An Odious Match
Prologue
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a gentleman's wife with five daughters and no natural heir will force them into any eligible and unfitting match. One such case was the union of William Collins and Elizabeth Bennet.
When news arrived of an unmarried Mr. Bingley arriving at the nearby estate of Netherfield Park, Mrs. Bennet was eager to get to work. Meddling in her neighbor's affairs was her favorite pastime, second only to securing her safety through her daughter's marriages. Despite her own marriage not being a well-balanced or loving match, she knew the consequences of necessary security in the marriage state and would require her daughters of which she bore five to accept any suitable man who offered.
Her Eldest Jane, the county beauty, was beginning to age; for no woman should reach three and twenty without a marriage. As there were but months until such an age came to pass, her actions needed to be swift and forceful if there were to come into effect. Elizabeth, full of wit and conversation was currently twenty, but convincing a man she would be a respectable wife would prove to be a challenge indeed. Mrs. Bennet made her displeasure of her least favorite daughter known, though still required that her impertinent daughter leave her father's house.
The third, Mary was far too plain. The girl never knew what to say and when she attempted conversation, it almost always came from a passage of scripture. She could learn a bit from her youngest Lydia whose lively nature drew many in, whether it be to make fun of the girl, or they merely enjoyed her company, one should not say. Kitty, the fourth was somewhat forgotten. Destined to be forever outshined by the charm, beauty, and accomplishments of her sisters. Perhaps the only unique quality about the girl was her ever-present cough which she could never seem to shift.
In the days leading up to Mr. Bingey's imminent arrival, the house of Longbourn was in an uproar. Mrs. Bennet had lost all sense, as her nerves bothered her greatly whenever the state of her future and those of her daughters came into question. As she already determined this Mr. Bingley would marry one of them, her family had to be perfect upon their meeting him and his party.
Mr. Bennet instead of easing his wife's comfort found humor in it and made sport of her nonsensical worries. As any good neighbor would, Mr. Bennet had already met with the man, but determining his wife had no use for such information, kept the knowledge of his meeting to himself. Such was the case for days until Mrs. Bennet proclaimed to all at the breakfast table one morning.
"I have heard enough of Mr. Bingley. I shall hear of him no more! If your father shall not visit with our new neighbor, then I am afraid we shall see Charlotte Lucas take your futures from you."
"While I cannot confirm if Mr. Bingley has met our dear Charlotte, I can confirm that Mr. Bingley seems to be a good sort of man. Perhaps not as well read as I would like, but if you are determined to hear of him no more, you shan't hear any complaints from me." Mr. Bennet smirked as his wife's face changed in appearance from anger to confusion, until she clasped her hands in joy.
"Oh thank you, Mr. Bennet! Girls, is he not a good father? You shall all dance with Mr. Bingley at the assembly on Saturday. We must have the carriage, Mr. Bennet, I am certain Jane and Lydia need more lace for their gowns." The matron cried in excitement.
"No lace, Mrs. Bennet, I beg of you." As he moved to depart from the table, he made eye contact with Elizabeth and winked.
As expected, the town of Meryton and the surrounding neighborhood were all anticipation of the assembly that forthcoming Saturday to meet the illusive Mr. Bingley and his rumored five thousand a year. Mrs. Bennet ensured her daughters looked their best that evening, particularly Jane and Lydia. Her husband, as was his wont, remained home for the evening, but wished them a good night before returning to his bookroom.
Upon reaching the assembly rooms, Elizabeth and Jane were greeted by their close friend Charlotte Lucas. After the necessary pleasantries, Elizabeth questioned her friend regarding the new master of Netherfield.
"Have you met this Mr. Bingley yet Charlotte?"
"Indeed I have. His visit was short as he returned to London to bring his sisters directly following his visit. He seems a kind, gentlemanly man."
"Ever the pragmatic, but we must know, is he handsome?"
"Oh Lizzy, you shall soon discover that for yourself." Charlotte quipped, but their laughter was cut short as the Netherfield Party entered the assembly room.
There were four in attendance. Two gentlemen and two ladies, not the reputed twelve ladies and seven gentlemen that had made its way around the gossip throughout the past week. Sir William Lucas, the magistrate, and master of ceremonies performed the necessary introductions. One look upon Mr. Bingley's face and one knew that he was captured by the beauty of the eldest Miss Bennet.
