A Curious Misunderstanding: An Imaginative Re-Telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by April Karber

Author:April Karber [Karber, April]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Not in Amazon Library, To Transfer
ISBN: 9781500689315
Amazon: 1500689319
Goodreads: 35479878
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Besides Jane, there was no one Elizabeth trusted more than Charlotte Lucas. Yet by the time they all sat down to breakfast the next morning, the entire town knew what had occurred between Elizabeth and Mr. Collins. There was no way Charlotte Lucas could have

“You must marry him, Elizabeth!” her mother shrieked, sleep deprived and bothered. Mr. Collins had packed his bags before the other members of the household had woken and gone to the Lucas’s for the remainder of his stay. “You will have this house! Think of what will happen when your father is gone!”

“This conversation, perhaps, should take place elsewhere, Mrs. Bennet,” Mr. Bennet voiced sternly from across the table. “Talk of my mortality does not pair well with eggs and boiled potatoes.”

“It shall take place now, Mr. Bennet! The sooner Lizzy sees reason, the sooner she can march over to Mr. Collins and apologize! Before the man proposes to someone else or decides to turn us out of the house immediately. Tell her, Mr. Bennet! Tell her what will happen if she does not accept!”

Mr. Bennet again voiced his desire that this conversation take place elsewhere at a different time of day, but Mrs. Bennet insisted that he make his decree now, in front of all the girls.

“If it is to be said in front of all of my daughters, then I must state my answer less specifically so that it applies to all of them.”

Mrs. Bennet gave him leave to extend this order to all of their daughters at once.

“Then let all of them listen. Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. You have seen marriages formed from love, financial necessity, familial connections, and a combination of these things. If gentlemen, granted some will have to be more foolish than others depending on which of you it is, proposes, you are to take into account your happiness and nothing else. If you can be happy accepting a man for material wealth, so be it, true love in poverty, fine. All I ask is that my daughters chooses her own happiness. Now Elizabeth, since yours has so recently been thrown into question; I will call upon you to get my point across. Would you be happy as the wife of Mr. Collins? You will have this house, this garden, your childhood home would remain yours forever, you will know all of your neighbors, and you will see your children grow up much as you did.”

“Despite all of that, I would not.”

“Then my answer to Mr. Collins if he applies to me for your hand, will echo your own.”

Mrs. Bennet threw her hands up in dismay and claimed this was the worst morning ever spent in her home, and the last, it was likely.

Elizabeth excused herself for most of the morning in the fuss and Jane worked to distract their mother as best she could. When Elizabeth returned, she found the surprising quiet of the household to be worse than the bustle. She was immediately relayed to her father’s study and informed as to why the household was so calm.

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