“Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I respect you more than any other I have met outside of my family, and I was not trying to, but I find I have begun to fall in love with you. I know not if your feelings match my own, or if they are even tender, so in order not to rush or pressure you I sit before you begging you to enter into an official courtship with me.”
“Mr…is it Fitzwilliam or William, I have heard both?”
“My given name is Fitzwilliam, but everyone calls me William, so there is no confusion when Richard is present.”
“In that case, Mr William Darcy, from the first time I saw you I knew there was far more to you than meets the eye. As I have come to know you, I have seen that my initial assessment was correct. I cannot say I love you today, but I do respect you, and I am well on my way to being in love with you. That is a longer way of saying, yes, William Darcy, I am happy to be courted by you.”
Darcy’s whole countenance lit up with pleasure, causing him to smile widely and clearly display his dimples. He reached towards her with both of his hands and gently took one of Elizabeth’s hands and slowly turned it over. He bestowed a lingering kiss over the pulse of her wrist. Then he reached for her other hand and repeated the process.
Elizabeth’s heart was beating so hard that it sounded to her like she could hear Venus at a full gallop. If he had kissed her lips, she would not have objected.
Her reaction warmed Darcy’s heart as much as her acceptance of his suit. “I need to follow Fitzwilliam to Phillips’s office. Unlike him, I have no need to ride to London, so I will return in an hour or so. Thank you, Elizabeth; you have made me a very happy man. I will only be happier if and when you accept my proposal.” He stood, bowed over her hand, kissed it, and strode out of the study before giving in to his desire to kiss those pert lips.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Since the last rest stop, Collins had been sleeping. Hence, when the carriage came to a halt outside of an inn with the name of the Crown and Garter, Collins was still blinking when the coachman opened the door.
“Where are we?” Collins demanded.
“This is the town of Reading in Berkshire,” the man replied. “You wanted to be far away from Faversham; well, this is more than ninety miles. You owe me the balance of ten pounds.”
Collins handed the money over and asked for his trunk to be carried into the inn. Fortunately, there were rooms open, so Collins took one. He noticed that there were many men in scarlet coats walking about. ‘Lowly soldiers’, he sneered silently to himself.
He made his way up one floor to his chamber and found his trunk had already been delivered. After a good meal this night and one in the morning, he would go and find a bank to turn his draft into ready funds.
He would show them all. He would not allow thistravesty of a marriage his cousin had perpetrated to stand in contravention of his commands.
Chapter 30
After two hearty meals and a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed, Collins was ready to face the world. Feeling much better about himself and his problems, he went to find the landlord.
“Is there a reputable bank in this town?” Collins asked when he was shown into the landlord’s office.
“Indeed, Mr Collins, you are in luck. We are very close to it. It is the Simonds Bank and it is but a few hundred yards from the inn,” the landlord replied. With the stench coming from the man, the landlord hoped Mr Collins would vacate his office soon. He tolerated him because the fool was paying twice as much for his chamber than for what it was normally rented. The coachman who brought him had mentioned the man’s lack of intelligence. The longer he was happy at the inn, the more money the landlord would earn. “They are open now, so if you exit the inn, turn left, and walk a little, you cannot miss it.”
“Thank you,” Collins responded condescendingly. He was pleased by the deference the man showed him. It was obvious that he was still being treated like a clergyman, which could only mean news of his defrocking had not reached Berkshire yet.
Collins did as the landlord told him and easily found the Simonds Bank. Due to the amount of the draft, he was shown into the office of the manager, a Mr Edmund Simonds.
“Mr Collins, we appreciate your patronage; however, weverify any draft over the amount of one hundred pounds, which, as the bank it is drawn on is in London, it will take at least a sennight for a man to reach Town, do the verifications, retrieve the funds, and then return. Once he returns, I will be happy to give you funds in the amount of the draft, minus our commission and fees, of course.” Simonds was the nephew of one of the men who founded the bank in 1791, a William Simonds.
“But why must I wait? This draft is drawn on an account of the house of de Bourgh! Surely you must know it is valid?” Collins demanded.
“That may be true, Mr Collins, but I cannot violate the bank’s policies foranyone,” Simonds retorted. He had to fight to maintain his equanimity due to the stench of the man before him. “You are free to take your draft and seek assistance from another bank. There are others in Berkshire but not in Reading.”
The last thing he wanted to do was ride around and try to find another bank, so Collins capitulated. “I will be back in a sennight. If your man returns before then, I am at the Crown and Garter Inn.” Collins forced himself out of the chair. Before he left, the manager handed him a receipt acknowledging that he had possession of the draft and the amount thereof.
Even though he did not like the delay, Collins still had more than one hundred fifty pounds left of the money Miss de Bourgh had given him, so he was not in danger of running out of funds in a sennight.
On his return to the Crown and Garter, Collins huffed and puffed his way up the stairs to his chamber so he could rest and think of ways to get rid of his cousin’s new wife. He could not allow her to provide him a male heir because Longbourn would be lost to the Collins line forever.
Two hours of thinking brought Collins no closer to aplan. He knew that he needed to employ someone who would do the deed for him so he would be far away when it was done, but he had no idea where to find a man willing to take a life for money. It was not like he could go about the town making enquiries for such a man. Seeing that his cogitations brought him no solution, Collins made his way down to the public room to take his midday meal.
He took an open table near three red-coated soldiers. Collins guessed they must be officers to be eating at the inn.
The three officers were Denny, Saunderson, and Wickham.
“No, Wickham, I will not lend you any more coin until you pay me what you owe. Between the money and debts of honour, you owe me twenty pounds, and that is just to me,” Denny responded to another request for money from Wickham.
