Author's Note: So, I had an unexpected window of opportunity to work on part 2 of Charlotte's backstory late this afternoon. The hour it gave me turned out to be just enough to finish off this chapter, review it, and now post it. I hope you enjoy it. I know that some of you are not quite thrilled by this little detour into Charlotte's past. But take heart, we will be moving back to the events of Easter 1812 after this chapter. Those of you have found this little detour enjoyable will find the answer to all your questions in this chapter. Although I can't, as of yet, outright name those of you who guessed correctly (for that would most certainly give away the plot), I can say that a number of you were correct (at least, partially).
To end, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope that you will all be happy, safe and healthy in the coming year. Most importantly, I hope that 2022 will prove to be a better year for all of us.
Mr. Collins' Easter
By Winterspell1812
Chapter 7
With her head held high, Charlotte's features fairly glowed in delight as her beloved Mr. Cartwright escorted her across the ballroom. Dressed in the finest silk the local seamstress could offer, her hair elegantly coiffed and her fripperies well matched, Charlotte attracted the astonished eye of each and every one of her neighbors that fateful evening. With a graceful smile, she politely exchanged greetings with those few souls who recovered themselves enough to speak, before Mr. Cartwright escorted her to the ballroom.
Just as they made to take their place for the first set, however, a great clamor arose amongst the guests. Frowning, Miss. Lucas regarded her neighbors in exasperation; disobliged by the disruption their excited chatter had caused her and Mr. Cartwright. Determined to discover the source of the uproar, Charlotte quickly surveyed the room. Thus, finding a number of the guests had congregated at the ballroom's entrance, her eyes narrowed in frustration, unable to make out what they were all about.
"Oh, my dear Mrs. Long," Mrs. Bennet shrieked, her voice unmistakable to Charlotte, though she was lost in the press of the crowd. Understanding that Mrs. Bennet had arrived – and, as was her wont, was most likely making a spectacle of herself – Charlotte rolled her eyes in contempt (the mystery of the commotion now fairly solved in her mind). As she made to turn her attentions towards her dear Harold once more, however, Miss. Lucas was arrested by the sight of Mrs. Bennet, triumphantly emerging from the crush, her arm linked with the loveliest blue eyed beauty to ever grace the county of Hertfordshire.
After a month complete of bemoaning her woeful fate, castigating her indolent husband and crying out in fits of nerves, Mrs. Bennet had prevailed. Her hen pecked husband, wishing for peace and quiet once more, had capitulated in spite of sense, propriety and sentiment. Thus it was that, on the evening of Thursday January 24th 1805, Miss. Jane Bennet of Longbourn made her debut into society.
Disconcerted by this development, Miss. Lucas bit her lip, her eyes regarding the blonde beauty with growing discontent.
Having found herself to be, for the very first time in her life, the center of attention at a ball, Charlotte was loath to relinquish her hard earned place. A quick assessment of Jane Bennet, however, soon convinced her that the battle was well and truly lost. For, though Miss. Bennet's dress, fripperies and accoutrements were inferior to Charlotte's, her natural beauty was such that Jane Bennet appeared more beautiful and more elegant than Charlotte (even in her finest of dress), could ever hope to be.
Dismayed, Miss. Lucas watched as the gentlemen flocked towards Jane Bennet – like the small-minded, ignorant fools they were – eagerly enquiring after that young lady's health and the availability of her dances. Charlotte, who had never known such attentions from any gentleman other than Mr. Cartwright, pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. Thus, sighing in disappointment at such behavior, Charlotte turned to Mr. Cartwright, preparing to make an acerbic comment as to the superficiality of her gentlemen neighbors, and the distinct superiority of a fine mind in contrast with a fine face. To her dismay, however, Miss. Lucas found the gentleman equally captivated by the sight of Miss. Jane Bennet of Longbourn.
"Harold?" Charlotte enquired hesitantly, the brightness of her eyes dimming.
Startling at her subdued tone, Mr. Cartwright shook his head, smiled and took her hand once more. "I apologise, my dear," he said, as the musicians struck their first cord, "I was not attending."
