Page 6 of The Cherry Trees of Rosings
Loud calls could be heard from the front of the house. Mr. Collins had returned from his daily pilgrimage to Rosings. Charlotte sighed.
“I shall return soon,” she said and stepped out of Elizabeth’s room.
Elizabeth shivered and hugged the blankets closer to her. She could hear footsteps pounding up the stairs. And then Mr. Collins’ loud voice echoed in the corridor beyond the door:
“There you are, Charlotte! We must make haste and attend to Lady Catherine!” he wheezed. “They have received terrible news!”
“Goodness, Mr. Collins! You are frightening me! What has happened?!” Charlotte’s softer voice reached Elizabeth through the ajar door.
“It is Mr. Darcy!” Mr. Collins wailed. And then he coughed breathlessly. “His carriage…”
Another pause. A loud fit of coughs.
“…it has met with a terrible accident!”
Elizabeth gasped.
Later that evening…
Elizabeth did not know what was worse.
Seeing an apparition that resembled Mr. Darcy, or hearing of a carriage accident involving the gentleman while Lady Catherine made it all about herself.
“Four days they have kept him in that inn in the middle of nowhere!” Lady Catherine lamented.
All of them were sitting in Rosings’ west parlour. Gloom written on every face.
“Four days, Mr. Collins! When his family is in easy distance.”
Their tea lay unattended before them.
“I told Richard to bring him here,” Lady Catherine continued. “But he refuses to listen to reason! I have been treated most heinously by my nephews and the Earl!”
Mr. Collins cooed affirmations and support even as Lady Catherine continued to lambast the decision of her relatives.
“Richard should have come to me as soon as the accident occurred! Instead, he went to London.London!When we are barely fifteen miles from Dunhill-on-Grom!”
Jenkinson—who was Miss de Bourgh’s companion—shifted uncomfortably beside her charge. Elizabeth saw the woman’s fingers twitch in her lap as her eyes flickered to the drooping shawl on Miss de Bourgh’s shoulders.
“I am certain that Mr. Hanson would have attended to Fitzwilliam most diligently,” Lady Catherine said. “Anne has never had any complaints under his care, and look how well she looks…”
Miss de Bourgh turned her face briefly towards the fireplace. The wanness of her complexion suddenly became stark for a moment.
“...and now Richard says Darcy cannot be moved until he heals! How my poor sister must be turning in her grave to think her darling son is festering in whichever hole they have contrived to situate him in.”
“It is most badly done indeed,” Mr. Collins agreed.
Elizabeth glanced at Charlotte. Her friend was staring longingly at the teapot on the table.
“I shall tell you, Mr. Collins,” Lady Catherine continued. “I was of a mind to have Darcy removed to Rosings. But Richard refuses to disclose the directions.Utterly refuses!Darcy’s own aunt. His mother’s dearest sister! I have been most heinously treated by my relations!”
“Most heinously indeed,” Mr. Collins echoed, shaking his head in sympathy.
Jenkinson shifted in her seat again.Miss de Bourgh’s shawl was truly drooping on one side now. Elizabeth bit her lip.
“But you shall see, Mr. Collins. I shall prevail. I always have my way!” Lady Catherine fumed, striking the carpeted floor with her wooden staff.
The sound jolted everyone in the room to sit straighter. And Jenkinson hurried out of her seat to fix Miss de Bourgh’s shawls. It seemed to stir fresh resentment in the occupants of the parlour.
