Pride and Prejudice- AU GENERAL REGENCY FAN FICTION
NOTE: I am so embarrassed ..I do not know why the 'previous' thing on chapter ten read the way it did; I could have sworn I had that correct. It SHOULD read correctly now.
Previously:
"Now, that is a side of our sister I did not know she had." Kitty sat up with her jaw dropped.
"Neither did I. Nor do I wish to see it again." Mary closed her mouth.
Keeping A Vow
Meeting with Collins
CH. 11
The Collins had moved out of the modest home that Lady Catherine had provided for them. They had inherited a much larger one from a close friend who had left it to them in his will. They now lived on an estate not far from their original house. Their house had two stories and their gardens, though small, were still larger than before. So, between his calling as a vicar and the income the land brought in, they were well off enough that they could save money for the future; something Mrs. Collins made sure of.
"Mr. Collins, Mr. Gardiner is here to see you." Mrs. Collins showed Edward into their parlor; Edward was stunned by how bright the room was. It was a cozy and elegant space, with five windows that had light curtains drawn back to let in the sunlight. Collins sat in an overstuffed chair near a roaring fire in the fireplace. A long sofa was placed against one wall with a couple of the windows behind it; a shorter one was placed against another wall. A round table with a vase of flowers was in the center of all three pieces of furniture. A chandelier hung from the ceiling.
"Please..." Mr. Collins pointed to the couch. "Sit down."
"I am sorry..." Mr. Gardiner sat down, trying not to act like an imbecile. "I was not expecting to see you living in such a fine place." He could not help but stare, not only at the room but at Collins himself. Where was the mousy-looking man he knew? Or the one who made his neighbors want to shove beaver teeth into his mouth and paws onto his arms? This one sat erect, but not with a puffed-out chest. His medium-sized frame said, 'I am comfortable enough in my own skin not to attack your own'. And this one wore no condescending smile, but one full of genuine warmth.
"You were not expecting many things, I suspect."
"No, no, I was not." Mr. Gardiner apologized again and then gathered his wits and gave his warning, still half-thinking it would not sink in, but what followed next left him stunned beyond measure.
"You do not have to convince me you speak the truth; I already know it."
"You have heard of this Mr. Brown then? Have heard of his claims?"
"Oh, I know of his claims all right. I can do better than that. I have seen him, heard him talking to people when I traveled up to London, but no, we never met officially." Mr. Collins sighed and decided he had to go backwards before he could truly go forward. "First, I owe you and many people an apology. And no, I have no intention of using big, fancy words." He could not help but laugh when his visitor looked like he might faint. "I will not waste your time by going into a long explanation for why I did what I did. Let it suffice to say, at the time I needed help, Lady Catherine and my wife gave it. I felt honor-bound to be loyal to Lady Catherine and let her influence me too much. Since her demise, I have come around more to my wife's way of thinking. Please accept my apologies for my past rude and arrogant behaviors."
"I accept your apology." Mr. Gardiner said, feeling a surge of relief. He had not expected Mr. Collins to be so humble and sincere.
"Now, about your warning. Yes, he has been sending out letters down here." Mr. Collins stood up and asked Mr. Gardiner to go outside with him to the gardens. He wanted to speak to him privately, without alarming his wife.
"You do not wish Mrs. Collins to hear?" Edward asked once they were walking outside. They were in a large and well-kept garden, with flowers, trees, and a fountain. The sun was shining, but the air was cool. A few birds were singing in the branches, but most had flown south for the winter. The grass was still green, but the leaves had fallen from the trees, creating a colorful carpet on the ground.
"Not really. But that is only because her mother has been ill and she has been under a lot of stress lately." Mr. Collins began explaining. "Before she and I married, I lived close to a man with the last name of Novark. I cannot recall his first name." He did not see the shocked look on Mr. Gardiner's face, as he was looking ahead, towards a tree. "He was honest as the day was long, handled money exceptionally well, owed no man a dime. I remember that much. His wife was a wonderful woman, and his daughter had a heart of gold. However, Mr. Brown? There was something about that man that even my old self did not trust. It came off him like he had just stepped out of a grave with the chill of death still clinging to him. I found it odd that men with no debt suddenly had debt they could not pay and would end up losing at least one of their homes, if not all. Some even ended up hanging, prison or in debtor's prison."
"That bad?" Mr. Gardiner asked, feeling a pang of sympathy for the Novarks.
"Yes, that bad. And..." Mr. Collins pulled out a letter and handed it to Edward. "When I said I already knew it, I meant when I got the letter and read it. I knew it was written with ill intent because there were two questions that kept shouting themselves loud and clear to my mind and would not stop repeating themselves until I rejected his offer."
"And what were those?" Mr. Gardiner asked, curious and apprehensive. He took the letter and read it. He was holding a letter from Mr. Brown, who was offering Mr. Collins a deal that seemed too good to be true. He was proposing to buy part of his estate and still share the profits with him. He was also asking for information about Longbourn, the Bennet family estate, and its current situation.
"Why would a man of business be offering such a deal to a vicar just because he has inherited an estate? This place is not that large. And why is he fishing for information about Longbourn? Yes, I am heir apparent, but I have no real rights to that estate as Mr. Bennet is very much alive. Why not ask him, even if he has not remarried, he still could give him those answers." Mr. Collins said, pointing out the flaws in Mr. Brown's letter.
"Oh, but Mr. Bennet has remarried." Mr. Gardiner said, surprising Mr. Collins.
"Since when?" Mr. Collins asked, astonished.
Mr. Gardiner explained to him what the public knew, and what he knew himself - for he had not been informed of the letter. He told him how Mr. Bennet had married a young lady named Nadia Novark, who was the daughter of Thomas' old friend Alexander Novark.
The news shocked Mr. Collins, he must have been busier than even had realized to have missed that. However, considering the letter, it cleared up a few things.
"Mitchell expects to use me. He thinks me not to have changed." Mr. Collins shook his head. "I hope you have warned Mr. Bennet if that is the case."
"He knows. No correspondence going on there." Mr. Gardiner assured him.
"That makes Mr. Brown a double rat." Stopping where he was standing, he faced Edward head on. They were in the garden, where they had walked to have some privacy. The flowers were blooming, but the air was cold. They could see their breaths as they spoke. "I have already begun warning people about Mitchell Brown, told them I highly doubted he was a friend of Alexander Novark's. Informed them of the men I knew of in the past, of what had occurred. Please, come tomorrow and stand up in my church and vouch for what I have said. Some are listening to me and others are asking me to get another opinion before they make up their mind; your coming here is a great blessing."
"I will be more than happy to go with you tomorrow and vouch for what you have been saying. So, you will not do business with Mitchell?" Mr. Gardiner asked, hoping Mr. Collins had enough sense to refuse.
"Rest assured, I have no intentions of doing business with him. As far as I am concerned he is a madman. I may have been pompous, but he is a liar and, most likely, far worse. Now, let us go inside and get a bite to eat; I am starved and my wife is a great cook." Mr. Collins said, leading Mr. Gardiner back to the house.
William Collins hoped he could make amends with the other people he had wronged in the past. He also hoped he could help the Novarks and Mr. Bennet against Mr. Brown's schemes. He had a feeling that this was not the end of the matter.