Hearts and Hidden Identities : A 'Pride and Prejudice' Novella Variation by Pembroke Newton

Author:Pembroke, Newton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

The next morning, Mrs. Bennet’s behaviour toward Elizabeth was noticeably altered. Her usual fussing had been replaced with cold glances and clipped responses. It was clear to Elizabeth that Mr. Collins had spoken with her mother about her response to his proposal.

Late in the morning, when Mr. Collins left for a walk to visit one of his newly made connections, Mrs. Bennet seized her opportunity. “Lizzy,” she said sharply, “come with me.”

She led Elizabeth into the smaller parlour where Mr. Bennet was sitting and closed the door behind them with a firm hand.

“How could you refuse Mr. Collins?” she began, her voice brimming with agitation. “Do you not see what you’ve done? Mr. Collins will inherit everything after your father, and yet you turn him away as if he means nothing! What will become of us all when your father is gone? Where will we live?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to respond, but Mrs. Bennet pressed on, her voice rising. “You are being headstrong, and I warn you, no man will want a wife who refuses such a sensible offer. Have you not thought of your sisters? Of your own future? Mr. Collins would have secured our home, our family’s future, and you reject him as if it were nothing!”

Mr. Bennet, peering over the top of his glasses, cleared his throat. “What’s this, Mrs. Bennet? First, you drag the poor girl in here, scolding her for reasons only God knows, and now you speak of an offer. What offer are you referring to?”

Mrs. Bennet whirled around to face him, her voice rising. "What offer? Mr. Collins, of course! He has proposed to Lizzy, and she—she had the audacity to refuse him! Can you imagine, Mr. Bennet?"

Elizabeth watched her father closely, unsure how he might respond to this revelation. But to her relief, Mr. Bennet simply raised an eyebrow, looking more amused than concerned.

“And Lizzy refused him, did she?” he asked, turning to his daughter with a smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I must say, I would have been quite astonished if she hadn’t."

Mrs. Bennet gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "Astonished? Mr. Bennet, you are impossible! How can you take this so lightly? Our future—our very home—hangs in the balance, and yet you laugh?"

“Now, now, Mrs. Bennet,” he said with a lightness that contrasted his wife’s growing agitation. “Let us not be too hasty. I should like to think I have a good twenty years left in me. By the time Mr. Collins inherits Longbourn, the world may have moved on entirely.”

Elizabeth fought a smile at her father’s teasing tone, though Mrs. Bennet was not amused.

“You spoil her, Mr. Bennet!” she cried, pacing the room. “You let her do as she pleases, and it will ruin her. She is too headstrong, too particular. No respectable man will marry her, and then where will we be?”

Mr. Bennet raised an eyebrow at his daughter. “Lizzy, had you accepted Mr. Collins, I should have been quite astonished. In fact, I would have been most disappointed.

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