Charlotte - Pride and Prejudice Continues Read online

  Charlotte

  Pride & Prejudice Continues

  By Karen Aminadra

  Carriage Publishing

  Copyright © 2012 Karen Aminadra

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, Emailing, copying electronically or by any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. All names and characters in this book are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and is not intended by the author.

  Published by Carriage Publishing.

  www.carriagepublishing.com

  [email protected]

  www.karenaminadra.com

  Cover art by Carriage Publishing featuring iStockphoto/©2011 Igor Demchenkov

  ISBN: 1475271239

  ISBN-13: 978-1475271232

  DEDICATION

  To my wonderful husband, you have been my encourager and support throughout. Without you, this book would never have been written.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Special Thanks to:

  My husband, for your patience when I asked you for silence to concentrate, for keeping me laughing and wanting me to read it all to you.

  Mary Lydon Simonsen, who helped to guide my steps and gave me invaluable advice, you are a star.

  Victoria, for your conversation that started this journey.

  Lana, for being a precious encourager and motivator.

  Joan, for being my daily word-count cheerleader.

  Last but not least, Jesus, without whom I would never have had the strength to follow my heart.

  1

  I ask only a comfortable home. How many times had Charlotte’s words to her friend Lizzy come back to haunt her recently, reverberating round her head, tormenting her? What price was she paying for her comfort?

  She shuddered, as she looked around her sitting room, which Lady Catherine, their patroness had decorated and fitted out and was not to her own taste at all. The wallpaper, although expensive and elegant was heavy and oppressive. She spent some time thinking about the changes she would like to make in that room until she felt more at ease again.

  Her sanguine attitude of which she so confidently assured Lizzy, her oldest friend, was long gone. The intimate times she spent with her husband filled her with dread now; she had begun to shrink from them. The act often repulsed her, but she knew she had to steel herself for this very night because as he left the breakfast room that morning he had given her one of his strange flirtatious waves, a sure indicator that he was feeling amorous.

  She had known little of the state of marriage when she had married Mr Collins and her mother’s advice to her to bear it as well as she could meant nothing to her until her wedding night. She remembered thinking at the time that if young girls were warned of the marriage beds then they would never get married in the first place. Perhaps then, it was better that they usually knew nothing and were innocent of such things or there would be no more marriages and certainly no more children.

  Her stomach knotted at the thought of her experience, their fumbled encounters in the marriage bed and she hurriedly turned to her new book 'Langue des fleurs'. She stroked the cover page and more of her own words came back to haunt her; I am not romantic, you know Lizzy, and yet here she was holding and enjoying reading a book on such a romantic subject. Charlotte was beginning to realise that she did not know herself at all.

  * * *

  Mr Collins had interrupted Charlotte’s walk through the woods that morning by rushing to her to declare the arrival of Colonel Fitzwilliam at Rosings Park, their patroness’s home. Why this caused her husband to be in such a flutter she did not know. He was waving his hat and bidding her to ‘make haste!’ She sighed, were the inhabitants and guests of Rosings Park to be always her highest priority? She did not return to the parsonage with the called upon haste but instead took her time picking some late wild flowers to study in her book.

  Upon her arrival she found the house and servants in pandemonium, for all his shouting and flapping Mr Collins had not produced the haste which he so desired but had made all about him unable to discern whether they were coming or going.

  She rolled her eyes, “My dear, calm yourself, and explain to me what has happened.”

  “My dear Charlotte I cannot express to you how important the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh is to us and the sovereign importance of performing our duty to her. We are called to dine at the great house this very evening; our presence is required! We must prepare ourselves!” he bellowed breathlessly, staring about him as if his wife and their servants all should have understood this perfectly. The clock bell chimed in the sitting room and Charlotte patiently counted each chime taking the time to calm her nerves and temper before she spoke.

  “There you see Mr Collins, we are well informed that it is only eleven o’clock in the morning. There is indeed no need of haste and we are in no danger of being late at all. We may proceed with tranquillity.”

  This however would not suit her husband who flapped his way into the sitting room to examine the clock because it must have been faulty; he remained standing there for some minutes examining in turn the clock and his pocket watch that both, Charlotte was sure, declared the same time.

  She left him to his activity and retired to her room to rest. She sat at the table and looked out of the window. She knew when she met him that he was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been little assisted by education or society. When she tried to rescue her friend Lizzy from him by inviting him to Lucas Lodge, she knew he had come to Longbourn on a wife hunt and knew him to be awkward and foolish, and subsequently his feelings for her to be entirely of his own imagining. He declared such passionate feelings for her, as she knew he could not possibly truly feel on such a short acquaintance but here an opportunity had presented itself.

  Charlotte had long felt herself to be getting past her bloom, she smiled at the thought, she had never really had a bloom, and she was plain looking, especially next to her dear friends the Bennet sisters, although with good sense and intelligence she was blessed. She had heartily feared that she would never have a proposal of marriage and that she would end her days a spinster and a burden to her family. Yet there he had been standing in front of her, professing an ardent love for her, and in so doing also unwittingly declaring he was a silly man indeed.

