Chapter 32

Mrs. Bennet, after witnessing Mr. Collins make haste through the front door, could not have moved faster towards her husband's study. Whatever her faults of understanding, she knew this full well: Elizabeth had rejected him. That look of glee was not the look of a blushing bride but that of a mischievous adolescent. God help them, in this, her husband must intervene. It was their only true hope of salvation after his death, even if Mr. Bingley proposed to Jane.

She could tolerate her husband's indolence, it bought her enough liberties to go about her business as she saw fit. She could tolerate his lack of regard for her, he held affection for her when it mattered, she was now mistress of an estate, though she had been born a tradesman's daughter. She could tolerate his neglect, as she did not prefer his company; his absence was hardly a punishment for her. Mrs. Bennet, however, was not about to tolerate his disregard of her solutions for the predicament her husband had put them in. It was not him that would live in squalor after he departed.

"Oh! Mr. Bennet, you must come and save us all! You must come and make Lizzy marry Mr. Collins, for I believe she has refused to marry him, and if you do not make haste he will change his mind and not have her. He has already quit the house and goes I know not where!" cried Mrs. Bennet.

Mr. Bennet raised his eyes from his book as she entered, and fixed them on her face with a calm unconcern which was not in the least altered by her communication.

"I have not the pleasure of understanding you," said he, having found his cousin no longer amusing he would indeed be happy had the man quit the house. "Of what are you talking?"

"Of Mr. Collins and Lizzy. Lizzy declares she will not have Mr. Collins, and Mr. Collins begins to say that he will not have Lizzy. He has left the house muttering about more valuable brides. I think Lizzy has tricked him into some errand to find an heiress."

"And what am I to do on the occasion? It seems a hopeless business," smirked Mr. Bennet. If Lizzy had tricked that fool from the house he could only love his second daughter all the more for it.

"Speak to Lizzy about it yourself. Tell her that you insist upon her marrying him."

"Let her be called down. She shall hear my opinion and I shall hear hers."

Mrs. Bennet rang the bell, and Miss Elizabeth was summoned to the library.

"Lizzy, what say you to your mother's plans for salvation after my demise" inquired Mr. Bennet as she entered his study.

Whatever his faults, Mr. Bennet was not deliberately cruel. He would not part with a beloved daughter under such a circumstance, no matter how his wife wailed. He had no intention of suffering the misery that would come from seeing his daughter unable to respect her partner in life. He knew well enough what one suffered under such regrets. Her cleverness would be squandered on Mr. Collins, and her liveliness would give way to contempt.

He was not the sort to push marriage on a daughter, for better or worse, his daughters had always enjoyed the freedom to act as they saw fit. Where many women of their generation had little freedom and less respect, the Bennet girls always enjoyed the liberty of choosing who they were for themselves, to determine their own characters, and live with the consequences. Lizzy was no fool, she knew if she did not marry, she would be in dire straits, may even need to seek a position of employment. Elizabeth knew full well the potential consequence of her choice, so in her father's mind, she had every right to make it.

"Mr. Collins has made me an offer of marriage and I have refused him, Sir," replied Elizabeth. Despite the depth of the sincere, familial affection she felt, she had no intention of paying for her father's indolence and her mother's extravagance with the rest of her life.

"Yes, Yes, but I dare say your mother is under the impression that it would be her saving grace for you to marry Mr. Collins" replied Mr. Bennet.

Being well informed of her father's character, she recognized where he was leading her. There was only one way to put an end to Mrs. Bennet's ambition, and it was to cause her to cease believing it was in her own best interest. Elizabeth could not comprehend her mother well enough to know if she was merely silly and short-sighted, or if she truly possessed little feeling for her second daughter. So taking her father's subtle direction she proceeded as best she knew how.

"I dare say sir that it would be unchristian of me to foster contempt for being forced into a marriage that was not my making. It would be ungenerous to repay her unkindness by seeking my revenge and putting her out. My mother has nothing to fear from me on that score sir."

"Putting me out!" cried Mrs. Bennet "Who would put their own mother in the hedgerows for bringing about a marriage." Obstinate, headstrong girl. Could she not see that marrying Mr. Collins was their best course? Mayhap the only course? Nothing else had been presented to them thus far, all her machinations had come to nothing. And Mr. Collins, always so obliging, what objection could she have to him? He was not so fine a figure as many a man, but he would flatter his wife and see to her needs as well as those of her family. So what if he blathered on, one could learn to be insensible to their husband.

"Indeed mama, in time I would be obliged to forgive. Even with daily reminders of your lack of consideration for my wishes, I daresay within a few decades I would forgive you my torment. Reason would win out, my mother's welfare must be considered."

Mrs. Bennet smiled, her mean understanding leading her to think Lizzy was giving way.

"However, one must consider the welfare of their children before that of their parents. I'm sure I would be doing them a grave disservice indeed to keep my mother and sisters at Longbourn."

"A disservice! How so?" demanded Mrs. Bennet. " A disservice indeed," she muttered.

"As Longbourne, under your excellent management has been unable to save or provide doweries for the current offspring, how much more of hardship would it be to provide for the next generation, if Longbourne had to provide the previous generation as well? It would be a grave disservice to my children, and more so to my husband. When I marry, madam, my first loyalty must be to him who I marry. How could I then, in good conscience, rob him of the fruits of his management of the estate while robbing my children of the benefits of their station? It's not to be. You could not, with any justice, ask it of me."

Was her daughter lost to all sense? How did she expect to marry if they were to save? Setting a fine table, dressing the girls to their advantage was all the enticement they had to catch a husband. Paying attention to those enticements would work far faster than a few pounds in their dowries.

"I daresay, you do not deserve to be the next mistress of Longbourn", declared Mrs. Bennet. "I wash my hand of you Lizzy. To turn down Mr. Collins! A perfectly eligible suitor, no less. To turn out your own family so that your children may be better dressed! I don't know what shall become of us. For all the years I've worked to save your future, you now threaten mine. I don't know what to think of you. Wondering about the countryside. Debating like a man. Reading Latin and insisting on less lace. What would become of Longbourne with you as its mistress? I must tell you, you do not deserve it, I do not approve of you in my position."

"Am I to understand Mrs. Bennet that you no longer wish Lizzy to marry Mr. Collins?"

Without saying a word she turned and departed her husband's study. Lizzy was indeed her father's daughter, thought Mrs. Bennet. For all the books they read neither knew anything practical. The more they read, the less they could be prevailed upon to deploy common sense. If the heir to the estate was willing to marry one of them, it was that girl's duty to oblige, as they simply could not sustain themselves in any respectability when Mr. Bennet departed.

Up next is Mr. Collins's proposal to Miss Bingley, it's one of the first Chapters I've written. I can't wait to share it with you. I just need to find the motivation to edit it. How do you think she'll react?