"Mr Collins, Welcome to Longbourn" Mr Bennet held his hand out to his cousin's son. He couldn't keep the frown forming on his face. Something was very wrong here. He had expected a toadying sycophant with hardly any brains and no conversation. The man in front of him was, he would begrudgingly admit, handsome with excellent clothes for someone of his station in life and seemed more composed than he had expected.
"Allowed me to introduce you to my family" Mr Collins greeted all his cousins as cordially as he could. Mrs Bennet was obviously not happy to make his acquaintance but that would all probably change once he'd had the chance to tell them his news. Her daughters were polite, except for the youngest who appeared to be more interested in her own thoughts than anything going on in the outside world. Understandable at her age so he would hold judgement until he had a chance to get to know her better. On his journey he had realised that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to know an entire branch of his family he'd rarely ever thought about. As a clergyman he was ashamed of himself for never wandering about there wellbeing, but he was now ready and willing, or at least ready, to make amends and get to know all his cousins. Hopefully he could annoy their father while he was at it.
After the relevant small talk Mr Bennet lead the procession into the house. He was now very curious about this man he had invited into his family home. Perhaps it wouldn't be as entertaining as he had first thought, but you never can tell from appearance alone.
Miss Bennet lead the conversation over tea, how was his parish? Was his journey pleasant? She seemed like a very genteel, well read young woman who was able to deal with an awkward meeting with no help from her parents. Miss Mary and Catherine added to the conversation when Miss Bennet ran out of required pleasantry and Mr Collins was pleasantly surprised that at least 3 of his cousins were not beyond hope. He could not detect any unpleasantness from them. They were all obviously feeling unsure about his presence in their home but that was very understandable. He like them all the more for the effort they were putting into making him feel comfortable. Miss Elizabeth was an entirely different creature to her sisters. She watched the conversation with a sardonic smile on her lips, only commenting to shine a light on others flaws or make himself feel uncomfortable. In her he could easily see the image of Mr Bennet that his father had painted for him, but the curious thing was that not everyone else in the room seemed to be aware of it. Of course, it could just be that they were used to these types of comments. He may have been fooled by her seemingly pleasant demeanour if he hadn't had prior knowledge of her fathers' character. But it did make him wander if there were others being ill used as his father was.
Mrs Bennet offered only the briefest civility before sitting in her chair glaring at everyone and making biting comments whenever she felt appropriate. All in all the first hour could have been much worse, but he felt some hope that this would not be such a bad visit once he informed them of his reasons for visiting.
At one-point Mrs Bennet having momentarily been distracted by a piece of lace on her gown that seemed to be coming loose asked Mr Collins about his marriage prospects, leading to a lengthy discussion on the merits of her daughters. By this point he could not help the colour rising on his face. How could he have forgotten that part of his letter, insinuating a desire to marry one of Mr Bennet's daughters to make up for inheriting the estate. In hindsight that was not the best idea he'd ever had but it was done now, and he would have to make it very clear from the offset that he had no interest in ANY of his cousins at present or the foreseeable future. With that in mind he stood up, breaking into Mrs Bennet's monologue of her daughters many yet non-existent accomplishments.
"Mr Bennet! If I may I would like to speak to you, and your excellent family about the reasons for my visit. As you know my parents are both deceased." At this point he waved away Miss Bennet's condolences to continue before he lost his nerve. "I hardly know where to begin, but the fact of the matter remains that my father at the end of his life came to deeply regret the position the entail would put your family in. Due to circumstances I shall explain at a later date he found himself in possession of his own estate and enough ready income to no longer covet yours. He wanted to end the entail put in place by your own excellent father and I have come here today to inform you that I have done as he could not before his unexpected demise. In short, the entail as it were is no longer in affect. I have the papers in my bag for you to counter sign at your earliest convenience." This last was said to Mr Bennet who had been sitting with his mouth wide open for most of his speech.
He would not deny that having shocked his cousin to this degree made him feel quite good. Looking around the room he saw his cousins in a similar fashion, all seemingly frozen by his proclamation, with varying degrees of colour left in their faces. Just as he was beginning to worry for their health Mrs Bennet, who until this point had been watching the whole proceedings with quiet calm, rose from her seat and fainted.