  She had not needed long to deliberate on whether to accept his hand or not. At twenty-seven years old and close to being declared a spinster, the decision was easy for her to make. She had always thought that happiness in marriage was entirely a matter of chance, and it was better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life. His had been her only proposal of marriage and she was sensible of it and doubted whether she would ever receive another. With this in mind, knowing that Mr Collins was actually a good match for her and feeling a sense of duty and obligation to her family, she accepted. She had consoled herself then with thoughts of bringing happiness to her family, of being mistress of her own house, of having children to occupy her time and to give her pleasure, and that is exactly what she did now regardless of her heavy heart.

  * * *

  Mr William Collins sat down in his study and looked out of the window too. He liked this room, his study and book room as it afforded the best possible view of the road should Lady Catherine's carriage pass by. He was acutely sensible of his great fortune in his patroness The Right Honourable Lady Catherine De Bourgh, her beneficence and his known c
onnection to her had been invaluable to him. He felt it keenly. He could not have hoped for a more propitious living and a better patroness. He hardly could understand why his wife did not feel it as keenly as he did. Perhaps she does not have the capacity to feel as deeply as I do, he mused.

  He thought back over the events leading to his marriage to his Dear Charlotte and blushed at the memory of the unfeeling and impolite way in which his cousin Elizabeth had refused the offer of his hand; he could not have borne to stay in that house any longer. To his great relief his dear Charlotte had come along, invited him to Lucas Lodge, and saved him from further humiliation. Although he had promised never to reproach Elizabeth on the subject again, he could not but feel saddened that none of the Bennet girls would continue at Longbourn and take their mother’s place as mistress of the house upon their father’s demise, and subsequently he took possession of his inheritance. However, he did congratulate himself on having been saved from an unfortunate match, as he must now view the hoped for alliance between himself and his cousin Elizabeth since the infamous elopement and subsequent marriage of her youngest sister Lydia to the notorious cad and blackguard Mr George Wickham. Mr Collins was heartily relieved that he had escaped the misfortune of having to call such a man brother-in-law.

  Turning his attention to the pile of letters on his writing desk his eyes fell once again upon the wedding invitation from Longbourn. A double wedding, as exciting and fair a prospect it was for all those concerned in Hertfordshire he could not but feel deeply the pain and disgrace that Lady Catherine now felt upon the announcement of her nephew’s marriage. To be wed to a woman whose position in society was so far beneath their own that she could not even bring herself to utter Elizabeth’s name without shaking and tears welling up in her eyes.

  “Yes,” he nodded to himself “as Lady Catherine, says; Pemberley is to be thus polluted.”

  He had of course driven to Longbourn and sought an audience with both Mr Bennet and Elizabeth, being sensible of the importance with which he believed he stood in that family, but neither of them seemed to take his kindly meant advice with any seriousness, and in fact seemed to deem his visit with great levity. He could not understand it; surely, they would not wish to be the reason for injuring such great families as the De Bourghs, the Fitzwilliams, and the Darcys? Yet the wedding was to take place, the evidence of which was on his desk before him. He felt honour bound as Mr Bennet’s heir to attend but equally duty bound to Lady Catherine to refuse. He contemplated his predicament for some time and then taking his Bible in his hands, drew out his hassock from under the desk, turned, and knelt down leaning his elbows on his chair to pray.

  2

  Charlotte never did speak much when at Rosings Park. In fact, Lady Catherine rarely needed anyone to respond to her or to converse with, she just spoke at her visitors and required them merely to agree with her every word. This visit was no exception. Charlotte sat demurely, smiling, nodding, frowning, and shaking her head in turns when Lady Catherine’s speech demanded such responses. Her husband simpered and tried to soothe their hostess but failed every time to form even one whole sentence as Lady Catherine gave him no pause to interject.

  One person, Colonel Fitzwilliam, enlarged their party that evening and the remainder of them sat in their usual places. Anne De Bourgh, Mrs Jenkinson Anne’s companion, and the Collinses all sat facing the inimitable Lady Catherine.

  Charlotte noticed Colonel Fitzwilliam's countenance. She had seated herself at such an angle to him to see his mouth, which he had deliberately hidden behind his hand as he rested his face against it and his elbow on the arm of the sofa. Was it the candlelight, or was he smirking? She could understand how Lady Catherine’s ranting could be seen as ridiculous and how the scene in which they were a part was indeed comical, but she was astonished to see him actually seeming to enjoy his aunt’s display of ire as she fervently condemned the match her nephew Darcy was about to make.

  “Mrs Jenkinson, will you play the pianoforte?” Lady Catherine barked as she rose to ring the bell for coffee. It was not so much a request as an order and Mrs Jenkinson hurried off to oblige her.

