Page 44 of Introducing Mrs. Collins
Her mother took a deep breath and sighed. ‘I have something for you.’ She removed an item from her reticule and placed it in her daughter’s hand.
Charlotte, puzzled, looked down and saw the emerald snake ring her mother had lent her many years before. ‘Why are you giving me this?’
‘Did you not once tell me it was a symbol of life carrying on?’
The gesture was not lost of Charlotte, but her own exactness could not allow for misrepresentation. ‘Well, no, that’s not quite it.’ She broke a smile at her own pedantry and then, surprising herself, she actually laughed.
Her mother joined her, delighted to see a glimpse of her daughter returning to herself. ‘Whatever it means, my dear girl, you liked this ring,’ said Lady Lucas.
‘It is rather daring, isn’t it? Dazzling,’ said Charlotte rather disapprovingly. ‘I don’t think it really suits me.’
‘It used to.’ Her mother said it as a challenge. She reached out and closed Charlotte’s palm over the ring, shutting it tight.
As Lady Lucas’s carriage pulled away, Charlotte walked back into the house and closed the door with one hand, looking at the small golden ring in the other. She placed it on her finger and took in its effect. As if suddenly coming to herself, she hurried upstairs, threw her old grey shawl on her bed, then began rifling through her cupboards.
Mrs Brooke was in the kitchen, finishing her morning tea, when she heard her mistress call out, ‘Brooke! I am going out for a walk!’
She was surprised – Mrs Collins had not ventured beyond the garden for a long time. Assuming her mistress would need help preparing, Mrs Brooke made her way upstairs, only to find thebedroom in disarray and the window left ajar to allow some air in. From downstairs, she heard the front door close with a thud.
Looking out of the open window, Mrs Brooke watched her mistress striding purposefully down the lane, a basket on her arm and a bright-green shawl wrapped around her shoulders.
VOLUME
TWO
1811
MERYTON
‘Must I attend, Mother? I have nothing to say to soldiers, you know; and they rarely have anything to say for themselves.’
‘I see you are an expert on military men. I had no idea,’ replied Lady Lucas drily.
Mother and daughter were stood in front of Charlotte’s open wardrobe, selecting a dress for her. Tonight’s dance at the assembly rooms had been arranged by Colonel Forster to provide some entertainment for his militia regiment, who had been recently installed in the area, and to introduce them to the people of Meryton. It would be fairly relaxed – not a grand occasion, but a chance to be seen.
Lady Lucas picked out a pretty peach gown for Charlotte, with puffed sleeves and lace detail – which Charlotte rejected in favour of a simple, pale-blue dress that bordered on day wear.
Her mother was not pleased. ‘Perhaps if you gave them your time more generously, and actually listened, you might find theydohave something to say – perhaps you would learn something about the war.’
‘From the militia? I hardly think so. Although it is true that I have been hoping for instruction in shining buttons and drinking ale very quickly.’
‘Charlotte!’ Her mother was usually amused by her daughter’s quips about their acquaintance, but tonight, she was in a mood to be irked by them. ‘You cannot set yourself against entire groups of gentlemen on the strength of but one or two encounters. Your judgements are formed too hastily; no man is likely to approach you if you look closed to the very notion.’
‘I ought to be grateful for the attentions of just anyone?’
‘No. Only of someone good and worthy, but you will never be approached by that person if you wear anything like the expression on your face at this moment.’
Perhaps it was the act of being forced by her parents to attend an assembly that was making Charlotte feel like a child tonight, but she was in a mood to be difficult. She had grown accustomed to being allowed some agency over which social events she attended, but since her last birthday – as if the particular age of twenty-seven held some distinct horror – her mother had suddenly been more insistent on her attendance ateveryoccasion.
Tonight was one that Charlotte would certainly have foregone. She had no interest in the militia, and she did not anticipate Elizabeth or Jane attending. She had received a note from her friend earlier today to inform her that, owing to the arrival of a cousin who had come to visit, the whole family would be absent. Without the hope of their company for diversion, the evening held little prospect of enjoyment.
‘Even if Iwerenoticed by a soldier, you would not have me marry a member of themilitia, would you? How generous a dowry is Father willing to give me that I might support a handsome captain with no house?’
‘I am not trying to marry you off to a soldier! I only think it wise to be seen among all sorts of people and be known as pleasant company.’
Charlotte sighed. ‘Very well. Although you know they will only have eyes for Maria.’
‘You and Maria are very different.’
