AU Not Cannon
Pride and Prejudice
They Called Him a Bennet Too
Reactions
Ch 8
Slam! Slam! Slam! Reverend Collins forcefully shut more than book, or door, in his home as Charlotte attempted to mend one of his shirts. "I cannot believe Mr. Bennet would do such a thing!" He stormed around the parlor infuriated. ""To enter into the holy state of matrimony without the knowledge or consent of your family and friends is a very grievous offence, but to then to continue on persisting in deceitful silence and abandon her in the midst of London - unprotected and friendless - is shocking beyond measure, even for Mr. Bennet"." Reverend Collins finally stopped moving and took a deep breath air, unwilling to admit he was just as upset at losing the prospect of inheriting Longborne as anything else.
"We should be glad it has all been cleared up, for their son's sake." Charlotte was not going to touch the subject of Longborne as she had easily figured that one out. Therefore, for the sake of her old friendship with Elizabeth she focused on Curtis instead. "Their son will be far better off with a father in the home than being raised fending for himself on the streets of London while his mother is washing clothes."
"That was to be our home." Reverend Collins spoke stiffly mixed the sounds of sniffling.
"We have a roof overhead; I am sure the Good Lord will continue to provide." Charlotte looked back down at his shirt and ignored him walking out the door.
Collins may have been doing his sulking away from an unsympathetic wife, Lady Catherine, William Hamilton and others were horrified -for different reasons- upon learning about Curtis.
" I need a drink." William had been informed of the Bennet's situation, which mattered little to him- it bothered Lady Catherine far more than him and he'd let her rant and rave all she wanted over Elizabeth's family having secured Longborne for yet another generation when their meeting over the most recent shipment of lace and wine had come in. He could easily rid himself of Bennet as he had others. No, he was not needing a drink over Curtis coming into the picture. It was just that he had gotten the news at the same time as receiving word of Richard's hanging and, while he held no particular sympathy over his death; it had shocked him, nonetheless. "Man was so cautious, who betrayed his confidence." It had not helped matters his own doctor had sent word his services could no longer be given.
"Ned has breathed his last, and I am obliged to purchase another steed." It was simply a planned way of the doctor letting William know he'd had trouble with the law and had to go into hiding. If he'd known his doctor had not gone underground but had been hung in secret under the orders of a magistrate not wishing to tip William off, Mr. Hamilton would have fled the vicinity of Pemberly and any other estate connected with Lady Catherine, the Darcy's or any of their relatives. It wasn't actually his personal doctor going into hiding that bothered him, it was Richard's hanging. "Thought he would know his personal doctor getting caught red-handed in a clandestine business would have been a bad sign." A thought that proved what he would have done had he known about his own.
William was continuing to pour drinks at his house, but Lady Catherine was still fuming over Mr. Bennet's new wife, son and the improper way his second marriage had come about to her silent daughter, and more than one unwilling servant, overheard the woman's rant.
"I am astonished and appalled by the intelligence that has reached me from town. Mr. Bennet's clandestine and disgraceful marriage to a woman of no consequence is something to be abhor. How could he stoop to such a low and unworthy alliance, no one has ever heard of this...this Christina without consulting his family, friends, or even his pastor? He has acted in a most unbecoming and ungrateful manner, betraying the trust and confidence to all those around him. He has injured his own dignity, honor, and most certainly his happiness, by this precipitate and imprudent step." Her daughter, Miss Anne de Bourgh, had to listen to her mother's rant.
"Alas, the poor young lady!" said one of the servants in a low voice. "I fancy she is so peevish only because she must endure the company of that w…woman." As to Mr. Bennet's actions, the woman was grateful the gentleman had worked out any serious misunderstanding and brought his wife home- out of London and away from danger.
"I advise ye to hold ye tongue, unless ye wish to be turned out of doors." An elder servant, who concurred with the sentiment, said sharply and then departed. She too counted it a blessing, having no desire to live in London with a child and no husband.
People may have complained loudly, some softly and others giving their sympathies behind closed doors, but Christina was only wrapped up in a blanket with Curtis sitting near the fireplace due to an extreme cold spell that had hit their area; she was yet to share a room with Mr. Bennet as Mr. Bryant had not returned with any legal paperwork. And yet, she was not in the mood to be in a bedroom, so she had brought her and Curtis's to the family's parlor. There will be no passing me off as her husband, I will be her husband. You will find a way to make it legal, to have it appear as if we have been married since Curtis was conceived without the risk of either one of us going to prison. was still ringing in her ears.
"I beg your pardon most sincerely." Mr. Bennet approached Christina with a look of concern, as he observed tears escaping from her eyes. "I am persuaded that this is the only course of action that can secure your safety and that of your child."
"Indeed, I comprehend, and I am perfectly reconciled to it." The lady turned her head and looked up, doing her best to smile.
"Then why do you cry?"
"I never shed a tear for Peter, his parents or my own. Then I found out I was carrying Curtis, I dared not tell Elizabeth's friend who the father was. I counted it a blessing I was not out on the streets with no way to feed myself. I have spent so much time running and ..." Christina wiped her tears as if fearing she would be insulting Mr. Bennet when he was so graciously being a protector to someone he had only recently met.
"Hiding." Thomas bent over softly, and sympathetically, whispered something only she could hear and then backed quietly out, ordering Mary not knock on the door; that Christina needed time alone.