Page 17

The Rev William Collins, the name came unbidden to Elizabeth’s mind. With a sigh she explained his status as the heir, and in a quiet voice she talked of the letter she had nearly sent.

“You retrieved it and burned it?”

“I did. I remembered my Meditations and did not want to descend to the level of Miss Bingley or Mrs. Bennet.”

“Excellent. Another indicator that you are a good woman. You did not need to stoop to that level.”

Elizabeth was unsure this was something to be praised for. But she accepted it.

“And matters came to pass without any interference from you.”

Elizabeth had thought to keep Collins away. By not sending the letter. She stopped her train of thought.

“It is my disgrace that prompted him to offer for Charlotte.”

“No and yes. It is important for you, regardless of the opinions of others, to remember that you are not in disgrace. You are a victim of one hundred people, acting with one hundred different motives, deciding to blame you for wishing to nurse your sister better. The only reason you were in that bedroom at Netherfield Park in the first place, was because of the matrimonial machinations of your mother, and the insipid compliance of your sister. I know that is harsh but you need to hear it.”

The Baron’s passionate defence of her soothed Elizabeth’s soul. The first pebble in the pond, the initial ripple, was Mrs. Bennet’s insistence that Jane ride to Netherfield Park rather than take the carriage.

“Thank you, I needed to hear that. I suspect that I will need regular reminders for a while.”

The Baron did not demur.

“To move the story along, my men discovered that this Charlotte Lucas is now married to the Rev William Collins. The wedding was back at the end of January. The Bennet family is being given the cut by most of the neighbourhood, especially by Lady Lucas and her husband. This was all happily shared over a glass of brandy in the taproom.”

Elizabeth sipped her tea, using the few seconds to consider all she had heard.

“I do not know what to think Baron. I was pondering whether anything would be any different if my family had stood by me.”

He nodded.

“I have had the same thought. And you are right, I am not sure that it would have been any different.”

Chapter 7

“Are you willing to revisit this painful time?”

Elizabeth nodded immediately.

“I am. It is a frayed hem that I constantly worry at. And I have a dry handkerchief.”

The last was said with a smile but they knew the underlying tension in the statement.

“We were talking about everything that you suffered. Let us put to the side the venomous reptile that is Miss Bingley. We will return to her presently.”

He looked around, confirmed that there were no servants present.

“The first thing to realise is that the servants were happy to spread malicious gossip. Especially malicious gossip where it would be impossible to prove who had spread the word.”

“Why?”

“Because you had an easy life, a comfortable life, and although this may not apply to you personally, the servants in a house or on an estate are often treated very poorly. Things like being shouted at, being treated inconsiderately, never being thanked, issues such as that. Now there are plenty of people, men and women, whether masters of an estate or not, who would loudly proclaim that these people are nothing but servants and they are lucky to have a roof over their head.”

Elizabeth could think of half a dozen just in the area around Meryton.

“This is a chance to get their revenge. Again, not against you personally, but against someone who has ordered them about for years. The proverb ‘pride commeth before a fall’ is not exactly accurate but close enough. Here was a chance, and with no consequences, to gossip about their supposed betters.”

Elizabeth winced. She hoped that she had been polite with the servants at Longbourn but knew that Mrs. Bennet as well as Lydia and Kitty had, on many if not most occasions, acted in exactly the way the Baron had described.