Sorry it took me so long to update. RL got in the way.

Btw I made a small change to Darcy's inheritance. He won't inherit until he is 30, unless his mother dies before then.

~~CC~~

Conversations

Mr Bennet's peace did not last long. Mrs Bennet invaded his sanctuary almost as soon as he finished congratulating himself on getting Collins to do his work for him.

'Mr Bennet, you must speak with Mr Collins.'

'What about Cousin Collins?'

'While I appreciate his intent of allowing us to live at Longbourn after he inherits, I find some of his attitudes quite objectionable.'

'Which attitudes are those?'

'He insists that Lydia and Kitty should not be out but should be in the schoolroom with a governess. He does not want them to have any fun.'

'From what I have heard his attitude seems quite reasonable.'

'But why should they have a governess? Such a woman is likely to turn them into bluestockings. And men do not want to be saddled with intelligent or educated girls.'

'I do,' commented Mr Bennet. He added sarcastically, 'Unfortunately, I was not thinking clearly when I was young.'

'You are not going to support me?'

'Once I am dead and Collins is master of Longbourn, it will be his choice who lives here. If he wants to surround himself with well-mannered and educated ladies, that is his choice.'

Mrs Bennet sniffed. 'You are no help. You always delight in vexing me,' she exclaimed as she stormed out of the room.

Mr Bennet looked at the closed door and wondered if he should have attempted to improve his wife's understanding years ago, but decided that he did not have the temperament for such a task.

~~RF~~

Another lady was feeling decidedly dispirited. Miss Caroline Bingley had spent the past month being instructed in the duties of the mistress of an estate.

While Lady Anne claimed that she was making progress, Caroline felt that she was indeed progressing… but backwards.

She had been so certain that the prestigious finishing school she attended had taught her everything she needed to know about running a household and function in society. But now, the more she watched Lady Anne deal with the staff and tenants, she felt inadequate to the task.

Lady Anne never berated anyone, she never screamed or threw anything at anyone. She obtained better result with a look or a raised eyebrow. At most she gave a quiet reprimand suggesting a better way to do something. She even remained quietly dignified the day she encountered a new footman importuning a young maid. 'Pritchard,' she snapped at the man. 'Your behaviour is unacceptable. You are fired.'

Prior to Lady Anne's visit, it would never have occurred to Caroline to take note of the behaviour of her staff towards each other.

And without histrionics, this house functioned more smoothly than any home in which Caroline had been in charge. Although Caroline was nominally in charge of Netherfield, she knew that the staff looked to Lady Anne.

The more she observed the lady, the more she felt ashamed of the way she used to act. She wondered if she would ever achieve the grace displayed by her guest.

During particularly bad nights she wondered if the effort was worth the bother. But then she remembered her ambition about becoming Mrs Darcy.

Although something had changed since they had arrived at Netherfield. Never before had she spent as much time in the company of the gentleman. The closeness of the situation gave her glimpses behind the arrogant mask he wore in public. Now that she was getting to know him better, there was something rather appealing about him.

She was shocked to realise that she was becoming rather fond of him.

~~RF~~

It seemed to be a day for introspection. Bingley and Darcy were having a discussion on their way back to the manor, after checking on the progress of repairs which were being carried out to a tenant's cottage.

'I must say that I am extremely grateful to your mother, Darcy. I have never known Caroline to be so subdued, and dare I say it, agreeable.'

'Mother is certainly an extremely strong-willed woman. I suppose that her heritage and upbringing made her capable of running Pemberley for the past decade. A weaker woman would not have been able to cope.'

Bingley looked at anything other than Darcy when he asked, 'I must admit that I never understood why you did not inherit Pemberley immediately on your father's death or at least on reaching your majority.'

'Mother said that father wanted me to have time to grow into the role. I suppose he expected me to sow my wild oats like most young men in our circle. He ensured that I could do so unencumbered.'

'And that you could not squander the family fortune while you were busy sowing.'

'I had not thought of that perspective,' Darcy admitted thoughtfully. 'Our family is very proud of our history and of course Pemberley. Since there is no entail on the estate, an heir could sell it to cover gambling debts. I suppose to ensure that does not happen, the family has always been careful about the sensibility of their heirs.'

'I guess that I can see the sense in this arrangement. Considering the profligate spending I have observed by some of the highborn brats, your family's caution is commendable.'

The tips of Darcy's ears coloured a little as he replied, 'it also gives me time to get used to the idea of being responsible for so many people. I am actually rather grateful that mother is dealing with it. It has been bad enough that ever since I finished school, mother insisted that I should assist her and has given me limited authority.'

