Letter 23: Mr Collins to Mr Darcy
February 22nd
Mr Darcy,
I am sensible how much this address is breaking in and interrupting your most important thoughts and business, which the honour and interest of our most gracious sovereign, and the nation, can but ill dispense with. And fearing to offend you, by expatiating on the affability, candour, and humanity, which has gained you universal applause among all ranks of the people, I must beg your pardon for the manner in which I intrude upon your notice.
The business regarding my son and Miss Wickham — a most unfortunate affair — has brought to my mind the necessity of more diligent care. There is no blame to be placed on your niece, of course; I am only grieved, deeply grieved, that such an affront should come at the hands of my son — I assure you he is in general the most upright and principled of young men, barring your own magnificent offspring. The lady's brother, I am given to understand, resides at your exalted and noble abode, and I hope I am not too impertinent in extending an invitation on his behalf to look after her in her present discomfort?
I am, sir, your humble servant,
William Collins
Letter 24: Elizabeth Wickham to George Wickham
February 23rd
Dear George,
I have been obliged to complain to Mr Collins of his son's outrageous conduct. Charlotte and Catherine are good enough to comfort me as I write this; I assure you I have rarely been so shocked in my life. I had not the slightest idea that his feelings were so fervent. It is truly my own fault; I should not have attempted to walk so soon, and stumbled all down a hill. I might have broken my neck! As it happens, I only broke my ankle.
William was really very distressed; I am sure that is the only reason he kissed me. But do not be alarmed, dear brother; he took no further liberties with my person and it was not wholly disagreeable.
This regrettable incident has shown me, however, that the chaperonage here is shamefully inadequate. I will ask Jack to come for Easter, I am certain he can spare the time.
Please pass on my regards to my cousins and aunt.
Your loving sister,
Elizabeth
Letter 25: Mr Darcy to Mrs Darcy
February 25th
My dear Elizabeth,
I have received the most curious letter from Mr Collins. I enclose it here as I would not presume to adequately represent the tone of his correspondence. Do you know, by chance, what on earth he is speaking of? You may need to speak to George about what scheme his sister is hatching this time.
F. D.
Letter 26: George Wickham to Elizabeth Wickham
February 26th
My dear sister,
I presume that you wrote your last charming letter while in the company of our cousins? I am very sorry for that unhappy incident. You have such admirable composure! I do not think any other woman could so serenely continue in his company. Forgive me for having doubted your abilities in this regard. Though, as you said, I daresay it was the impulse of the moment; I believe him to be a young man of sterling character.
When you are forced into solitude, you must inform me, so that I may express my condolences properly; I fear what to say, out of concern for my fair cousins' sensibilities. Mr Collins, it seems, was quite disturbed and wrote to Mr Darcy. Do not fear, he places no blame on your shoulders, but he thinks it might be better if you were to enjoy my company. That, I fear, will be impossible at present, though once we are in London, matters may be different; for now, I replied to my aunt's very discreet inquiries that Jack would be a much greater comfort to you. I am such a good-for-nothing fellow, after all.
I hope your recovery continues unhampered, Bess. I remain your affectionate brother,
George Wickham
Letter 27: Mrs Darcy to Mrs Bingley
March 1st
Dearest Jane,
I trust that you and Mr Bingley enjoy good health? The ordinary civilities dispensed with, we are all in an uproar of sorts at Pemberley.
By of sorts I mean that all appears perfectly well on the surface. To summarise: George managed to finagle an invitation and is staying at Pemberley with us until he returns to his work in town. He is extraordinarily attentive to Elizabeth, and therefore she finds solitude a rare luxury since his arrival. More than that, she is quite uncomfortable in his company, for no particular reason. When Fitzwilliam left — the steward at Ardsley was irredeemably corrupt — matters quickly turned into a comedy of errors. Elizabeth stayed with Lady Ravenshaw for a few days and mentioned something of her feelings to her; Lady H in turn confided her fears for Elizabeth in Mr Darcy at Ardsley. Naturally he thought the best solution was to arrange for the additional company of someone Elizabeth trusts — Lord Ravenshaw's son Darcy Rochford. Well, he was enough alarmed to write to his sisters, who wrote to their father and cousins and other sundry relations — and I daresay you can imagine what is happening now.
The simplest solution, and the universal favourite, is to go to town. There, Elizabeth will have opportunities to spend her time away from George, she will be exposed to good society (and husbands more acceptable in every regard), we may enjoy all the entertainments London has to offer, and I am quite certain that F. is itching to — what was his latest phrase for it? Exercise his influence. He liked the grand speeches and the excitement of the elections well enough when we were young, but now he prefers to take a less active, or at least more subtle, role in such affairs.
I am sorry about your trouble with Martha and Kitty; I confess I would never have thought it of Martha. You know, of course, that we would be more than delighted to have her with us? They have always been somewhat overwhelmed by my husband, and Elizabeth, you know, would not tolerate that sort of nonsense for a moment. She might be a good influence on her — or even Catherine; I always thought they were rather in awe of her. She quite has her father's gift for inspiring deference, and a strong dose of insignificance might do them some good!
