When I posted the story 'Karma' in my short stories, a number of you suggested that you would like a longer version.
Since I had some ideas, I am expanding the story. Much of the first two chapters was in the original post, but there is some new material included.
TRIGGER WARNING - TRIGGER WARNING - TRIGGER WARNING - TRIGGER WARNING
This chapter contains domestic violence.
~~F~~
A Cruel Fate
In March of the year 1808, Mr Collins, the heir presumptive of Longbourn, proposed to Miss Elizabeth Bennet who had just turned seventeen.
Given the chance, he probably would have chosen her older sister Jane, but Mrs Bennet had sent her most beautiful daughter to her brother in London when she discovered that Collins was coming to visit, with the intention of choosing a wife from her daughters.
Since Mrs Bennet disliked Elizabeth, her second daughter, for any number of reasons but particularly because Elizabeth had chosen not to be born a boy who would inherit their estate, the lady decided that Lizzy should make up for her shortcomings by marrying the heir presumptive. Mrs Bennet reasoned that if her daughter was married to the heir, when Mr Bennet passed on to his final reward, she herself would not only be able to remain in her home but retain her position as mistress of Longbourn.
When Elizabeth rejected his proposal, Collins applied to Mrs Bennet, who was also unable to get her daughter to agree to save her mother and her sisters from the hedgerows if Mr Bennet should pass away prematurely.
Mrs Bennet frenziedly hounded Mr Bennet to assert his authority over his daughter and force her to marry Mr Collins. Despite Elizabeth being Mr Bennet's favourite daughter, his wife eventually wore him down.
Notwithstanding her protests that Mr Collins was a ridiculous and stupid man, Elizabeth Bennet was forced to become Mrs William Collins.
~F~
The day of her wedding, she and her husband had travelled to Hunsford arriving late in the evening. Despite the lateness of the hour and the exhaustion of a day spent in a carriage, Mr Collins had insisted on joining his wife to complete the final stage of their wedding.
The following morning, they walked to Rosings so that Collins could present his wife to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, proving to his patroness that he had followed her orders and married one of his cousins.
Elizabeth was still tired and sore from the previous day and as a consequence was more quiet than was her wont. The quiet demeanour seemed to please Lady Catherine and even though the interview was brief, the lady did them the honour of inviting the newlyweds to dinner.
When Elizabeth and Collins arrived at Rosings ten minutes before the appointed time, she was introduced to Lady Catherine's nephews, who had come for their annual visit.
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy were quite irritated with Collins since he interrupted his wife almost every time she opened her lips to respond to a question.
Darcy in particular, since he had a better view of the lady due to their relative positions at the dining table, noticed the tension in the jaw and the shoulders of Mrs Collins. He wondered how such a lovely young lady could have married such a bumbling fool as the parson.
During the dinner, the gentleman tried to subtly deflect his aunt's inquisition of the charming young matron. As Darcy was only partly successful Lady Catherine still managed to discomfit her guest.
Mrs Collins answered quietly but honestly, causing Lady Catherine to exclaim, 'Upon my word, you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person.'
It seemed that Mrs Collins' tolerance had its limits when she answered, 'I do beg your pardon, Lady Catherine. Since I was informed that you pride yourself on your frankness of character. I thought that you might appreciate that quality in others.'
'While I am all in favour of honesty, you should attempt to learn tact,' huffed the lady.
'I can assure you, your ladyship the I will ensure that my wife will be most attentive to her lessons,' Collins promised his patroness.
~F~
Being significantly more intelligent than her husband, Elizabeth could not resist correcting Mr Collins during their limited conversations. This circumstance as well as having made a bad start with Lady Catherine, caused Collins to take exception to his wife's behaviour.
He had been raised to believe that men were superior to women and must therefore ensure that their wives behaved in a properly submissive manner and never contradicted their husbands. It was therefore a part of his marital duties to teach his wife to display the proper deference towards himself.
While Collins was not a cruel man, he had learnt the correct behaviour of the head of the household from the example set by his father who taught his son that physical chastisement was the proper way to deal with the transgressions of the family members in his care.
Being quite inflexible, he could not accept that such behaviour was not universally practiced or even condoned. Therefore, as much as it pained him, he would follow in his father's footsteps.
Since Collins valued routine as he was not intellectually suited to deal with surprises, he set aside Sunday evening for the performance of all his marital duties.
The first order of business after dinner was to tally up his wife's transgressions for the week and administer all the week's chastisements, as permitted by law, in one fell swoop. Mr Collins, being a most law-abiding citizen ensured that he followed the rule of thumb precisely. The cane he used on his wife's back was never thicker than his thumb. Unfortunately for his wife, he had rather pudgy hands to go with his rather large and pudgy body.
