Page 95 of Introducing Mrs. Collins
Charlotte laughed. She was filled with joy – sitting in her own home, able to welcome her dearest friend to stay, chattering and joking like she had when they were girls.
‘And what of your news? The last you wrote, you were being lectured by Mr Thacker?’
Charlotte chided her friend. ‘Nonsense! I said no such thing. He has been so patient with me; I could not have done anything without his help.’
‘He is a pleasant man,’ Elizabeth conceded. ‘And you know his wife, you said?’
‘Yes! Jane – another Jane. She is very good company – but you must have met her?’
Elizabeth shook her head. ‘I have not. Their marriage was still new when I was last at Longbourn and the occasion never arose. I knew the first Mrs Thacker. She was kind. She taught Jane – my Jane – and I to dance.’
‘Mrs Thacker said she died when Amelia was but ten?’
‘Yes. It was dreadful. Mr Thacker was…’ She broke off. ‘He could not be consoled, which was all the worse for him having a daughter to take care of.’
‘But it seems he got through it. He is very happy now, I believe. You know they have a little son?’
Elizabeth smiled. ‘I heard. I think the new Mrs Thacker, as my mother calls her, has worked miracles. For two years, he was hardly living, could not cope with his daughter and managed to do only the necessities of his work with Father. And then he met this lady, and overnight, he changed. I have often found it so; a broken man cannot rally without a woman beside him.’
‘Is it not true the other way round?’ pondered Charlotte.
‘Not at all,’ said Elizabeth, so immediately and with such conviction that it made Charlotte laugh.
Elizabeth continued on with her point. ‘No, it is not the same. Look at you! You have rallied again and again, without the need of anyone beside you.’
Charlotte was rather taken aback by the sudden earnestness of her friend. She did not count herself as particularly strong or independent. But, by circumstance rather than choice, she supposed it must be conceded that she was.
She did not know what to say, so she smiled and collected up Sofia, who was grabbing at the top keys of the piano.
‘That looks familiar,’ Elizabeth said curiously.
‘Oh, yes! It is from Rosings. Lady Catherine sent it to me at Christmas.’
Elizabeth made a face so incredulous that Charlotte had to laugh again. ‘Darcy’s aunt sentyoua grand piano as a Christmas present?!’
‘You need not be so very surprised. She was very fond of Mr Collins and I think has become quite fond of me. She said it was sitting going to waste in her house.’
‘She has never given us a pianoforte!’
‘You do not need a pianoforte! You already have – what is it, three?’
Elizabeth grinned. ‘Well, I suppose it belongs with you – you are the only one of us all who can give it the life it deserves.’ She touched a few keys idly, as her daughter banged a fist on it. ‘But I must say Lady Catherine continues to surprise me.’
‘There is a lot about her that you do not know,’ said Charlotte, and then immediately regretted it.
Elizabeth, luckily, was entirely distracted by Sofia, who had just expunged a good volume of milky sick over Charlotte’s settee.
The next day, Elizabeth went by carriage to visit her mother in Meryton, so Charlotte decided to drop into Lucas Lodge. Her mother greeted her with wide arms.
‘How well you look.’ And then, because she was her mother, after all, she added, ‘But what are you wearing?’
‘What do you mean? A dress!’
‘But it is very severe for May, dearest! Must you really still be in black?’
‘It is not black! It is grey.’
‘Is it? Well, why are you in grey in May?’
