Short bit, longer bit to come. Writing seems to be like reading. I don't want emerge from fantasy world until I'm finished and so I keep on writing bits.
Vince and Jane were not welcomed home very cordially by their mother.
Mrs Bennet wondered at their coming home so soon and thought them very wrong to give so much trouble, and complained that she was sure Jane would have caught cold again. But their father, though very laconic in his expressions of pleasure, was really glad to see them. He had felt their importance in the family circle when they had been absent. The evening conversation had lost much of its animation, and almost all its sense, by the absence of Jane and Vince.
They found Mary, as usual, deep in study in the library and when Jane whispered something in her ear she gave Vince a wide grin and a wink which, inexplicably, made him blush. Her giggle was equally unexpected and she attempted to cover it with a cough and hid deeper among her books. Jane smiled indulgently at them both before taking Vince's arm to help her up the stairs.
Kitty and Lydia informed them of the happenings among the regiment, most of which was of little interest to Vince but he listened all the same as it at least meant that they were not asking questions about Mr Darcy of him. Life was back to normal, or so it seemed, until the next morning at the breakfast table.
"I hope my dear," said Mr Bennet to his wife as they were all sat down for breakfast, "that you have ordered a good dinner today, because I have reason to expect an addition to our family party."
"Who do you mean, my dear? I know of nobody that is coming, I am sure, unless Charlotte Lucas should happen to call in, and I hope my dinners are good enough for her. I do not believe she often sees such at home."
"The person of whom I speak is a gentleman and a stranger."
"A gentleman and a stranger!" Mrs Bennet's eyes sparkled. "It is Mr Bingley, I am sure. Why Jane, you never dropped a word of this-"
"It is not Mr Bingley," interrupted her husband. "It is a person whom I never saw in the whole course of my life."
This roused a general astonishment; and he had the pleasure of being eagerly questioned by his wife, four daughters and son all at once. After amusing himself some time with their curiosity, he relented and explained.
"About a month ago I received a letter, and about a fortnight ago I answered it, for I thought it a case of some delicacy. It is from my cousin, Mr Bainbridge Collins, who it seems has been looking closely at the inheritance record of our family since my grandfather and his brother had such a falling out in the years before their deaths and, as a result, feels that there is an argument for his being the rightful inheritor of the house in which we currently live."
"But Vince is the rightful inheritor of this house!"
"It would appear that this knowledge is in dispute," Mr Bennet continued and Vince began to feel nervous. "But, as Mr Collins would have me believe he is a man of strong morals and a desire to see the family united once more, he has requested our hospitality for a week in order that we might know one another better come to some sort of arrangement."
"Arrangement!" Mrs Bennet screeched. "What, would he have Vince share his home? His inheritance, with a distant relative, a stranger who has no right to the property? It is absurd!"
"I am sure your assessment of the situation is a sound one, my dear," Mr Bennet went on, without so much as blink of his eye to betray him. "But the matter remains that the gentleman will be with us at four o'clock and that we are obliged to treat him with civility and hospitality if not genuine affection."
"But what can he mean by this 'coming to an arrangement', Mr Bennet?" Mrs Bennet went on, not to be put off her bad humour.
"I would not fear for Vince's inheritance, my dear. I think that story to be no more than a flimsy excuse. I think he means, Mrs Bennet, to request the hand of one of our daughters."
The silence that fell at the table was so complete that Vince wondered whether, if he were to drop his spoon to the floor, it would make any sound at all or simply hit the wood with no audible clue to it's fate.
"At least you are safe then, Vince," Mary said eventually, breaking the spell of silence that had fallen on the family. Vince looked across the table at her and realised that she looked decidedly unwell.