The evening went on as to be expected, Mr. Bingley was well-liked by the neighborhood and his two sets with Jane Bennet spoke of his character and interest. His sisters and brother-in-law were not perhaps as friendly as Mr. Bingley, but this matter was overlooked on account of his good nature.
Not two days later, a letter arrived at Longbourn from Netherfield Park. A few days passed, and Jane received a letter from Netherfield inviting her to tea with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. Mrs. Bennet used this opportunity to form a sort of cunning, forcing her loveliest of daughters out on horseback in the rain. Jane Bennet caught a chill.
After receiving a letter from her sister, Elizabeth set out on foot for Netherfield to ensure her sister's care. Receiving censure for her appearance after walking three miles. She nursed her sister back to health, and while Jane slept, Elizabeth retreated downstairs to where her hosts congregated, yet she found her time to be quite lonesome. The superior sisters were welcoming, but Elizabeth believed it not to be genuine. Whilst her sister slept, she mostly read in the library. The selection was not the greatest but was sufficient for her short time there.
After two days, Mrs. Bennet and her daughters came to look into Jane's health and she declared her too ill to be moved. While the Bennets were at the house the youngest Miss Lydia pleaded for a ball at Netherfield. Mr. Bingley full of gentlemanly hospitality gave in to her wishes and requested that she choose the day of the ball.
Once Jane had recovered, the two eldest Bennet sisters returned to Longbourn where their father made an announcement.
"I hope my dear that you have ordered a good dinner, for we are to expect an addition to our family party. My cousin, Mr. Collins. When I pass, he will take this house and throw you out as soon as would please him. But he does write that he would indeed like to 'heal the breach' I pray one of you may be handsome enough to tempt him."
The arrival of Mr. William Collins became quite a shock to the family. He was a clergyman in Kent. His patroness was Lady Catherine de Bourgh. He spoke as he chewed and swallowed as he spoke. He made all the guests at Longbourn feel uncomfortable save Mrs. Bennet and Miss Mary. Mary happened to be similar to him, not in the ways of table manners, but with respect to the church and their topics of conversation.
The day of the Netherfield Ball was heavily anticipated indeed. Mr. Collins requested the first two dances with Miss Elizabeth herself, she felt much forced into accepting. She was not looking forward to the evening save Mr. George Wickham. A new member of the militia who had made their acquaintance.
Mr. Wickham was all things gentlemanly and polite. When their paths had first crossed she couldn't help but blush. His mannerisms were quite capital indeed and his face was quite handsome. When he spoke there seemed to be a light of honesty in his eyes. He was handsome indeed and spoke of everyone in the county ever so kindly. He had good breeding. She hoped he would attend and perhaps ask for her dance card, yet all the other girls in the county were hoping for the same. What were her chances?
After her first two with Mr. Collins, she wanted to leave. He simply danced terribly. He walked in the wrong direction and stepped on her feet several times. Even worse she had found Mr. Wickham was unable to attend because of business in town. She thought the night could not get any worse, and then it did.
Lydia and Kitty could not contain themselves or exhibit any sense of propriety. They were flirting openly with the officers and making complete fools of their family. Then Mary decided her time would be best spent displaying her talents. Her singing and playing were both equally horrible. Mr. Bennet deciding he had heard enough of her "talents" put a stop to it in the most horrific way imaginable.
By the time the Bennet carriage arrived to return the family home to Longbourn, it had somehow arrived a quarter hour after the previous coach. Elizabeth climbed into the carriage and closed her eyes wishing the events of the evening away from memory.
Author's Note: Well, here begins the long-awaited rewrite of my first story which I never completed on this site, but that is soon to change. I have taken the criticisms I received years ago and am making some serious changes to the story. I plan to post updates twice a week until completion. I want to thank everyone who has supported this story in particular over the years, I know it has been annoying and I am a total hypocrite as I get annoyed when other authors do what I did, but I am hoping you can enjoy this again...with better writing and new plot additions. And if you are new here, welcome. It's a long one. At the moment, it's sitting at over 75,000 words which is far more than any other work I have written and there is still more to write. Is there also an idea for a sequel following certain characters (2) who those who are familiar with the older version were briefly introduced to, this would be more novella length, not nearly as long as An Odious Match, but here we go. Updating the story that I wrote much of a long time ago when I didn't know what Grammarly was and I was far more naive than I am now. Tell those you love them and have a great day!
-Camille