Page 32 of New World Tea Company
“What if I had been ill and needed a physician?” inquired Caroline as if her life were in danger.
“I am certain a stableboy on horseback could have notified the apothecary of your illness and then reached Lucas Lodge to inform me and Louisa.”
“I could have died before you returned!”
“Do you have a malady that we are not aware of?” Geoffrey Hurst asked. “Is it contagious?”
“I am not suffering from any illness other than despair to be imprisoned in this land of fowls and cows.”
“Come, Caroline. Fix a plate and break your fast,” encouraged Charles.
“No, call Mrs Hobbes and dismiss her and the servants!”
Pretending to consider his sister’s demand, Charles asked, “But Caroline, if I dismiss Mrs Hobbes and the servants, who will wash the dishes? Or arrange the covers on your bed?”
“There are always new servants to hire,” remarked Caroline, who had hired at least one new lady’s maids each year since she came out in London society.
Charles replied, “Not here in the country. And if I dismissed these servants, my reputation as the master of Netherfield would be harmed.”
Turning to the only person who had remained silent this morning, Caroline implored, “Mr Darcy, would you allow your servants to defy your sister and remain employed?”
The man replied, “I do not believe my sister would disobey me and miss an engagement because she was not properly attired at the time I specified.”
Caroline wanted to throw the porcelain teacups against the wall and retreat to her bedchamber. However, a morning tray had not been delivered to her room, and she was peckish. Schooling her features, she filled a plate and sat at the table to eat the full meal without another word.
~~~
After breaking his fast at Bennet table, William Collins decided that his relatives were a noisome family. During the meal served the morning following the supper at Lucas Lodge, he resolved that none of the Bennet daughters would have made him a good wife.
‘The eldest is too beautiful to make a parson’s wife–men would pursue her daily while I did God and Lady Catherine’s bidding. There would be no way to know who fathered any child she bore,’he decided.‘The second daughter is entirely too opinionated and argumentative. A wife must be silent and obey her husband.’
He looked around the table, and his gaze settled on Mary for a moment,‘The third daughter begins to bloom, but she too has read many books and will not make a suitable wife. She would attempt to correct my sermons.’
Without considering the two youngest, whom he considered to be children, Mr Collins concluded,‘None of the daughters is suitable for my wife. And Bennet refuses a quick engagement! He denies his children this future home.’
Though he smiled at Mrs Bennet while she corrected the youngest child's speech, the parson thought, ‘And the two youngest girls are out of control! Lady Catherine would insist on both girls being returned to the nursery for five years.’
After another hour, Mr Collins announced he would walk about the neighbourhood that afternoon. Mr and Mrs Bennet said nothing to dissuade his decision, and Mrs Bennet called Mr Hill to bring Mr Collins his overcoat and hat while Mr Bennet educated the parson on distances and directions to their nearest neighbours. No one stood at the door to bid Mr Collins farewell, though Mrs Bennet stood at the window in the parlour and watched the bachelor walk away.
‘If one of our girls married the man, our futures would be secure,’Frances Bennet thought. But then she admitted his absence was welcomed from the room. ‘If Collins married Mary or Elizabeth, he would never cease speaking. He would bring his Lady Catherine into my house to tell me how to fold the napkins and direct the maids to lay the table at supper.’
Watching an eligible bachelor with excellent prospects walk away from her front door without one of her daughters on his arm, Frances Bennet wondered about the future of her many children. But then she remembered talking with the man and decided,‘Thomas is correct–Mr Collins would be a punishment for any woman.’
Still, she remained at the window until the man disappeared from her sight on the road toward Meryton.
~~~
Charlotte Lucas assisted her younger sister with storing the last of the plates and tankards. They had waited until today to wash the dishes, and their mother would wait until the next wash day to begin working through the linens used the previous night.
“I am tired, Charlotte,” Maria said. “Mamma woke me early.”
“No, we slept late,” replied the older sister. “Today will be hard, but we can retire early tonight and regain our strength.”
Someone knocked on the front door, and Charlotte hurriedly removed her apron before walking from the kitchen to the front of the house. The two chambermaids were occupied with Lady Lucas dealing with the remainders from the supper. Opening the door, Charlotte found the smiling face of William Collins there, asking to speak to her father.
When Charlotte escorted Mr Collins into the small office, Sir William Lucas and his eldest son turned their attention from the account books to the unexpected guest. After Collins praised the supper, conversation, and entertainments offered the previous evening, John Lucas excused himself to visit the tenant farms.
“The work of a gentleman is never done,” Collins said when he focused his attention on Sir William and spoke of the responsibilities of a landowner toward his tenants. Thirty minutes later, Charlotte returned with a tray bearing a teapot, two cups, and a few biscuits. She poured and was thanked profusely by her father’s guest for her thoughtfulness and grace.
