything else his cousin said, still sure that one of the blonde beauties would be the future Mrs Collins.
“That, Mr Collins, is so much stuff and nonsense,” Bennet shot back. “Mr Collins, I require your presence in my study now, and I mean now! You will not remain alone with any of my daughters at any time! Do you understand?”
Collins nodded his understanding with no good cheer. Any time he thought to deny something his cousin demanded as unreasonable, he saw the picture of the two mountainous men whom he was afraid would be able to snap him like a dried twig. That image in his mind made sure Collins held his peace.He looked around nervously to make sure one of the men was not behind him.
“Mr Collins, I am tired of this nonsense about a birthright. Do you know that Longbourn used to be more than double the size it is now?” Bennet questioned once the door to his study was closed. He did not miss the pungent smell of body odour and stale sweat which emanated from the idiot.
“You lost half of my estate?” Collins almost shrieked.
“No, Mr Collins, one William Bennet lost half of theBennetestate. He gambled away that which was not his, and my great-great-grandfather honoured the debt even though William Bennet had no right to pledge any part of the estate.”
“Why do I need to hear about the Bennet who was so irresponsible? Is that why you stole this estate from the Collins line?”
“You really are half-witted,” Bennet barked. “William Bennet was disinherited. He then left and found a woman to marry in Kent. Her name was Collins. You are a direct descendant of the late William Bennet before he changed his name to William Collins. Now please explain how this estate is your birthright. If great-grandfather had been thinking logically, he would have excluded anyone who came after William Bennet, or Collins, as a result of his marriage.”
“This could not be true! My father and grandfather before him would not have told me about my birthright if what you say is not a fiction. You are only saying this to try to keep from me what is mine!” The spittle flew from Collins’s mouth as he spoke. “If you try peddling these lies, I will not consider taking one of your daughters as my bride, and I will take pleasure in throwing them into the hedgerows, and you and those ape-like men you employ will not be here to save them!”
“Regardless of your desires, as I told you in my letter, none of my daughters are for you. That does not count the factthat two of them are not out. When I saw that lecherous look in your eye, you were lucky I did not call you out.” Bennet paused and applied pressure with his forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose, as he tried to calm himself. He did not like the effect the man was having on him. “I hereby rescind my invitation. You will leave my estate. I do not want one under my roof who was gaping at my daughters the way you did.”
“You CANNOT evict me fromMYestate!” Collins screamed.
“It is not your estate, and if I have anything to say about it, it never will be. I may do what I will. You are no longer welcome here. I should have refused your attempt to invite yourself to my estate when you wrote that ridiculous letter you posted to me. I can now see you are as big a simpleton as I guessed you were based on the rambling drivel in that letter,” Bennet retorted.
“How dare you? My patroness approved of that letter,” Collins squawked. “I will tell her what you said, and you will be sorry when you feel her ire.”
