Master of Longbourn Chapter 12 - Benefits and Books, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Thanks everyone for your comments. I appreciate well-reasoned critiques.

Btw I tried to keep all the characters as close to canon as possible.

While due to circumstances, their actions change, the basic character remains the same.

My congratulations to everyone who survived teenagers… 😊

~MoL~

Benefits and Books

Rosings Park and London – 1809

Collins was relieved that Hayes had prepared a sermon for the Sunday Service which they conducted jointly. While Hayes delivered the sermon, Collins watched the congregation and was pleased to see that they appreciated his address.

At the conclusion of the service, as she was leaving the church, Lady Catherine stopped briefly to speak to the clergymen. 'Mr Hayes, I must congratulate you on an inspiring sermon. I hope that both of you can join us for luncheon.'

When the two men arrived in good time, she directed, 'Anne, please entertain Mr Hayes for a few minutes while I have a brief conversation with Mr Collins.'

As soon as she had shut the door to the study behind them, she demanded, 'Tell me, how bad is the situation at Longbourn. Your letter only provided the most basic information.'

Collins explained about Bennet, his lackadaisical attitude towards not only his estate but also his family and the ramifications of his approach to his responsibilities.

Lady Catherine listened attentively and when he finished speaking, she sighed. 'This is even worse than I feared. I commend you for taking on the burden of your family, especially as the connection is not close. Have you spoken to Mr Hayes yet about your plans?'

'No, my lady. I wanted to speak to you first. Are you agreeable for Hayes to minister to our parishioners?'

'I shall be sorry not to have you here at all times, but I understand that your family takes precedence. Mr Hayes is a good individual, and his sermons are a pleasure to hear.'

Collins smiled in relief. 'I also happen to know that he would like to marry and with the salary I plan to offer him, he shall be able to afford a wife.'

'Good. A parson should be a married man.'

~MoL~

Once they re-joined Anne de Bourgh and Hayes, Collins immediately addressed the man.

'Hayes, a situation has arisen which requires me to spend most of my time in Hertfordshire. I therefore will need someone to look after my parishioners. Are you willing to remain at Hunsford permanently? You will have use of the parsonage, a salary of one hundred and fifty pounds per annum plus the income from the glebe.'

'All that for a curate?' gasped Hayes. 'There are many livings which do not pay that much.'

'This is a prosperous parish, and you will be doing virtually all the work. What say you?' Collins asked again, although judging by the curate's expression, he was reasonably certain of the answer, which was not long in coming.

'I would be honoured to take on those duties.'

'Will Miss Perkins be pleased for you?' Lady Catherine asked with twinkling eyes.

Hayes coloured on hearing how well-informed Lady Catherine was. 'I have been hoping to find a position which would allow me to offer for Miss Perkins. I believe that she will be all gratitude for this opportunity.'

'Excellent. I firmly believe that clergymen should be married to set a good example to the congregation. I am most attentive to such things.'

'I greatly appreciate your condescension, Lady Catherine,' exclaimed the curate with a beaming smile.

'That is another reason why Hayes is a good choice for the position,' muttered Collins.

~MoL~

After lunch, Hayes excused himself to deliver the good news to Miss Perkins, while Collins remained at Rosings to seek Lady Catherine's advice.

'You have something else on your mind, young man. Tell me what troubles you and I will be able to help,' Lady Catherine probed as they sat down for a leisurely cup of tea.

'I am concerned with the education of my cousins. Mrs Bennet has a good heart, but she was not raised as a gentlewoman. As a result, her younger daughters are lacking in accomplishments. I hoped that you might be able to recommend a companion who could instruct not only the young ladies, but also Mrs Bennet.'

'The lady wishes to learn?'

'I believe so, but she had never been given the opportunity. Bennet found amusement in his wife's ignorance, he never bothered to correct or educate her.'

'It sounds as if your relations are quite the savages.'

''No, my lady. The older daughters received instruction from their aunt, the wife of Mrs Bennet's brother, who, I am told, was raised with all the accomplishments and comportment of a gentlewoman.'

