"I hate such false friends. Why could he not keep on quarelling with you, as his father did before him?"
After some time recovering from a cold, both myself and Jane are back at the Bennet household, where no time is spared in turning the entirety of the family’s attention to the impending arrival of their cousin William Collins, clergyman and heir to the Bennet home ahead of Mr Bennet’s daughters.
Naturally, Mrs Bennet isn't fond of the idea of her daughters mingling with the man destined to take their home, which is likely why her husband kept the letter from a man “whom [he] had never met” a secret when he received it a month ago and sent a reply two weeks ago.
Upon hearing of this, she does her best to blame him for allowing his distant relation to be entitled to the family estate, but changes her tune when she looks at the letter. We go on a brief epistolary route, where Collins reveals his deep desire to patch up the disagreement between his father and Mr Bennet, likely something to do with the inheritance of the house. At some point, Bennet felt willing to give this man of the cloth a chance and can be expected at four in the afternoon.
As they await his arrival, the family speculate on the nature of this man, so very eager to make amends with the family he has every intention of booting out once their father dies.
Jane wishes to give him the benefit of the doubt for trying to extend the olive branch, whereas Lizzy finds his writing pompous, likely due to the repeated references to his good friend Lady Catherine, and Mary decides to analyse the quality of the letter as if it wasn’t an actual correspondence that could affect the trajectory of her life. Catherine and Mary couldn't care less about the letter as it was highly unlikely their guest would come in the red coat of the military, as all those of any interest these days to them did.
Collins arrives on time and spends the first few hours in the company of the girls while Mr Bennet keeps quiet around the “tall, heavy looking man of five and twenty” at first. Following in the footsteps of so many men before him, he compliments Mrs Bennet for making such fine young ladies, and she does her best to nudge the topic towards the “grievous affair” that is his inheritance of the family home. He announces his intention to “admire” the girls of the house as a means of resolving that tricky matter, for reasons he will impart later on.
For now, his admiration turns to everything around him on his way to dinner, from the halls to the furniture, quite possibly mentally rearranging his own furniture around the place ahead of time as far as Mrs Bennet is concerned.
The chapter ends with him apologising as profusely as he can for daring to suggest that the Bennet sisters had to prepare dinner when they had a perfectly good chef in their employ. Not that Mrs Bennet was offended at all, but he is most eager to make a good impression on them.
Thoughts
- I already know what Collins has in mind for his visit, but I still think he’s being a bit much.
- I know it’s been a while, see my last post for context, but I’m hoping to finish the first “book” of P&P like this and take an official break before part two.
- It is nice to get a break from Darcy and Bingley for a few chapters