'You do not like being a landed gentleman?' Bingley asked hopefully. Although it had been his father's dream for his children to become part of the landed gentry, Bingley had doubts about the suitability of his temperament to the situation.

'I like it in principle, but Pemberley is just so big. I can never keep all the different issues straight. You should know better than anyone that I struggle remembering things.'

'Whereas I have always enjoyed juggling many different things in my head at the same time.'

'Which is why you claim your handwriting is so bad,' Darcy reminded him with a smile.

'I cannot help it that my hands cannot keep up with my mind.' Bingley laughed at being teased. 'I just wish there was more variety to life in the country.'

'Whereas I wish things were simpler.' Darcy looked at his friend with a wistful smile. 'Why is it that I think you would be a better master for Pemberley than I will be.'

'Perhaps we were switched at birth,' joked Bingley.

'I would not at all be surprised.'

~~RF~~

To escape the fraught atmosphere at Longbourn, Elizabeth invited Collins to accompany her on her visits to the tenants. He was happy to comply and immediately offered to carry the basket which Mrs Hill had prepared for Elizabeth to take to Mrs Potter.

Once they were out of earshot of the house, Elizabeth gave her cousin a rueful smile. 'I must thank you for your assistance with my sisters today. If you had not been with us, I doubt that we could have separated them from the officers.'

'It was my pleasure to be of assistance to you,' replied Collins, but hesitated a moment, wondering if he should continue. 'Might I ask how it came about that you and your older sister are all that is proper, while your youngest sisters are so…'

'Flirtatious, unrestrained, loud,' Elizabeth supplied with a sigh.

Collins gave a small understanding smile. 'I did not want to say so, but yes.'

'I appreciate your forbearance, but to answer your question. Growing up, Jane and I spent much of our time in London with our Aunt and Uncle Gardiner. He is my mother's brother and as unlike her as can be imagined. He is a gentleman even though he is now in business. Our Aunt Madeline is a gentlewoman and is intelligent and has exquisite manners. By the time our younger sisters could have benefitted from her instruction, they had two children of their own and could not deal with the others, particularly since Lydia was incredibly spoiled.'

'Your father did say that Mrs Bennet was concerned about getting all of you married to ensure you would not be left homeless.'

'Unfortunately, Lydia is exceedingly competitive. Since, according to our mother, our one goal in life is to catch a husband, Lydia wants to be the first to get married, and she uses the only methods our mother was able to teach her.'

Elizabeth sighed. 'I love all my sisters, but Lydia does try my patience. There are days when I feel most uncharitable towards her.' She gave her companion a speculative look. 'Would you answer one of my questions?'

At Collins' nod she asked, 'why did you say what you did about Lydia to my mother?'

Collins could not meet her eyes when he said, 'your father suggested making your family's continued welcome at Longbourn conditional on Lydia's behaviour. What I observed this morning made it clear that he had a point. Since I would not wish you to be embarrassed by your sister's behaviour, I followed his advice.'

'He is just getting you to do his work.'

'I am aware of that and so is your father.' Collins gave her a sidelong glance as he said, 'none of us are perfect. Some of us are merely less perfect than others.'

'You have a wonderfully forgiving attitude.'

William drew himself up to his full height and said pompously, although with twinkling eyes, 'that is a job requirement. I am a clergyman after all.'

The sly comment had the desired effect, it lightened the mood and made Elizabeth laugh.

Collins was pleased that he had been able to make to elicit that laugh. He was amazed that in the short time he had known his cousin, he had already started to care about her happiness.

He had read about love at first sight in novels which his grandmother had enjoyed and allowed him to read, but he had not believed that one could feel so strongly on such a brief acquaintance. But Elizabeth brought out his most protective feelings and he wanted to be the one to shelter her from all harm.

He was brought back to the present when Elizabeth turned to the topic of Longbourn, and Collins asked some pertinent questions about the tenants and their crops, which led to a discussion about crop rotation.

Elizabeth could not help but comment, 'for a clergyman you have considerable knowledge of farming and estate management.'

'You forget that I grew up on a farm and I have also read a number of books on estate management, as well as having spoken to people experienced in the matter.' He shrugged deprecatingly. 'I did not wish to be completely uninformed if it should fall upon me to manage Longbourn.'

'I commend you for your foresight and dedication.'

'It is but basic courtesy,' Collins demurred. 'And I am not the only one who has unexpected knowledge of this topic. You too are quite well informed.'

'As you said, I grew up on the estate and my father was happy to educate me.'

'Perhaps he has shown the greatest foresight of us all.'

~~RF~~

~~CC~~

Reversed Fortune by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2021