'Who is this brother?'

'He is a tradesman in London.'

'A tradesman,' Lady Catherine sniffed.

'According to what I was told, he and his wife are an Intelligent, elegant and sophisticated couple. I gather that he is also rather successful in his chosen profession and had a gentleman's education. I am planning to stop in London on my return to Longbourn to make his acquaintance. I understand he can assist with improving the family's finances.'

Lady Catherine considered the information and asked, 'How old are the sisters?

Collins provided the information whereupon Lady Catherine came to a decision. 'It seems that there is hope for the ladies. I shall make enquiries and send you a suitable candidate as soon as possible. I have a lady in mind who I believe would do quite nicely.'

A short while later, when Collins took his leave to see to his packing for his move to Longbourn, Lady Catherine offered, 'Just remember that you have friends at Rosings. You will always be welcome here and if you should need assistance, you have but to ask.'

Anne de Bourgh echoed her mother's sentiments and there was suspicious moisture in the eyes of all three as Collins said farewell.

~MoL~

On Monday, as planned, Collins departed Hunsford to return to Longbourn via London.

He had brought a catalogue prepared by Mr Phillips of Bennet's books which were not part of the entail. Collins went to Hatchards in the hope of finding someone who was willing to come to Longbourn to value the books.

It was late morning when his carriage stopped outside the shop and he stepped out.

'Collins! What are you doing here?' William heard the familiar voice call out as he was about to enter the bookshop.

He turned and said with a smile, 'Darcy, it is good to see you. I hope you are well?'

Darcy's eyes widened momentarily before he laughed and answered with a slight inclination of his head, 'I am very well. I thank you for asking and how do you do?'

Collins grinned as he replied, 'I too am in the pink of health. And to answer your first question, I am here to arrange a valuation of some books.'

'Aunt Catherine did not mention that she wished to sell Rosing Park's library,' Darcy said with a frown and came to a quick decision. 'Before you complete your errand, will you not come to my house for lunch, and we can discuss this in private?'

Considering that Collins had hoped to speak to Darcy about those books, he was only too happy to agree.

~MoL~

At Darcy House, as soon as they had settled into Darcy's study and he had ordered for a meal to be served, Darcy asked, 'Why is my aunt looking to sell books? Is there a problem at Rosings Park?'

'Not at all. The books I want to get valued belong to Longbourn, my cousin's estate,' Collins explained and related the happenings of the last few weeks.

Darcy tilted his head when Collins finished speaking and commented, 'Your sense of responsibility will be the death of you yet. I have to warn you, the next year or two will be exceedingly difficult. If I had had a choice about taking on Pemberley when I did, I believe I would have baulked at the idea.'

'At least Longbourn is only a fraction of the size of Pemberley, and I have the person who has administered the estate for the last five years available to provide advice.'

'A very young woman? How could she know much about managing an estate? Surely it was her father who made all the decisions?' Darcy was dismissive of the very idea.

'Are you concerned about her ability because of her age or her sex? Do not forget that your aunt has done an excellent job at Rosings. And you took on full responsibility of Pemberley at the age of two and twenty. I do remember how much your father taught you about the subject so that even at eighteen you knew everyone at your estate.'

'But her father–'

'Was the most indolent and negligent man it has ever been my misfortune to meet. Fortunately, he has spent much of the profits on books. Which is why I stopped off in London to arrange a valuation. The sale of the books should provide the funds to make the improvements which the estate needs… Which are the improvements Cousin Elizabeth has recommended.'

Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of their meal. Not wishing to spoil their appetites with an argument, Darcy asked to see the catalogue which Collins had brought with him.

Collins ate in silence while Darcy perused the list. He could not help but smile when Darcy exclaimed several times in astonishment.

Eventually Darcy looked up. 'Your cousin must be the man who bought several of the books I was interested in before I even heard that they were for sale.'

'I gather that you are interested in purchasing some of these books?'

