Chapter 1 – Discoveries and Declaration
Present day, Longbourn, Hertfordshire, 27th November
The Netherfield ball held the previous evening had been a success as far as most of the Bennet ladies were concerned. Only Elizabeth seemed to hold a different opinion. Her family had behaved badly, at least in her opinion. Well, apart from Jane of course, but then Jane could never behave badly.
At two and twenty, Jane, who had inherited her looks from the Gardiner side of the family, and was considered by most to be the prettiest girl in and around Meryton, has attracted the attention of Charles Bingley; the gentleman had leased Netherfield Park for a year, and had been unofficially courting a very pleased Jane Bennet for the two months he had resided there. Most of the neighbourhood, Jane included, believed the ball held the previous evening was in honour of Miss Jane Bennet.
This morning, fearing an address from Mr Collins, whose leave of absence from his parish of Hunsford, near Rosings Park in Kent was soon coming to an end, Elizabeth chose to remain longer in her room, hoping to avoid being alone with her cousin.
When the noises around the house indicated that most of the family was now up and getting ready for the day, Elizabeth slipped into her older sister's room.
"Oh Jane", she said after the usual morning greetings were exchanged, sitting herself comfortably on her sister's bed, "how are we ever going to face the Bingleys after our family's behaviour at the ball last night?"
Jane looked surprised "Whatever do you mean, Lizzy? Surely everyone can forgive Lydia and Kitty for being a little lively during a ball. After all they are still very young."
"Lively! These girls were positively wild, drinking far too much of Miss Bingley's punch and flirting with any officer they saw. You cannot have been so distracted, you must have seen how badly they comported themselves after supper, it was disgraceful." Elizabeth was still upset at the memories, her mind conjuring up the image of Lydia running from two officers laughing far too loudly. "And Mama just would not lower her voice while crowing to all who could hear about getting Mr Bingley and Mr Collins as sons-in-law. No Jane, I was mortified nearly continuously." Elizabeth did not mention Mary's pedantic performance at the pianoforte or her father's rudeness in interrupting this performance, nor his failure in reining in his wife or younger daughters at any point, as this was sadly not unusual behaviour. Mrs Bennet, Lydia and to a lesser extend Kitty had been so much worse than usual that the rest of the family appeared nearly civilised in comparison. She did not discuss her own unsatisfactory dance with Mr Darcy either, as she did not know quite what to make of it yet.
Jane's reaction, however, was not at all what her sister expected. "Well, Mr Bingley has been paying me a lot of attention, so Mama will not be the only person to expect his addresses to me. And as for Mr Collins, he will be proposing to you in the next few days, I am sure. And with his circumstances, he will make you a very good husband. You are far cleverer than he is and can guide him as to better behaviour and help him run Longbourn successfully."
"Jane, surely you do not expect me to accept him, you, who know my feelings better than anyone, you cannot believe I could respect or love him. No, if I cannot avoid his addresses, I will have to decline him, for I could never abide marriage to such a man, nor could I live constantly under the thumb of his overbearing patroness." Elizabeth could not understand that her Jane, her beloved sister could think Mr Collins a good match for any of the Bennet daughters. The man was foolish and obsequious, pompous, and uneducated all at the same time, and worshipped Lady Catherine De Bourgh, his patroness, praising her constantly.
There was no mistaking Jane's reply however as she spoke in a calm and firm tone, as close to sounding angry as Jane ever got in fact. "Do not be foolish, Lizzy, you are twenty years old and have no other prospect, nor have you ever had any other prospect in the five years you have been out in society, not here nor in London. You know better than to expect an offer from a penniless soldier such as Mr Wickham, despite his smooth talking and flirting, and your attempts to entice Mr Darcy have not gotten you any further than a dance, which did not seem very congenial in any case. Mr Collins is likely to be the only man ever to offer for you, and you will accept him to ensure Longbourn is preserved, our parents will make sure of it."
Elizabeth briefly thought of Mr Wickham, a gentleman who recently joined the militia stationed in Meryton for the winter, and while she enjoyed his friendly company, her heart had not been touched by him, despite the rather sad story of woes at the hands of Mr Darcy he had shared with her nearly on their first meeting. Now that a little time had passed and given Mr Darcy's loss of composure during their dance the previous evening, she was no longer sure he had told her the full story. Not that it mattered as marriage to a penniless soldier she was not in love with was simply not an option. As for trying to charm Mr Darcy, Elizabeth did not see where Jane had gotten that idea from; the two of them having argued more often than not when in company. He was a very handsome man, for sure, but he seemed far too proud and conceited to consider someone so far below himself in society, and therefore Elizabeth had never really thought of him in a romantic manner, or when she had formed suspicions, she had dismissed them as flights of fancy, for surely he only looked at her to find faults.