Apprehensive of the effect which Jane Bennet's arrival had wrought upon Mr. Cartwright, Miss. Lucas spent the first half of the set in subdued contemplation. As they made their way through the steps of the Boulanger, however, her anxieties began to ease in the face of Mr. Cartwright's continued attentions, which were as warm and as loving as ever. So much so that, by the time the first set came at an end, Charlotte felt reassured that Mr. Cartwright would not be swayed from her side by a pretty face. Thus, with a most becoming blush, Charlotte happily accepted the gentleman's offer to see her escorted to her parents' side. Arriving at the table which Lady Levinson had designated for the Lucas & Long families, a smiling Mr. Cartwright assisted her into her seat. Before the gentleman could properly settle into the unoccupied seat beside her, however, Mrs. Bennet descended upon them.
Eager to put her daughter forward in Mr. Cartwright's notice (and insensible to the impropriety of attempting to match her daughter with a gentleman who, by all reports, was already attached), Mrs. Bennet shepherded a blushing young Jane to their table. Addressing Lady Lucas as an opening gambit, Fanny Bennet attempted to engage her friend in conversation. Charlotte's mother (perceiving Mrs. Bennet's objective), however, sniffed distastefully at the Bennet matron and responded curtly.
The Longs, seated beside Lady Lucas, looked upon Lady Lucas in affronted astonishment at that lady's treatment of the Bennet matron. Mrs. Long, in particular, was greatly offended by such, as Fanny Bennet was a relation of hers. And, though Mrs. Long well knew that Fanny could act improperly at times, Henrietta Long could not fault her for such. Indeed, the sad truth of the matter was that Fanny had never been taught how to act properly in society. For Fanny's mother (Mrs. Long's beloved aunt), though of gentle birth, died in childbirth when Mrs. Bennet was no more than two. And, less than a year after her passing, Fanny's father saw fit to marry Miss. Jacobson, a guttersnipe of a woman with little sense, and no understanding of genteel society whatsoever.
Thus, in growing anger, Henrietta listened as Lady Lucas slyly abused Mrs. Bennet's character (knowing full well that Fanny had neither the wit nor the understanding necessary to grasp the insult). But, when that conceited woman, with pursed lips and a disrespectful wave of her hand, sought to dismiss Mrs. Bennet from her august presence, Mrs. Long could no longer restrain herself.
Thus with a huff, Henrietta Long stood from her seat and made her way towards Mrs. Bennet. Looking upon Lady Lucas with great distaste, the woman turned to Fanny with a smile and complimented her on Jane's fine looks.
"Oh, she is beautiful," Mrs. Bennet crowed, oblivious as ever. "Surely, you must agree."
To which, Lady Lucas scoffed.
Frowning, Mrs. Bennet looked upon her friend in concern. "Are you well Beatrice?" Fanny enquired, misapprehending Lady Lucas' scoff as a slight cough. Of sharper wits than Mrs. Bennet, however, Mrs. Long fully comprehended that Lady Lucas was, in her own petty fashion, continuing her campaign to deride Fanny in Mr. Cartwright's presence. Red faced, Mrs. Long glared at Lady Lucas and, in a fit of petty resentment, determined to undermine Beatrice's desires.
"Certainly she is," Mrs. Long affirmed. "Do you not agree, Mr. Cartwright?'
"I…" Harold Cartwright began, casting a beseeching eye upon Charlotte's father, visibly aghast at the happenings.
At this, Sir William Lucas spluttered, and remembering his manners, proceeded to formally introduce the gentleman to Miss. Bennet (much to the displeasure of his wife and daughter). Once the courtesies had been observed, Mrs. Long (much to Fanny Bennet's delight) wasted precious time in prompting Mr. Cartwright into requesting Jane's hand for the second set of the evening. Mr. Cartwright, though reticent at first, finally acquiesced to the request solely for the sake of Miss. Bennet's equanimity (the gentleman having rightly perceived her mortified discomposure, though the dear girl had done the utmost to obfuscate it).
Shocked by Mr. Cartwright's capitulation, Lady Lucas gapped at the gentleman, her cheeks flushing red. As Mr. Cartwright stood, Beatrice Lucas turned a baleful eye upon Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Long. Fanny Bennet, for her own part, was much too overcome at the prospect of Jane dancing with Mr. Cartwright to take note of her friend's displeasure. Mrs. Long, on the other hand, not only noticed Lady Lucas' discontent, but was satisfied by it.
