Mr. Collins intended to marry, and he meant to choose one of Mr. Bennet's daughters if he found them as handsome and amiable as they were represented by common report. His plan did not vary on seeing them. Miss Jane Bennet's lovely face confirmed his views, and established all his strictest notions of what was due to seniority. For the first evening of his stay at Longbourn she was his settled choice. The next morning, however, made an alteration. In a quarter of an hour's tete-a-tete with Mrs. Bennet, a conversation about his matrimonial hopes produced from her, amid complaisant smiles and general encouragement, a caution against the very Jane he had fixed on.
" As to her younger daughters, she could not take upon her to say—she could not positively answer—but she did not know of any prepossession; her eldest daughter, she must just mention—she felt it incumbent on her to hint, was likely to be very soon engaged."
Mr. Collins had only to change from Jane to Elizabeth, next to Jane in both age and beauty. It was done in the amount of time it took Mrs. Bennet to stir the fire.
This hope continued, though, only until he saw Miss Elizabeth Bennet dancing with Mr. Darcy at the ball given by Mr. Bingley at Netherfield House on November the twenty-sixth. Though it seemed impossible that any attachment could exist between two persons separated so widely by rank, Mr. Collins dared not cross the nephew of his esteemed patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
And as for the two youngest Miss Bennets, he feared their obstinacy and wild ways.
Miss Mary Bennet he found not as handsome and amiable as her sisters. But as he was running short of time- his leave of absence extended only to the following Saturday, he had to resolve the matter quickly. And he had intimated to Lady Catherine that the sort of wife she had recommended to him would likely be found among Mr. Bennet's five daughters. Having secured Her Ladyship's agreement to this scheme, it was absolutely necessary to continue with it.
And indeed, he soon recollected that Miss Mary Bennet had many admirable qualities. At the Netherfield Ball he had heard her mentioned to Miss Caroline Bingley as the most accomplished girl in the neighborhood. She read great books and made extracts, studied human nature, and was accomplished on the pianoforte. These were eminently suitable pursuits for the wife of a clergyman, for music was a very innocent diversion. And indeed, the long concertos she played would give great pleasure to Lady Catherine- for, as Her Ladyship had often informed him, there were few in England who had more true enjoyment of music than heself.
Thus the matter was decided. The next day opened a new scene at Longbourn. On finding Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth, and Mary together, soon after breakfast, Mr. Collins addressed the mother in these words:
"May I hope, madam, for your interest with your fair daughter Elizab- er, Mary, when I solicit for the honour of a private audience with her in the course of this morning?"
Before Mary had time for anything but a blush of surprise, Mrs. Bennet answered instantly, "Oh dear!—yes—certainly. I am sure Mary will be very happy—I am sure she can have no objection. Come, Lizzy, I want you up stairs."
Mrs. Bennet and Lizzy walked off, and as soon as they were gone, Mr. Collins began.
"Believe me, my dear Miss Elizab- Miss Mary, that your modesty, so far from doing you any disservice, rather adds to your other perfections. Allow me to assure you, that I have your respected mother's permission for this address. Almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of my future life. But before I am run away with by my feelings on this subject, perhaps it would be advisable for me to state my reasons for marrying—and, moreover, for coming into Hertfordshire with the design of selecting a wife, as I certainly did."
"Marrying, Mr. Collins?" Mary was astounded. Was it possible that she, for so long mortified by comparisons between her sisters' beauty and her own, would be the first among them to resign the name of Bennet? She had entertained vague hopes, it was true, but she had been certain that he would be distracted from her by the superior charms of her older sisters.
"Yes. My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish."
"It is very true, sir."
"Good, good. Secondly, I am convinced that it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly—which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier- it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness., 'Mr. Collins,' she said, 'you must marry. Choose properly, choose a gentlewoman for my sake; and for your own, let her be a useful sort of person, not brought up high, but able to make a small income go a good way. This is my advice. Find such a woman as soon as you can.' Allow me, by the way, to observe, my cousin, that you will find her manners beyond anything I can describe. I cannot imagine that her ladyship would at all disapprove of you. And you may be certain when I have the honour of seeing her again, I shall speak in the very highest terms of your modesty, economy, and other, er, amiable qualifications. Your intelligent and learned remarks on all manner of subjects will I think will be acceptable to her... especially when tempered with the silence which her rank will inevitably excite. And now nothing remains for me but to assure you in the most animated language of the violence of my affection. To fortune I am perfectly indifferent. I am well aware that it could not be complied with; and that one thousand pounds in the four per cents is all that you may ever be entitled to."
"Mr. Collins, I am honored."
Mr. Collins regarded her with a look of amazement. "It does not appear to me that my hand is unworthy of your acceptance, or that the establishment I can offer would be any other than highly desirable." He took a piece of paper from his pocket, glanced at it, then shoved it out of sight again. He went on, staring above Mary's head at the wall opposite, as though the words of his declaration were written there. "My situation in life, my connections with the family of de Bourgh, and my relationship to your own, are circumstances highly in my favour."
"Mr. Collins-"
"-and you should take it into further consideration, that in spite of your manifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you."
