Mr Bennet chose to return to his study the previous evening, instead of checking on his wife. There would be no rest for him. Nothing about his cousin was what he had expected. Nothing. This highly anticipated visit was now very likely going to turn his household upside-down, well he had anticipated that but now it wasn't in his control. After the revelations last night, he had not known what to do. How could it be possible that his cousin could gain the upper hand from beyond the grave, he was an idiot! What could possibly have happened to change Collins Sr so drastically. He remembered his father speaking of his cousin's joy in his work, his happiness that Collins Sr had met a woman he could love that made his life better. Thomas always thought his father had been lying, or at the very least bending the truth. Why would anyone be happy as a clergyman? And he was sure even if Mrs Collins had been a paragon of her gender, she couldn't possible have made that much of a difference to the man, it just wasn't what happened in marriage. He had been very much in love with Mrs Bennet during those first few years, before her nerves made an appearance. But then he realised just how flighty and uneducated she was. It was one thing to enjoy dancing, gossiping and making mischief together while they courted, but it soon became tiresome. Looking back, he thought it may have been a better idea to have a season in London to find a wife, but he just didn't like the place. Far too crowded, and no one ever took any notice of a country gentleman with little fortune.
Looking at the papers in front of him, he desperately tried to think of a way he could refuse. The entail was already broken, nothing could be done about that. Some thought may need to go into caring for his estate again, perhaps he would hire a steward, someone who knew how to undo all the damage he had knowingly overlooked. He walked over to the window watching the sun rise over the hills. After some minutes he spun around, throwing himself back into his chair with a huff "presumptuous woman".
His girls had never even met Mrs Collins! Why the woman decided to be their benefactor was anyone's guess. Personally, he found it quite insulting. He was very capable of taking care of his family without the interference of busybodies with more money than sense. But then that was the real rub. He could never have given the girls what Mrs Collins had willed them as a mere after thought. Here he was holding the answers to all their troubles. With the money in the four percent all the girls would have more than enough to outfit them properly, travel for the season if they wanted and even hire a tutor or two if they were so inclined. And of course, their chances of marrying well were now much higher than any of them could have ever imagined. He should be overjoyed that he would no longer have to worry about their futures. Or more specifically that he may be rid of them all sooner than he thought possible.
The truth was that Mr Bennet was not the man he once was, or even the one he thought he would be by now. He never felt any remorse for what he had done in the past, he still enjoyed spreading his small falsehoods as he called them, it was always interesting to see how much you could make people believe despite any and all evidence to the contrary. It became so much more fun when he discovered his little Lizzy had inherited his gift. The first time she ever lied to get one of her sisters in trouble with such innocence he saw potential, in truth there was very little he had to teach her except restraint. She was such a natural manipulator that it was only to be expected that she wanted to use it all the time to get what she wanted, but he knew that you had to be careful, otherwise people would begin to suspect you like his father had when he was young and naive. If he was more active in society, he may still have been able to sway people with a word but he had grown lazy, relying on his daughter to cultivate opinions outside their home while he focused more on those he had more direct influence over.
Ringing the bell for Hill he informed her that he would not be joining the family for breakfast, instead requesting a tray and pot of coffee in his study. He may not be able to stop the avalanche rushing towards him, but he could bloody well ignore it until he was ready to face it.
An hour later Mr Bennet was disturbed by a knock on his door.
….
Fanny Bennet had not had a restful night. After being escorted to her room and helped into bed she found she could not rest, nor could she find the energy for a fit of nerves as she liked to do when she felt no one else appreciated the gravity of the situation. For once in her life she had no idea how to feel about this new development, obviously it was a stroke of good luck, but it was so unexpected. Her only worry for the last two decades had been not having sons, then how to marry her daughter off before their father died, probably from a long painful illness that would tax her greatly of course. Or possibly in a dual, she did like the idea of Mr Bennet defending his family's honour, but he simply refused to be insulted on their behalf. With a shake of her head she put these thoughts out of her mind. The only thing a dual would accomplish now would be a hole in her husband's perfectly good jacket. The Lord was being very good to them, taking away the entail and securing a home for them even if the girls never married, but it just seemed so unreal. And she had no hand in it.
