Mrs Bennet refused to either view her husband’s body or wear black, something she steadfastly clung to even in the face of Mr Pierce’s remonstrations.
Between the rector and the medical man, with assistance from the Hills, the funeral was organised to be held in the morning of Saturday, the final day of March. It was very well attended by men from the area surrounding, and including, Meryton. The earthly remains of Thomas Henry Bennet were interred next to his beloved parents and with generations of Bennets past in the section of St Hugh’s Cemetery reserved for that family.
Thanks to word spreading that Mrs Fanny Bennet refused to wear black or mourn her husband, no women of the area went to Longbourn to condole with her. Her behaviour caused even the handful of ladies who used to bear her company to cut ties with her.
Fanny was not pleased that she received no sympathy from her so-called friends. She decided she needed to discover where some funds were in the study so she could purchase some new gowns to make sure that she looked her best when Mr Collins arrived. She made her way to the study where she had so cleverly discovered Mr Collins’s direction but found the door closed, and worse, locked.
“HILL!HILL!” Fanny screamed.
Both Hills presented themselves before the woman they had come to hold in contempt since her refusal to mourn Mr Bennet.“Mrs Bennet, you called,” Hill drawled.
“Unlock this study now!” Fanny demanded.
“I am sorry, Mrs Bennet; I cannot do that. It has to remain locked until the will is read,” Hill explained as he would to a child.“Only then will the solicitor who reads the will unlock the door.”
“You will do as I say! I am the mistress here!” Fanny screeched in her high-pitched shrill voice.
“No, Mrs Bennet, you are not. Nothing changes until the will is read,” Hill responded.“Even if Mr Collins arrives, he will not be allowed into the study until either Mr Gardiner or Mr Phillips has removed everything not part of the entail.”
The Hills were aware the horrid woman had sent an express to Mr Collins. Like the rest of those employed at Longbourn, had it not been for the three girls upstairs in the nursery, they would have left to seek employment elsewhere. Mr Phillips was away, but Mr Long, a good friend of Mr Bennet’s, was the magistrate. He would not allow anything untoward to occur until the will was read. After hearing Mrs Bennet refused to wear blacks, he had gone to Longbourn to make sure the girls were well, and thankfully it was as it should have been.
The day the master had gone to his final reward, Hill had made his way to Meryton and spoken to Mr Phillips’s head clerk. The man was at a loss as to how to contact his employer because he was aware Mr and Mrs Phillips had left for a wedding trip directly after their wedding. He did not know the destination of said wedding trip, but he knew that Mr Phillips would be back in Meryton on the secondFriday of April. He refused to write to Mr Morris in Devonshire of Mr Bennet’s passing, and disturbing the wedding trip would not change that. As the will had not been written in their office, Jamison was not aware of its contents.
With all of this, the Hills and the servants at Longbourn would carry on as normal until Mr Bennet’s will was read, and they knew where the girls would go to be cared for and protected. At least, the selfish woman who bore them was still feeding Miss Mary.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
With his cottage sold, Collins departed Faversham on Tuesday the third day of April. The coachman told him it was around eighty miles to his destination, so they would overnight at the coaching inn in Bromley to arrive on Wednesday in the afternoon.
Although he was very impatient to see the estate which would be his, Collins knew there was no way to arrive sooner.
In the afternoon of the second day of travel, Collins sat up excitedly when the rented conveyance passed the gateposts of his estate and was pulled down the drive by the two horses. How good the sound of the crunch of the gravel was as he realised it all belonged to him.
Collins ignored the fact that unless he had a son, he too would lose the estate. It was an inconvenient fact, and besides, he had a woman waiting for him who was ready and willing to marry him and be his wife.
He was somewhat put out that other than a blonde-haired lady—he assumed it was his late cousin’s widow—no one else was there to meet him. No lined up servants to bow at the feet of their new master. Collins would teach them how to show him the respect he deserved!
When the lone man who had ridden on the back bench opened the door, Collins alighted. Up close, he could see that the woman before him was a beauty, not at all homely. That was a good sign.
“Welcome, Mr Collins,” Fanny simpered as she dropped into a deep curtsy. She knew all men liked to be flattered, so flatter Mr Collins she would.
As she appraised him, Fanny could see that he was a very homely man with little hair left on his head. He was a little shorter and far portlier than her late husband, and although she would have preferred a handsome man, it mattered not. Convincing this man to marry her would secure her future and save her from the hedgerows, and that was the only thing of importance.
“You are a pretty thing,” Collins stated as he allowed his eyes to rove licentiously over her shape.“Yes, you will do. Where are my servants?”
“They are very disobliging; we—you—need to sack all of them. If you will follow me inside, we will have them assembled so you may reprimand them and sack whomever you chuse.” Fanny felt gleeful at the prospect that the staff and servants who had disrespected her would be let go without characters.
On entering the house, Collins was not sure where to go.“Where is my office?” he demanded.
“Thestudyis down this hall; however, it is locked,” Fanny said apologetically.
“Why is it locked?” Collins thundered. He would see heads roll for this affront to the new master. Perhaps the piece of fluff had the right of it; he needed to sack all of the insolent servants.
“Mr Collins, I assume,” Hill stated. Hearing the racket from near the late master’s study, he had come to see what it was all about.
“Unlock this door this instant!” Collins ordered.
“Mr Collins, do you have a copy of the entail documents?” Hill enquired respectfully.
