An End to Estrangement - A Pride and Prejudice Variation

Part 29

"We are going to be late!" Lydia hissed, circling her family and chivvying them along, and, when that did not work, forcibly taking hold of her father's arm and dragging him.

"Lydia, dear!" Mr Bennet said, with a wry smile. "We might have been perfectly on time had you not delayed us by taking just one more moment before the looking glass."

His criticism, however humorous, was accurate but nonetheless fell on deaf ears. Lydia slowed her pace, letting out a theatrical sigh, and allowing her aged father to set their pace.

"I do not know why we must hurry anyway," Mrs Bennet declared, with a good-natured tweak at one of Kitty's curls, which never could quite meet her Mama's approval.

"Sir William knows that we are coming, and they are not likely to dine without us." She sniffed, as if the very notion was absurd.

"I do not imagine running the distance from our carriage to the front door would make very much difference," Elizabeth remarked, grateful when the door was thrown open and they were ushered in, for unlike her Mama, she felt a flicker of pre-emptive embarrassment at arriving late to their engagement, combining uncomfortably with a reluctance to arrive there at all.

Ordinarily, she would have been as excited to spend an evening at Lucas lodge as her sisters had been, for Lizzy was not immune to the charms of the house, and even less so to the charms of its occupants. Sir William's eldest daughter, Charlotte, was one of her favourite people in the world and on any other evening Lizzy would look forward to the opportunity to share secrets with her. This evening, however, her thoughts were entirely preoccupied with the presence of another guest.

She had almost summoned enough courage to speak to Mr Darcy that afternoon, and, had Caroline Bingley not chosen that precise moment to arrive, she might have done so. She had even rehearsed a speech. We must put the past behind us, Mr Darcy. Let us start again: imagine we never met before this year. My name is Elizabeth Bennet. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. Then she would smile, and he would smile, and they would begin, at last, to move on...

"What a fine house this is!"

Mr Collins had been largely silent in the carriage and Lizzy had almost found herself forgetting he was there, so preoccupied was she with seeing Mr Darcy again. She had nursed her speech in silence, determined that she would be able to issue it this evening and at last put an end to their awkward dancing around one another. If what appeared to be unfolding between Jane and Mr Bingley continued apace, there would be no avoiding Mr Darcy altogether. What we had is gone, she told herself, surprised that now, after many hours' practice, she could think that with only the palest hint of sadness. But we might begin again. We might become friends. It had been a shock to be so suddenly reunited, for both of them, but that did not mean their surprise reunion could not be lived through.

"Miss Elizabeth?"

Lizzy glanced up, surprised that, whilst her family had dispersed immediately upon crossing the threshold of Lucas Lodge, Mr Collins remained in the doorway, waiting to escort her in.

"I am coming," she said, forcing a smile onto her face and shyly accepting the arm he offered her. He did not know how much she needed the support of someone beside her at that moment, and yet here he was to offer it. If she were more romantic, she might read some sign from Providence into that one moment.

"Ah, Miss Elizabeth!" Sir William beamed, turning to greet Mr Collins. "And this must be...?"

"Mr Collins, my father's cousin," Elizabeth said, slipping her hand free of his arm and realising, in an instant, what they must have looked like entering the room in so familiar a fashion. Her eyes scanned the crowd, alighting fleetingly on Charlotte, whose own eyes were wide in surprise, before locating Mr Darcy who stood off to one side with Mr Egerton. He did not seem to have noticed her arrival. Both gentlemen were stooped over, discussing in whispers something that looked, by the set of their features, very serious.

"Well, Mr Collins. Welcome! Welcome, indeed, to Lucas Lodge!"

He steered Mr Collins away from Elizabeth, intent on introducing him to both the grander aspects of his house and the grandest of his guests, and Elizabeth was soon swept up by Charlotte.

"I shall forgive you for keeping secrets, Lizzy!"

"What?"

Elizabeth's attention was immediately brought back to her friend. Did Charlotte know? How could she have guessed? Was Elizabeth's true state of inward confusion so obvious to all that her friend could tell it just by looking?

"What do you mean?"

"My father's cousin," Charlotte mimicked, elbowing Lizzy in the side. "And is that all the mysterious Mr Collins is?"

Lizzy frowned, entirely confused until Charlotte let out a sigh and slid her arm through her friend's.

"Oh, very well! You may keep your counsel a little longer. I suppose it is only fair not to expect you to speak until everything is settled. I think you might have chosen to confide in me, though. After all, you know I have no secrets from you." She sighed again. "And I assure you, if I had anything close to an engagement on my horizon, I would be quite incapable of keeping it secret for a moment. What is he like, then?"

"An engagement?" Elizabeth's frown darkened. "What on earth are you talking about, Charlotte? Do you mean Jane and Mr Bingley?" Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Surely there could not have been an announcement made yet? She craned her neck to see Mr Bingley talking animatedly with Mr Bennet, with Jane and Mrs Bennet standing on. But, no, Mama was not in raptures so surely there could have been nothing agreed yet.

"Jane and Mr Bingley?" Charlotte laughed. "Oh, do not tell me now that there are to be two weddings! How very unfair!" She shook her head, taking pity on her friend at last. "I meant you swanning in on the arm of Mr Collins. It would be a good match, I suppose, and a comfortable way to settle everything." Her voice dropped. "And you could hardly expect him to marry Jane when she seems to have so adroitly captured Mr Bingley's heart. How wonderful it must be to be so beautiful that an eligible gentleman falls in love with you the very first time you meet! If Jane were not quite so lovely I should definitely despise her for her good fortune."

Charlotte had been walking as she spoke, dragging Elizabeth along with her so that it was not until that moment that she realised they had been making their way around the periphery of the room until they were almost level with Mr Darcy and Mr Egerton. Too late, she realised that Charlotte's voice was carrying, and both men paused in their own discussion just in time to hear her declare,

"But I do think, if you and Mr Collins intend to marry, you might have told me before this evening!"