Mrs Collins came to dread Sundays. While the physical punishment was bad enough, her husband also lectured her concerning the reason for the administration of every single stroke of the cane. She could not even protest, once she learnt that Collins considered her objections as grounds for punishment since a wife was never allowed to question her husband's opinions or actions.
Collins would then finish the evening with the performance of his other marital duties, which he disliked in equal measure as the first, to ensure that his wife would produce the heir required by their future estate. Naturally, the only proper way for his wife to receive his attention was for her to be lying on her back.
Every Sunday night Elizabeth cursed her mother while tears streamed into her pillow.
~F~
Three months into their marriage, Mrs Collins was pleased to inform her husband that she was with child.
He was overjoyed and proud of his manliness. Collins was also pleased that he could now suspend the second part of his marital duties until his heir was born and weaned, although he still continued his efforts to teach his wife the proper way to behave.
Several months later, when Elizabeth became too large to bend over properly to accept his chastisements, he suspended her lessons, saving them up for when she would be physically capable to receive them.
In due course, Elizabeth was delivered of a boy. As the birth had been a difficult one, she was allowed to hire a wetnurse to take some of the burden of looking after their heir off her shoulders.
Collins was ecstatic and proudly wrote to the Bennets to inform them of his prowess as a husband.
~F~
Elizabeth could not sleep. So, when her son woke in the middle of the night, she went to feed him.
As she was holding Henry Collins to her breast, she said quietly to the fractious infant, 'You poor mite, being saddled with a father like Mr Collins who will likely make your life hell no matter what you or I do.'
The boy squirmed. She looked at him with pity and crooned softly. 'And to add to your troubles you have a mother who would like to love you but cannot. It is not your fault that you were conceived in hatred. But I am not a saint. I am sorry, but I simply cannot love you.'
It seemed almost as if Henry Collins understood his mother's words as he suddenly clamped his gums shut, causing Elizabeth to cry out in pain. When she managed to detach her son from her breast, it was bleeding.
Fortunately, Elizabeth's cry woke Mrs Brown. When the wetnurse saw the damage which her charge had done to his mother, she suggested, 'I think I had better feed him from now on.'
Elizabeth gratefully agreed.
~F~
A month later Elizabeth was churched. and allowed to leave the house again, to attend the christening of her son.
She was grateful that Mr Collins most graciously decided to allow her a few more days to regain her strength before resuming their former routines.
Before that could happen, a black edged letter was delivered to the Hunsford parsonage informing the residents that Mr Bennet had fallen victim to an accident and had passed away.
Naturally, Collins immediately insisted that Elizabeth should pack to journey hurriedly to Longbourn to pay their final respects. Due to the inclement weather, Collins decided it would be safer for his son to remain at the parsonage with his wetnurse.
The couple arrived in time for Collins to attend the funeral of Mr Bennet, while Elizabeth stayed at Longbourn with the other ladies.
As it was Saturday, Mr Phillips suggested that they should read the will immediately following the funeral and finalise all the papers since it would not do to do so on Sunday.
As expected, Mr Phillips confirmed that Mr Collins was now the master of Longbourn and that the entail was at an end. Collins was elated to sign the papers transferring full ownership to him.
Mr Collins, having achieved his dream of being master of the estate, allowed Mrs Bennet and her daughters to remain in the house, although he insisted that the master and mistress's suite should be made available to him and his wife immediately, an order which Mrs Bennet grudgingly obeyed.
Once her belongings had been moved to another room, which ironically used to be Elizabeth's before her marriage, Mrs Bennet took herself off to that refuge and sulked.
~F~
Sunday morning saw the combined Bennet and Collins families attending services.
Despite her father's passing, Elizabeth felt better than she had in almost a year. She was regaining her physical strength and on this Sunday, she did even not have to listen to her husband's sermon as written by Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
That feeling of euphoria lasted until after dinner, when her husband came to her room carrying his cane. 'We have several months' worth of corrections to perform,' he informed his wife.
'Please, no. I am not yet strong enough,' pleaded Elizabeth but it was no use.
Collins had kept meticulous records and administered all the arrears, after which he went to his own rooms feeling a little lightheaded, which he put down to the exertions of having performed his duty to the best of his ability.
Elizabeth was left behind lying battered on the floor where she had collapsed. Eventually she managed to crawl into what used to be her mother's bed dressed only in her shift. She immediately went to sleep, although it would be more accurate to say that she passed out and did not wake until late the next morning.
~F~
~~F~~
Fates (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2023