Jane was not done however: "If you do not, you cannot count on Mr Bingley and I to house you and feed you after Papa is gone. Even if I did want to forgive your selfishness in not securing Longbourn, you have alienated Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst by your near constant impertinence, and I would not want to expose them further to your insolent manners."
Elizabeth stood up, unable to formulate any answer to such a speech. She could not comprehend how wrong her knowledge of Jane could be, and the pain was almost unbearable. Without a word she left her sister's room and without thinking turned toward the servant's stairs and went down to the kitchen and the prospect of freedom beyond the back door.
Desperately wishing to avoid any other family member, Elizabeth walked toward the kitchen gardens and the home farm beyond, hoping to escape unseen and reach the edge of the property, where a small bridge crossed the river and led to Lucas Lodge. Charlotte Lucas, while not a romantic person and not aspiring to marry for love as Elizabeth hoped for, would help her sort through her thoughts and feelings, and together they may even be able to find a way to prevent a proposal altogether before Mr Collins was due to return to Kent. She never found out whether her friend would have solved her dilemmas, however.
Only a few hundred yards from the bridge, Elizabeth was surprised to run into the Longbourn scullery maid, Annie, who was supposed to have the morning off to visit her family at one of the tenants' farms at Lucas Lodge. Annie had visibly been crying, and Elizabeth was reminded of how young the girl was, a few weeks younger than Lydia in fact.
"Will you walk with me as I did not take an escort today?" she asked the girl. Annie smiled and nodded, knowing Elizabeth was always the nicest of all the inhabitants of Longbourn, and they both fell into step at a much slower pace than either had used before and remaining on the Longbourn side of the river.
"Is anything wrong with your family, Annie? Your Mama recently had another little one, did she not?" enquired Elizabeth gently.
"They are all well, Miss, thank-you, my baby brother, Tim, is nearly six months old now." Was Annie's reply. She seemed to hesitate, then, with more tears escaping, added "It is Sally, at Lucas Lodge, that upset me, Miss. The soldier that was calling on me, Mr Pratt, is now calling on her and she was ever so loud bragging to me that I got real sad."
Elizabeth gently took Annie's arm in hers "Were you and Mr Pratt very serious then? I do not know him much, but you deserve someone more constant than him, and you are still very young. I for one would have been very sad to see you go and follow the Militia when they remove to Brighton next May."
Annie sighed "I would not mind leaving Meryton, but all I know is how to be a below stairs maid. And you are right, he probably isn't a good one, leaving me for Sally, just 'cause I wouldn't kiss him when he asked. I just don't want to stay and see them get married, though, I really liked him."
Even though she was a little shocked at this last comment, before she could answer, Elizabeth was struck with a thought, like a bolt of lightning. Would she be required to leave Longbourn if she rejected Mr Collins' offer? She hoped her father would support her decision, but after her discussion with Jane this morning, she was no longer sure he would.
Stopping abruptly and turning to Annie, her words stumbled out of her mouth. "Annie, I may need to leave Longbourn for a while, would you come with me? It will need to be done secretly; I think. If I need to leave, we will walk to Meryton, and take the post coach to London, to my cousin's house. You can come with me and be my maid both on the journey and in London – I am sure you can learn to be a lady's maid. You will need to have a bag ready and bring my valise when I signal you. Will you do it?" By the end of that small speech, she was getting excited and scared in equal measures. She may not know what the future held for the next few hours, days or weeks, but now she had a plan for a quick departure, just in case she was mistaken in the characters of other family members, not just Jane's.
"Yes, of course I will, it will be like an adventure." Replied a surprised, but happy, Annie. Having spent her childhood at Lucas Lodge, she respected and loved Miss Elizabeth and Miss Charlotte, who had often visited her family, and she had some memories of Miss Isabella and would not mind a visit to her London household. Like most of the tenants' children, she was even taught her letters and some basic numbers by the young ladies and trusted them implicitly.
"Then let us get ready, just in case our departure needs to be today." Elizabeth concluded, pulling Annie back toward the back of the house. Once inside, they used the servant's stair once more to quickly go to Elizabeth's room and pack her favourite dresses and clothes into the smart valise Aunt Phillips had given her for her last birthday, adding her precious letters from her aunts and her cousin at the top. She also packed her few pieces of jewellery and the money she had saved from her pin money into a small pouch that fitted neatly in the pocket of her walking dress, before sending Annie to pack her own bags. Finally, hearing the whole family in the breakfast room, she snuck into her father's library to retrieve her birth certificate and a small notebook she had filled over many years with useful and, to her, precious learnings from her father. These she placed in her pelisse's pocket before going for breakfast.