"Mr. Collins, I-"
"-Your portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your, er, learning and accomplishments and amiable qualifications. You cannot be serious, therefore, in your refusal."
Mary, feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of the situation, felt it was necessary to interrupt him. "Mr. Collins, I intended to convey that I wish to accept your proposal."
After some time, she was at last able to bring him to understand that she had accepted him.
The bewilderment which Mr. Collins felt upon receiving a favorable reply was almost greater than the astonishment he had experienced when he believed himself to be refused. When he had at length recovered his wits, he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do.
It was decided that Mr. Collins would apply to Mr. Bennet for his permission later than evening. They passed the rest of the afternoon walking contentedly together in the gardens around Longbourn, Mr. Collins relating some plans for what he intended to do to the gardens of Hunsford Parsonage (if that was agreeable to his dear Mary, of course).
Later that day Mary was summoned to the library, where she found both her parents waiting for her.
"Come here, child," cried her father as she appeared. "I have sent for you on an affair of importance. I understand that Mr. Collins has made you an offer of marriage. Is it true?"
Mary replied that it was.
"This is an admirable joke indeed," said Mr. Bennet.
"Father?" replied Mary in some astonishment.
"It is nothing of the kind!" said Mrs. Bennet, who was too happy to be as argumentative as usual. "It will be a very good situation for her."
"Just imagine if the man had gone after Lizzy instead!" Mr. Bennet went on. "Now there would have been a scene I would like to see. Or Jane. Thank Heavens he didn't set his sights on her. She would never have been able to shake him off."
"I beg you would not treat it as a joke!" Mrs. Bennet fussed. "Mary must marry Mr. Collins."
"Very well, very well." Mr. Bennet turned to Mary. "My dear," he said in a light tone, "Your mother has told me that insists upon you marrying Mr. Collins."
"Yes, sir, and I have-" But Mary was unable to finish this speech, for Mrs. Bennet began to speak again.
"In fact, if she does not, I will never see her again," she said, with a look of obstinancy.
Mr. Bennet regarded her with a look of surprise. At length, he spoke. "My dear Mrs. Bennet, we now come to a disagreement… as so seldom happens in our marriage."
"Oh, you take delight in vexing me!" she cried fretfully.
"I confess I do, my dear, and I have not finished," said he. "There is only one way for me to keep you from forcing Mary to marry Mr. Collins. Thus… an unhappy alternative lies before you, Mary. From this day forward you must be a stranger to one of your parents. While it pains me to make such a declaration, I will never see you again if you do marry Mr. Collins."
"My dear father, I do earnestly beg you to reconsider," cried Mary. "I have accepted his hand."
"You have accepted him?" Mrs. Bennet's rapture was impossible to contain. The marriage of a daughter, which had been the first object of her wishes since Jane was sixteen, was now on the point of accomplishment, and her thoughts and her words ran wholly on those attendants of elegant nuptials, fine muslins, new carriages, and servants. "I am so happy! In a short time I shall have a daughter married! Mrs. Collins! How well it sounds! And you were only eighteen this September! Oh, my dear, dear Mary! Where is Hill? We must order the carriage so I can go to Meryton and tell the good, good news to my sister Philips. And as I come back, I can call on Lady Lucas and Mrs. Long. I shall tell Hill the servants shall all have a bowl of punch to make merry at the wedding. I am in such a flutter, that I am sure I can't write, but the things should be ordered immediately. We will settle with your father about the money afterwards." She was then proceeding to all the particulars of calico, muslin, and cambric, and would shortly have dictated some very plentiful orders, had not Mr. Bennet interrupted her.
Throughout his wife's whole speech, he had been staring at his quietest daughter. "I beg you to reconsider, my dear," he said at last.
"Oh, Mr. Bennet! You are determined to see us all ruined!"
"Mr. Collins is well-connected, to be sure," Mr. Bennet went on, as though deaf to his wife's protestations. "You will have more meals at Rosings Park than you can count, and the endless delight of the famous Lady Catherine's company. But can these… privileges make you happy when you are united to a man such as Mr. Collins?"
"You believe me indifferent to him?" asked Mary.
"I do not know what to think," said he. "You have spent little time together."
"Have you any other objection besides this belief in my indifference?"
"No," said her father. "We all know him to be a pompous, unpleasant sort of man. But I suppose this would be nothing if you really liked him."
"I do, I do like him," she replied, "In fact I believe I love him. He is the most respectable of men. There is a solidity in his reflections which has often struck me."
"As long as you are sure what you are doing. I know your disposition, Mary. You could never be happy with a husband who could not be an intellectual companion. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life."
"I believe that if encouraged to read he may become a very agreeable companion," said Mary.
At length, by repeated assurances that Mr. Collins was really the object of her choice, and enumerating with energy all his good qualities, could she conquer her father's incredulity, and reconcile him to the match.
"Well, my dear," said Mr. Bennet, when she ceased speaking, "I have no more to say. If this be the case, he deserves you."
Yes, Collins' proposal to Mary is almost exactly the same as his original proposal to Elizabeth. That's deliberate- I guarantee he wrote that speech long before he ever got to Longbourn and met the Bennet sisters XD