*Meanwhile at Longbourn*
"I'm telling you Thomas, you can ignore the situation no longer,"
"And I am telling you, my man, I am well," Mr. Bennet retorted to the frustrated doctor as he returned to his desk after having been physically inspected.
"You are not well. Your heart is very weak, and gets weaker by the day." Mr. Jones continued to no avail. "Thomas, this is serious."
"Very well, old man. What is you diagnosis?" Thomas asked, gazing over a glass of port as he sat calmly in his chair.
"Six months." At this Thomas hesitated and looked the doctor in the eye. "A year at best."
"I see…"
"Thomas, I have been trying to tell you for months. It is time to set your affairs in order." Mr. Jones patted Mr. Bennet on the shoulder before making his leave. The man sighed and rubbed his forehead. She said I had more time, he thought to himself, Lydia is only fifteen. His thoughts were disturbed, however, as his wife shouting for him and bursting through the door.
"Oh, Mr. Bennet! Quick! You must come make Lizzy marry Mr. Collins!"
"What was that, my dear? Lizzy marry who?" Mr. Bennet asked, not bothering to look up at his frantic wife.
"Mr. Collins! He has proposed to Lizzy, but she refused him. You must go and force her to accept him. To save this house, to save this family!" The woman's hysterics rang through the small library, echoing in Mr. Bennet's ears. He opened his mouth to object, but gave pause. If the doctor was correct, his wife and daughters were in need of security. Jane seemed quite smitten with this Mr. Bingley, but that provided no guarantee. Mr. Collins, however, was a solution. But could he force that upon his favorite little Lizzy?
"Mrs. Bennet, find me Lizzy and bring her here. I have a proposal you both will need to hear."
XXXXX
Elizabeth returned from her encounter with Mr. Darcy in a fluster. She simply did not know what to think. She had known the man to proud and insufferable, and yet, the man she had just sat with in the woods had been neither of those things. He had been patient and open-minded. The conflicting observations made Elizabeth's head spin and left her wanting nothing more than to sit quietly in her room to think, or perhaps confide in Jane. Those hopes were quickly dashed away as she approached the house and her mother shouted her name.
"Lizzy! Good heavens, where have you been?" The woman inquired, eyeing the mess that was the hem of her daughter's dress. "Oh, never mind. Quick, now to your father's study. He wishes to speak to us on the matter of your engagement to Mr. Collins."
Before she could protest, Elizabeth found herself being shuffled into the house and to her father's private room. Once inside her father encouraged them both to sit as he closed the door.
"Now, my Lizzy, I have heard that Mr. Collins has made you an offer of marriage," Mr. Bennet stated, returning to his seat behind his desk.
"Yes, Papa, he asked me to marry him," she replied.
"Yes, and the ungrateful child refused him! Ruining us all!" Mrs. Bennet chimed in, earning an eye roll from her daughter and a silencing looking from her husband.
"And, as your mother reminded us, you refused this offer,"
"Yes, Papa," she replied once again. At this, Mr. Bennet leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.
"My dear Lizzy, I have always known you to have the most wit and to be the most sensible of all my daughters," At this Elizabeth gave a small smile and Mrs. Bennet huffed softly from her seat. "Surely, you can see the sense in a marriage to Mr. Collins. All the advantages it would provide to not only you, but your sisters and mother."
"Y-yes, Papa," Elizabeth answered reluctantly, this did not appear to be going her way. "But, Papa…"
"Yes, my dear, I am also aware of the faults in Mr. Collins character. So I offer you another option. I have heard you say that you wish to marry for love. Well, my dear, you have six months."
"Six months to do what?" Elizabeth asked, nervously.
"Six months to get engaged to the man you love." Mr. Bennet replied, closing his eyes to brace for the storm. Both women rose from their seats in protest.
"Mr. Bennet! What of Mr. Collins?" His wife shouted.
"Papa, you cannot be serious! That is impossible!" His daughter cried out.
"Nothing is impossible, Lizzy. And Mrs. Bennet, I have not forgotten my cousin. Lizzy has six month to become engaged for love or she shall marry Mr. Collins for security. That is my decision. Lizzy, I am giving you a chance to do as you wish, but I cannot risk the entire family's security and lives on an event that may never happen." Mr. Bennet stood and opened the door, clearly ending the conversation. Mrs. Bennet walked quickly out the door, in hopes of finding a way of explaining all this to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth, still in shock, slowly began to follow after her mother but as she went to pass her father, he grabbed her arm. "I am sorry, my flower, but I have to think of everyone." Lizzy pulled her arm from her father's grip and ran to her room, locking herself inside.
