Page 82 of May I Have the Pleasure
“Allow me to finish!I have, over the past year, mastered most of the skills you and Miss Bingley thought so highly of back in Netherfield—partly out of boredom as my mourning left me little society, but mostly to help your cousin with her accomplishments and her health. All of this means that in the misguided ideas of worthiness the first circles espouse, I am something of a catch, but none of that makes me any more or less worthy as a woman than I was as a penniless gentlewoman. You are a gentleman and I a gentleman’s daughter so we should be equal.You have no right to speak to me so insolently; just as you had no right to disparage my handsomeness the very first night you declined to be introduced. I willnothave another marriage like the one I was forced into, nor will I willingly endure a marriage like my parents have. Iwill notbe looked down on by my partner in life every day until I become a silly woman like my mother. I will marry for affection or not at all.”
“An admirable goal, madam. I applaud your desires and hope they will one day be fulfilled. To be honest, I thought I was offering that, but I apparently was grossly mistaken.”
“You were! I have one more thing to say, Mr Darcy. I have this fortune and connexionsonlybecause I had the good fortune to have my husband die. Had he survived, Iwould be chained to him for life, at least partially because you dragged Mr Bingley away from Netherfield without so much as a by your leave. He generatedexpectationswith his behaviour, and then he, you, and the entire party left in a very ungentlemanly way. That defection all but eliminated my chance to reject Mr Collins, which I attempted to do several times. There is unlikely to ever be any affection between you and me, so I am doing you as big of a service as I am myself. Now I am finished, and I bid you good day, sir. Pray,accept my best wishes for your health and happiness.”
“Pray, accept my abject apologies, and my best wishes for you as well. Goodbye, Mrs Collins.”
“Goodbye, Mr Darcy.”
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“HE PROPOSED TO YOU!”
“Yes, Lady Catherine.”
“He proposed!”
“Yes, my lady”
“Proposed marriage?”
“Yes, your ladyship.”
“Did you draw him in with your arts and allurements. You are much more accomplished than Anne, and frankly much livelier. Is this the thanks I am to receive for taking you under my wing?”
“I swear to you, I had no idea he looked at me with anything but disdain, nor did I welcome his addresses in the least. The entire thing came as a shock to me. I have long been of the firmest opinion that we shared a mutual dislike that was quite evenly matched. I was as astonished as you are!”
“When am I to wish you joy, Mrs Collins?”
“I asked you not to call me…well… it matters not. You shall not, as I declined his offer.”
“YOU DECLINED MY NEPHEW, FITZWILLIAM DARCY!”
“Yes, I did.”
“DECLINED?”
“Yes.”
“Declined the richest and perhaps handsomest man you are ever likely to meet?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Declinedmy nephew?”
“Yes.”
“You must leave at once.”
“Very well, I shall do so. May I ask a question?”
“If you must.”
“Am I to be sent away because it is time, after you so generously handled my husband’s affairs and hosted me during my mourning, because I rejected your nephew, or because he asked in the first place?”
“Your own conscience should tell you that.”
“Very well, I shall know how to act. Should I leave now, or will the morrow be sufficient.”
