Another three days further on.
Through that servants' gossip which flows unabated beneath the notice of their betters word came to Longbourn that Mr. Bingley was in residence at Netherfield.
Notwithstanding that Mr. Bingley indicated in his letter that he did not wish for reimbursement or gratitude, Mr. Bennet was obligated to him, and knew it, so he embarked upon a visit to Netherfield - where he found that Mr. Bingley was not receiving visitors. Such a rebuff was not unique to Mr. Bennet – Mr. Bingley did not receive Sir William Lucas nor Mr. Goulding nor anyone else.
A written invitation to dinner was dispatched to Netherfield. A polite response was received in turn; Mr. Bingley indicated that, 'due to circumstances,' he was unable to accept.
Jane thought she knew what those circumstances were. She had told Mr. Bingley that she wished to never see him again and he was honouring that wish. Oh, why did he have to do that not three miles away at Netherfield? Could he not do so in London, twenty-five miles away? Or maybe Scarborough, two hundred miles away? Why must he be at Netherfield, so close, but so far beyond her grasp.
She wanted to apologize to him so they could meet thereafter as indifferent acquaintances.
That is what she told herself. That is what she almost believed.
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Mrs. Longden had an assignment for her charges. Miss Gardiner was excused on account of her age. Jane joined in out of curiosity.
The assignment was: you are the mistress of Longbourn; you and your husband are going to have three other couples to dinner sometime in the next month. Pick a date and time, name the couples to be invited, write out the invitations, draw up a seating chart, and set the menu. Mrs. Longden did not anticipate any of her charges, other than Miss Bennet, would come up with an acceptable plan for the dinner – she wanted to see if they could identify the problems that would arise in planning such a dinner.
"Mistress of Longbourn!" Miss Lydia squawked when Mrs. Longden gave them the assignment. "That means I must be married to Mr. Collins. No! That can't be!"
"And what is wrong with Mr. Collins?" asked Mrs. Longden. Thanks to one of Miss Lydia's soliloquies on the trip to London she knew he was the presumptive heir of Longbourn, and that he had married a neighbour of the Bennets rather than one of the Bennet daughters. Considering the information she had received from both Mr. Bingley and Miss Lydia she could deduce that Miss Bennet had not married Mr. Collins because she had expectations of Mr. Bingley; but why hadn't one of the other daughters married him? That they had all passed up such an obvious excellent match did not bode well for her task of gaining good marriages for them. Perhaps what constituted a 'good marriage' in their minds, was not the same as what she thought was a 'good marriage.'
Miss Lydia had a litany of complaints against Mr. Collins – he was fat, ugly, stinky, poorly dressed, clumsy, conceited, arrogant, vain, pompous, grasping, stupid, etc., etc. In all respects Mr. Collins was apparently the opposite in all respects to the 'good' qualities of Mr. Wickham as had been previously enumerated by Miss Lydia, although he did not appear to share any of the 'bad' qualities of Mr. Wickham also previously enumerated by Miss Lydia. Miss Kitty seconded everything Miss Lydia said. Miss Mary shook her head in disapproval; Miss Bennet frowned.
To Mrs. Longden none of the faults laid at the feet of Mr. Collins seemed to be insurmountable. Some could be dealt with by proper diet and exercise, frequent bathing, a good tailor; others by a wife's careful management. Hopefully, Mr. Collins did not have any of those all too common vices such as gambling, drinking, and wenching which were generally not susceptible to a wife's management. As things stood neither Miss Kitty not Miss Lydia would be able to manage any husband short of Prince Charming, who, of course, being so perfect, would not need any management; she would have to adjust their course of instruction accordingly. She was not sure about Miss Bennet and Miss Mary. Perhaps Mr. Collins was cruel; Mrs. Longden would not allow a charge of hers to marry a cruel man; if a parent insisted on a match to a cruel man she would rather resign her position than facilitate such a match.
When Miss Lydia had run down, and was casting around for further derogatory adjectives Mrs. Longden interrupted "Be that as it may; you take your husband as you find him. For the purposes of this assignment, you are Mrs. Collins."
When Miss Lydia huffed Mrs. Longden pointed her yardstick at her and received a grudging "Sorry, ma'am."
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Jane and Lydia were in the nursery working on the assignment. Mary and Kitty were in the dining room working on the same assignment. Jane could see that Mrs. Longden was deliberately keeping Lydia and Kitty apart as much as possible; she did not think Lydia had realized that yet.
Lydia was distracted by deciding what couples to invite to her dinner. She could not decide which Harrington sister should be paired with John Lucas and which one with Mark Goulding. Mrs. Longden not being present Lydia soon abandoned the assignment and took up redoing a bonnet which she could not wear to Meryton because she was not out. The bonnet put up with the abuse it suffered because of Lydia's pique as best it could.
Jane treated the assignment with the seriousness that was her wont and completed it in due course. Seeing that Lydia had given up on hers, and feeling no compunction to encourage her to compete it – she having learned early on to pick the right time and place to push Lydia to do anything, and this was not it – Jane sought to satisfy her curiosity concerning Mr. Bingley.
"Lydia, what was Mr. Bingley like on your trip back from Brighton?" Jane asked.
There was a time, not that long ago, just mere minutes before Mr. Bingley had looked down at her laying in that puddle, that Lydia would have relished the opportunity that Jane had given her by asking such a question. She would have teased and mocked her oldest sister without mercy for pining over her old beau. But not now. Jane had not chastised her when she had returned; she knew Jane had been disappointed in her, but she had not beat her about the head with it. So, she would not tease her. Besides, Mrs. Longden would not approve if she teased Jane.
"He was different. He was not the happy, jolly sort that he was here before. He was serious. He was abrupt. He found me, then he found Mrs. Longden, and then we came home."
"What did he talk about with you?"
"He didn't really talk to me." Mr. Bingley had told Lydia it was a stupid idea when she had suggested he pay Wickham's debts and buy him a commission in the regulars and Jane would love him for it; but she was not about to tell Jane that. "He talked to Mrs. Longden during meals but I didn't pay much attention to what they said. He rode his horse all the way so I didn't get a chance to talk to him in the coach. I'm sorry I can't tell you more."
Jane thanked Lydia. Mr. Bingley was serious. Was it because of what she had said to him. Was it a change for the better? She had very much liked the happy, jolly Mr. Bingley.
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Word of scandalous behavior at Netherfield washed over Longbourn. Mr. Bingley was working as a farmhand for one of Netherfield's tenants. Why was a tradesman trying to raise himself to be a gentleman instead lowering himself to be a labourer? Had he taken leave of his senses?
Jane maintained an exterior of indifference towards Mr. Bingley that fooled all but Lydia, and perhaps Mrs. Longden, but her interior roiled with those questions.