'I most definitely am. I just wish I had the time to check them out for myself, but I need to leave for Pemberley first thing in the morning.' He looked slightly embarrassed. 'I really should have left this afternoon, but since I had to come to London to deal with some urgent business, which I finished more quickly than I expected, I had decided to treat myself to a visit to Hatchards.' He waved the list Collins have provided. 'Although I am pleased to have encountered you. I would hate to miss out on some of these treasures.'

'I am quite happy to give you first right of refusal,' Collins said, feeling satisfied that he had been correct in his estimation of Darcy's interest.

'Excellent. If it is agreeable to you, I will arrange for a valuer to come to you to provide an independent opinion on a fair retail price.' He smiled as he added, 'Please do not be offended when I say that the valuer will more readily accede to my request than yours.'

Collins happily agreed.

Once Darcy established that Collins had planned to continue on to Longbourn, he offered his friend the hospitality of Darcy House so that he could have a chance to compare the list to his own catalogue and make his selections.

Collins accepted but informed Darcy, 'There is another stop I was going to make this afternoon. While I do that, you will have leisure to make your selections.'

~MoL~

The next visit was to Gardiner's warehouse, where Mrs Bennet's brother was expecting Collins, as he had been forewarned of the visit by Phillips.

Collins was shown into Gardiner's office where he was greeted with some enthusiasm. Gardiner might be in trade, but Collins was impressed by the manners and comportment of the man.

Once the greetings were accomplished, and they were seated, Gardiner said with a smile, 'You have certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons. We have received several wildly different reports about your actions at Longbourn.'

'Let me guess. Mrs Bennet, Mr Phillips and Cousins Jane and Mary are cautiously favourable. Possibly even Cousin Catherine. Cousins Elizabeth and Lydia are up in arms about my high-handed ways.'

'You have the division of opinions right, but both my sisters cannot sing your praises high enough. The others are more restrained. We have not actually heard from Lydia as she is not a frequent correspondent. As for Lizzy, she is confused. I believe she has overcome the worst of her anger but it will take time for her to make sense of what happened.'

Collins sighed as he said, 'When I made the offer to Bennet, I had not thought he would take his leave in such a flippant and cruel way. I believe that if he had taken the time to explain to Cousin Elizabeth, that he was leaving to make way for a better manager to ensure the improvement of Longbourn, she would not have felt so abandoned.'

'You cannot blame yourself. Phillips should have thought of that as you could not have known.' Gardiner's expression took on a thoughtful look. 'I confess that Phillips might have thought that Lizzy needed taking down a peg or three and saw this as the way to do it.'

'I gather that she was difficult with people outside her own family as well…'

'My wife and I tried to mitigate her attitude as much as we could, but she worshipped the ground her father walked on. She learnt a hard lesson. I hope that it will be to her benefit in the long run.' Gardiner shook his head and refocused his eyes on his visitor. 'But that is not the topic on which you wanted to consult me.'

'No, it is not. Phillips told me that you offered to invest Mrs Bennet's jointure because you would be able to achieve a better result than four percent.'

'Correct.'

'I have been authorised to make that arrangement. I also wanted to discuss the sale of the majority of artwork you acquired for Mrs Bennet. I would like to invest any funds realised from that sale with you as dowries for the girls. That is, if you are willing to act for your sister and nieces.'

Gardiner beamed at him. 'I would be delighted. You have no idea how pleased I am that at last someone sensible is in charge of my sister and her daughters.' His smile widened and became a grin. 'I think Fanny will also be pleased with the results, since I purchased most of the artwork from estate sales at greatly reduced prices.'

'How reduced?'

'I managed to buy most of the paintings at about two shillings in the pound of their real value. Although to maximise what I can get, I will have to sell them one or two at a time.'

'Mrs Bennet said that over the years she gave you about three thousand pounds for her purchases…' Collins gently prompted.

'Quite.' Gardiner's smile turned sardonic. 'Bennet thought himself so very clever, but Fanny managed to provide her girls with dowries of about the same amount as hers had been.'

Collins joined Gardiner in laughter.

~MoL~