  Colonel Fitzwilliam leant towards Charlotte a little as the music started, “I for one think your friend Elizabeth an amiable lady and wish them both the best in their marriage Mrs Collins.”

  He returned immediately to his former position on the sofa as Lady Catherine re-joined them. Charlotte could hardly contain her smile and could not wait to write and tell Lizzy all about it knowing she would be highly diverted.

  The coffee things arrived and Lady Catherine continued her speech as though there had been no interruption at all.

  “What vexes me most is how that woman and my nephew have trifled with me. Her arts and allurements have I am sure, made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family; she has completely drawn him in. Such a fortune hunter is that girl!” She turned to Colonel Fitzwilliam and smiled kindly at him, “but at least I have one Nephew whose constancy and sense of duty I can rely upon.”

  The Colonel reached out and kissed his Aunt’s hand as she proffered it to him. Charlotte noticed that he did not make a reply, how she wished Lizzy could have been there to listen in, what fun they would have had going over every part of the conversation afterwards at the rectory. Perhaps that would not be fair on Lizzy, she thought, this is about her personally, her own future and happiness. This reflection saddened her, and she felt sorry that the aunt of her friend’s future husband could abuse her to her friends and family thus.

  Lady Catherine saw this change in her countenance, smiled and nodded. “Yes, Mrs Collins I see feels as I do. She is right to be ashamed of her friend. Yes.” She nodded with satisfaction.

  Charlotte had learnt almost from the beginning of their acquaintance that there was no use in contradicting anything that Lady Catherine said and this made her feel more upset, that she could not even defend her dearest friend in the world.

  Mr Collins took the silence to mean he could interject, “I undertook to do my best to warn them, indeed I did, I wrote to Mr Bennet to dissuade them from making the match.”

  “Yes, yes, Mr Collins,” Lady Catherine had found her voice again and cut across him, “but it was to no avail was it? The match will take place and we must all suffer from this debasement.”

  * * *

  Charlotte always liked the drive home from Rosings, it was good to breathe the air and to feel free from the stifling atmosphere that surrounded Lady Catherine but also Mr Collins was often silent, just making little noises to himself as he replayed the evening in his own head while a contented smile suffused his face.

  It gave her time to reflect and invariably to calm her nerves, but tonight she wanted to talk, “My dear, may I presume to interrupt your reverie?”

  Mr Collins looked surprised at the interruption but smiled sweetly at her. “Of course my dearest Charlotte, pray speak and I will give you my undivided attention.”

  She took a deep breath, “I think we should go to Hertfordshire and attend Lizzy’s wedding.”

  Mr Collins looked shocked but turned in his seat to face her, “But my dear, I have determined that it would be the utmost insult to her Ladyship if we were to attend, we must pay every kindness to our patroness to whom we owe everything. You heard this very evening how upset she is over it all!”

  Charlotte turned to face him choosing her words carefully, “Could it possibly be, William that you might, be in error?” she did not give him time to respond, “One day you will inherit Longbourn and you will be an independent Gentleman, therefore do you not owe just as much to the Bennet family?” His face crumpled and he was about to retort and contradict her when she continued, “For the sake of the comfort of your wife and your future children at least.”

  This gave him pause for thought, and he had to agree that she was correct.

  Although he was not in the habit of admitting that he was mistaken he knew he was, “My dear Charlotte, you have given me somethi
ng to think upon. You may indeed be correct, and I am sure that when we fully explain ourselves and beg her forgiveness that Lady Catherine could not continue to be displeased with us for long.”

  “Indeed I should hope not. You will be thinking of your family honour. Do remember William that you know how important you are to the Bennets,” she applied to his ego and then appealed to his piety directly, “and did not our good Lord say, “blessed are the peace-makers”? William, you are the one who could stand as peacemaker between Mr Darcy, Elizabeth, and Lady Catherine.”

  Mr Collins eyes lit up, he raised them heavenwards and puffed out his chest, “I do believe my position as a clergyman makes me eminently suited for this very task, I thank you my dear Charlotte for presenting to me such an important mission as this is.” He smiled, reached out, and took hold of her hand, which he held for the rest of the way home. “Yes indeed, I think that is exactly why we should go to the wedding.”

  * * *

  Charlotte spent the next morning writing to her friends and family, she wrote her longest letter to Lizzy, an acceptance letter to the Bennets and informed her family that they would be staying at Lucas Lodge in Meryton for one week. She could hardly contain her excitement as she handed the letters to the maid to take to the post into Hunsford Village.

  Mr Collins had gone early to Rosings to explain their decision to Lady Catherine and to ask for her forgiveness. Charlotte had bit her tongue over that; she was saddened he felt it necessary to do. It was a surprise however to Charlotte to see Mr Collins arrive home, running and much later than expected, well after luncheon.

  “Mr Collins is all well?” she asked as she greeted him at the front door.

  “Oh my dear Mrs Collins,” he gasped “Lady Catherine…”

  Charlotte allowed him pause to catch his breath and led the way into the sitting room.