Breakfast was not wholly uneventful. Mr Collins was quite charming, he asked after her health and seemed to listen when she spoke. Lizzy had for some reason taken to glaring at her cousin but as she was usually very temperamental with gentlemen Fanny didn't worry about it too much, Jane and Mary carried the bulk of the conversation with their cousin…hmmm…Mary, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but their was something different about her...possibly her hairstyle...she had an almost wild look in her eyes….where were her glasses? Oh, never mind, you didn't really need to see all that far to be pleasant in company, and this may stop all that bashing about on the pianoforte. Kitty was rather out of sorts, perhaps she was feeling ill again, she really must stop that girl taking walks they did nothing for her health, and Lydia was a delight as always. She was planning to visit the officers again today, one of them was bound to fall in love with her, hopefully one with a large fortune. Mrs Bennet chose not to consider the fact that no man with a large fortune ever ended up in the militia, but they were all so handsome it must mean some of them had wealth and connections enough to support a wife with no dowry.
After breakfast she decided to speak to her husband. Normally she would feel quite intimidated by him, he very rarely missed a meal with them unless he was in an especially bad mood, but today nothing could make her day less than perfect.
Entering his study, only after being invited of course, the last time she just walked in he shouted for a full ten minutes! "Ah, Mrs Bennet, I thought it would be Mr Collins coming to speak about these papers. He has some explaining to do." Fanny paused, she had been arranging her skirt as she sat in the chair directly opposite her husband but his tone took her by surprise.
"And what pray is their to explain? The entail is broken. Although" She decided to walk over to the window, dramatic effect always being the best choice when having a conversation of great import "I do think it would be a shame for Mr Collins to leave without wife." She sighed, walking back to her chair as she was in fact quite tired from staying up all night trying to decide whether she had been ill used or not " Just because we are secure now, they had plenty of time to dissolve the entail before and didn't! It has caused me so much grief and suffering! Why it is quite unkind of Mr Collins Sr to never inform us of his intentions, the least his son could do is marry one of the girls."
Mr Bennet looked at his wife not entirely sure if she was happy her troubles seemed to be, if not over, at least lessened somewhat or if she was just angry that this unforeseen turn of events had not been presented sooner. "Well as you are here my dear you may as well look over the paperwork yourself. This may perhaps endear Mr Collins to you, as far as I can tell he's no better than his father." He smiled sarcastically at his wife, holding the papers out to her, shaking them slightly until she obliged him by taking them
Fanny was confused at first, she looked at the papers as instructed, taking her time as she never was the fastest reader. What could looking at legal papers do to improve her opinion of anyone? What did she care if Mrs Collins had left….left….twenty-seven thousand…..
Each…
For the second time, Fanny Bennet fainted.
Sighing as he stood Mr Bennet exerted himself enough to open his door and call for Mrs Hill. Lydia was passing through the hall and became momentarily hysterical at the sight of her mother again on the ground but was soon consoled when it took less than a minute to revive said mother. Feeling the fright had taken years off her life, which would not help her in her pursuit of an officer (or indeed anyone in a red coat) she demanded more pin money as compensations. There were several new ribbons available in town which would look lovely on her. Mr Bennet in no mood for his youngest daughter gave her several shilling and sent her on her way. By this time Mrs Bennet had once again been escorted to her room by a very confused Kitty who had also been passing the study when her father opened the door and was beginning to wander if her mother would be on the floor in a dead faint every time she entered a room from now on. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, her mother never did have anything nice to say to Kitty after all, but this morning she really did need to speak with Mary alone. Instead she was sitting with her mother until she woke up again, or at least for half an hour…ten minutes minimum, she was her mother after all. On deeper reflection Kitty felt she had done her duty just by accompanying Mrs Bennet to her room and quickly left to find her sister.
Several hours later Mrs Bennet woke with a new determination. Lack of funds no longer being an issue she would take her entire family to London for the season. There was a lot of planning and preparations to do, but first she had a guest to see to, far from being a burden Mr Collins was an honoured guest and would be made to feel welcome, introduced to the neighbourhood, why who better to spread tales of their good fortune than the man responsible for it. Wanting to start spreading the good news as quickly as possible she decided to inform Lydia of their good fortune first, her youngest daughter having just arrived home from visiting the shops in Meryton.