By the time Elizabeth sat for breakfast, very late by her standards, even after a ball, most of the family was close to finishing. Her father left the table, barely acknowledging her with a murmured good morning, and Mary greeted her before disappearing to practice her music in the piano room.
Without any of her usual reproaches or remarks, Mrs Bennet stood up and asked Kitty and Lydia to follow her. While Elizabeth had been out walking, the lady had a very enlightening conversation with Jane, and was resolved to give Mr Collins an opportunity to declare himself, while she spent time convincing Mr Bennet to support her and force the marriage. Upon Jane leaving the room shortly after, and before Elizabeth had any time to say anything more than "Jane, please stay…", the man indeed began his declaration, while she could only look down and flush deeply.
"Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that your modesty, so far from doing you any disservice, rather adds to your other perfections. You would have been less amiable in my eyes had there not been this little unwillingness; but allow me to assure you, that I have your respected mother's permission for this address. You can hardly doubt the purport of my discourse, however your natural delicacy may lead you to dissemble; my attentions have been too marked to be mistaken. Almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of mu future life, But before I am run away by my feelings on the subject, perhaps it would be advisable for me to state my reasons for marrying – and moreover, for coming to Hertfordshire with the design of selecting a wife, as I certainly did."
The idea of Mr Collins, with all his solemn composure, being run away by feelings, made Elizabeth so near laughing that she could not use the short pause he allowed in any attempt to stop him further, and he continued:
"My reasons for Marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish; secondly, that I am convinced that it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly – which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier, that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness. Twice has she condescended to give me her opinion (unasked too!) on this subject; and it was but the very Saturday night before I left Hunsford – between our pools at quadrille, while Mrs Jenkinson was arranging Miss De Bourgh's footstool, that she said, 'Mr Collins, you must marry. Choose properly, choose a gentlewoman for my sake; and for your own, let her be an active, useful sort of person, not brought up too high, but able to make a small income go a good way. This is my advice. Find such a woman as soon as you can, bring her to Hunsford, and I will visit her.' Allow me, by the way, to observe, my fair cousin, that I do not reckon the notice and kindness of Lady Catherine De Bourgh as among the least of the advantages in my power to offer. You will find her manners beyond anything I can describe; and your wit and vivacity, I think, must be acceptable to her, especially when tempered with the silence and respect which her rank will inevitably excite. Thus, much for my general intention in favour of matrimony; it remains to be told why my views were directed towards Longbourn instead of my own neighbourhood, where I can assure you there are many amiable young women. But the fact is, that being, as I am, to inherit this estate after the death of your honoured father (who, however, may live many years longer), I could not satisfy myself without resolving to choose a wife from among his daughters, that the loss to them might be as little as possible, when the melancholy event takes place – which, however, as I have already said, may not be for several years. This has been my motive, my fair cousin, and I flatter myself it will not sink me in your esteem. And now nothing remains for me but to assure you in the most animated language of the violence of my affections. To fortune I am perfectly indifferent, and shall make no demand of that nature, since I am well aware that it could not be complied with; and that one thousand pounds in the four per cents, which will not be yours until after your mother's decease, is all that you may ever be entitled to. On that head, therefore, I shall be uniformly silent; and you may assure yourself that no ungenerous reproach shall ever pass my lips when we are married."
It was absolutely necessary to interrupt him now.
"You are too hasty, sir," she cried. "You forget that I have made no answer. Let me do it without further loss of time. Accept my thanks for the compliment you are paying me. I am very sensible of the honour of your proposals, but it is impossible for me to do otherwise than to decline them."
(Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 19)
Without waiting for an answer, Elizabeth rushed around the table to the door and left the breakfast room as quickly as she could. She did, however, hear the continuing speech following her and guessed rightly that her refusal had either not been understood, or at least had not been accepted by the parson.
One sentence did cut through the agitation of her mind as she was quickly climbing the stairs, reminding her of Jane's comments earlier this same morning. Mr Collins, who had followed in the hallway, was commenting that despite Elizabeth's manifold attractions, it was by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made to her. While the rest of the man's declaration was easy to ignore, the reminder of her elder sister's feelings was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
Back in her room, Elizabeth quickly checked her meagre remaining possessions to ensure nothing was left that she would miss in London. She did not notice the tears still falling on her cheeks as she added a few ribbons and some music sheets to her valise. Nor did she pay any attention to the noises and shouts coming mostly from her mother downstairs.