I am so pleased about Theophilus. Mary really thought he might never recover. Even taking her nerves into account, I was nearly about to send our physician for him. My sister Stanley is the best of health, though she shows some tendencies alarmingly reminiscent of Mama at that age. When she advised (almost demanded!) that Bella come out with Georgiana, I said — oh, it is terrible, I said, 'both? the younger out before the elder is married?' Somewhere, Lady Catherine de Bourgh is laughing — or smiling condescendingly, as seems more likely. She didn't approve of laughter.
Well, we shall go to town, and I will not make any matches. I have promised myself, — though perhaps a little proper encouragement might be permissible. F. is oblivious to it all — men will be men. Though I daresay he may find it necessary to expand his repertoire of fearsome glares.
Tell me your wishes for Martha and Kitty, Jane, and give my best regards to your family.
Your sister,
Elizabeth Darcy
Letter 28: Martha Bingley to Elizabeth Darcy
March 5th
My dear aunt,
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your kind invitation. I am so happy, everyone is horrid unpleasant here — oh, and please extend my gratitude to my uncle, he is so kind and I do not deserve it. I will be on my very best behaviour, I have promised Mama and I promise you.
Should I have any new dresses? Mama says last year's are good enough, but being Mr Darcy's niece is very different from being plain Miss Martha Bingley, is not it? Could you persuade her that I need new ones? And my very favourite, the sprigged muslin, has a rip in it! Papa is no good at all, he does whatever she says. But I do not want to impose, so I can ask somebody else if you would rather not.
Oh, and thank you for not inviting Kitty too. I am very fond of her but she is in dreadful spirits since that business with Mr — oh, I forget his name. But the one that was so violently in love with her. She hates hurting people's feelings, I really think she would have accepted him if I had not persuaded her out of it, but she didn't care a whit for him, I know she didn't. But I hope nothing will happen while I'm away. Kitty is just as complaisant as Papa and I know she will agree to anything if I am not there to look after her, but I will tell her to write to me constantly and that will be that.
Thank you, again, and please give my best, most grateful, regards to my uncle and my cousins and anybody else I should be sending regards to.
Your loving niece,
Martha Bingley
Letter 29: Martha Bingley to Sarah Gardiner
March 5th
Dear Sarah,
Oh, I am so happy! The Darcys are going to town, did you know? And Mrs Darcy invited me to stay with them this Season. I've never been in town over the Season, because Mama does not want me to stay with my aunt Hurst (I think there was a scandal there, and I shall discover it!), and Mrs Brydges is wretched unpleasant, and none of the others are in town except Mrs Darcy. And I am to be a companion to Elizabeth and Elizabeth always knows everything about people so I am sure I shall hear all sorts of things, and besides, she is so very rich, she is bound to have more beaux than you can imagine, and so I shall meet all sorts of people. Oh, forgive me, this is so rambling and incoherent, but I am terribly excited. And I am sure I shall see you too, Mr Darcy and Mr Gardiner are always doing some sort of business when they get within five miles of each other. I am sure you could come with us, nobody would care that your fortune was got in trade if you're Mr Darcy's niece — well, cousin, but it's almost the same thing, especially since your mother could practically be his sister.
Oh, and there's been the most awful fuss after my convincing Kitty to refuse this monstrously rich gentleman. He was thirty-five and plain and so dull. Besides, she was terrified of marrying him, because she felt she had to. So I just made friends with his sister and talked her around and she talked him around so he never proposed, but I had to persuade Kitty not to accept him just in case. He was really nobody despite being so rich, you know. The natural son of somebody, marrying a Miss Bingley! Can you imagine it?
That is all that I can think of, I will tell you everything when I am there.
I remain your affectionate cousin,
Martha
Letter 30: Sarah Gardiner to Elizabeth Darcy
March 8th
Elizabeth,
Please forgive the brevity of this note. I have just had news from Caroline that you are to be in town this spring? I confess I am surprised, but I am delighted for my own sake. It will be a pleasure to see you all again, and particularly you, my dear friend. Please give my regards to my cousins.
S. G.
Letter 31: Elizabeth Wickham to John Wickham
March 10th
My dear brother,
Forgive my impudence, but I must ask you to come and stay at Longbourn, where I presently reside. George may have told you of my unfortunate mishap? In the circumstance that he has not, I will summarise: I twisted my ankle as I was passing through the village, and the Collinses insisted upon inviting me to stay with them until it had healed. Foolishly, I attempted to walk on it, and fell down again, more painfully. My ankle is now broken. That is the less disturbing aspect, however; our cousin William took liberties with my person after my fall. I feel sure that it was merely nerves, but even so, I would be greatly relieved to have your company. You would certainly prevent any such recurrences.
I remain your affectionate sister,
Elizabeth Wickham