Once, Beatrice Lucas had been a sensible woman. In the six years since her husband's elevation to the Knighthood, however, Lady Lucas had slowly begun to put on airs; 'til, swelling with the weight of her own perceived self-importance, she began to offend one and all. For her to now seek to spurn Fanny – who had never once taken umbrage with Beatrice's growing pomposity – was truly beyond the pale. Thus, for her dear cousin's sake, if for nothing else, Mrs. Long could no longer overlook Beatrice's improprieties.
Though, Henrietta did feel somewhat remorseful that she should seek to humble Lady Lucas at Miss. Lucas' expense (even if, in the wake of Mr. Cartwright's attentions to her, Charlotte Lucas had begun to adopt her mother's pomposity)…
Needless to say, contrary to Charlotte's expectations, the Honourable Mr. Harold Cartwright of Emerson Hall did not make her an offer of marriage that evening. Indeed, having discovered Miss. Bennet to be not only beautiful, but gentle, modest and virtuous (and having found Lady Lucas' display towards Mrs. Bennet ill-mannered, as well as Charlotte's amusement in it disconcerting), Mr. Cartwright spent the remainder of the evening in a distracted state.
Disappointed by the lack of a proposal, Charlotte therefore resolved to cajole Mr. Cartwright into bringing the matter of their betrothal to a point on the morning following the Netherfield Ball.
Such, however, was not meant to be.
For the following day, for the first time since she had made the gentleman's acquaintance, Mr. Cartwright failed to make his customary morning call. In his stead, Mrs. Bennet, accompanied by her sister Phillips, arrived at Lucas Lodge. Thus, finding Charlotte and Lady Lucas in company with Mrs. Carson, Mrs. Featherstone and Mrs. Long, that wretched woman preened triumphantly. And – with great satisfaction – regaled the assembled company with tales of Mr. Cartwright's early morning call, of his ardent attentions towards dear Jane, and of her speculations as to when that gentleman was likely to propose.
"My dear Mrs. Bennet," cried Lady Lucas, aghast, "I assure you that you've quite mistaken that gentleman's kind intentions!"
Mrs. Bennet, however, would not be dissuaded. Indeed, under Lady Lucas' flummoxed gaze, that lady fairly glowed with delight. Smiling at a pale faced Charlotte, Mrs. Bennet happily accepted Mrs. Long's congratulations at dear Jane's most certain conquest.
In spite of Lady Lucas' stalwart protests, however, the following days soon proved Mrs. Bennet's claims to be true. Indeed, not only did Mr. Cartwright fail to make a single call at Lucas Lodge following the infamous Netherfield Ball, but it soon became widely known that the gentleman had thereafter taken up the habit of calling upon Longbourn daily. Mortified over Mr. Cartwright's defection, Lady Lucas attempted to prevaricate as to the nature of Charlotte's attachment to the gentleman – to no avail. Heartbroken, Charlotte could do little else but watch as the man she loved pursued another, and as the women of Meryton tittered and laughed at her abandonment.
Remembering the bittersweet memory of her beloved Mr. Cartwright (and how, in one heart wrenching moment, her one true love was stolen away from her by Mrs. Bennet's scheming ambitions), Mrs. Collins coldly met Elizabeth's expectant gaze (conceited, childish, ignorant Eliza). And, remembering how, when given the opportunity, her friends at Miss. Prewitt's Seminary had chosen to guard their own self-interest above her friendship, her eyes hardened.
"It is for the best," said she.
And there you have it, Mr. Harold Cartwright of Emerson Hall was swayed away from Charlotte's side by Miss. Jane Bennet of Longbourn. But, contrary to Charlotte's beliefs, Jane's beauty and Mrs. Bennet's scheming were not the driving force behind Harold's abandonment. Indeed, though it is sad to say, Charlotte's own behavior bears a good deal of the blame. Though both Lady Lucas and Mrs. Bennet behaved poorly, Charlotte reveled in her mother's pomposity, whereas Jane blushed at her mother's improprieties. In the end, it was not Jane's beauty which swayed Mr. Cartwright, but rather her character...
For those of you who are curious, the hint I would have given you was; "Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away."
This, of course, refers to the infamous suitor which Jane once had - the one who wrote her a lovely sonnet - and the one for whom Mrs. Bennet once had high hopes for (e.i. Mr. Cartwright).
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Once again, Happy New Year!