Elizabeth was sitting with her mother and sisters, still thinking about Charlotte’s engagement.
She was not sure whether she should tell them about it herself.
Before she could decide, Sir William Lucas arrived.
Charlotte had sent him to announce the engagement to the Bennet family.
With many polite compliments and obvious pleasure at the idea of the two families becoming related, Sir William shared the news.
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
Mrs. Bennet immediately objected.
“You must be mistaken, Sir William.”
Lydia was even more direct.
“Good Lord, Sir William! How can you say that?”
“Don’t you know that Mr. Collins wants to marry Lizzy?”
Sir William remained perfectly polite despite their rude reactions.
He calmly insisted that the news was true.
Elizabeth felt sorry for him.
She stepped in to confirm what he had said.
“Sir William is telling the truth.”
“Charlotte told me about it herself.”
Elizabeth then began congratulating him warmly.
Jane joined her.
They talked about how happy the marriage might make Charlotte.
Elizabeth even praised Mr. Collins’s character and pointed out that Hunsford was conveniently close to London.
Mrs. Bennet was too shocked to say much while Sir William was there.
But the moment he left, all her anger came pouring out.
First, she insisted that the whole thing could not possibly be true.
Then she decided that Mr. Collins must have been tricked into the engagement.
She declared that Charlotte and Mr. Collins would never be happy together.
Finally, she desperately hoped the marriage would somehow be broken off.
But Mrs. Bennet reached two conclusions that she repeated again and again.
She blamed Elizabeth for everything.
And she believed that everyone had treated her terribly.
Nothing could comfort her.
Nothing could calm her down.
She remained angry for an entire week before she could look at Elizabeth without scolding her.
It took a month before she could speak to Sir William or Lady Lucas without being rude.
And it took several months before she could forgive Charlotte.
Mr. Bennet took the news much more calmly.
In fact, he found it rather amusing.
He said he had always thought Charlotte was a reasonably sensible woman.
Now he was delighted to discover that she was just as foolish as his wife—and even more foolish than his daughter.
Jane admitted that the engagement surprised her.
But instead of criticizing Charlotte, she sincerely wished the couple happiness.
Elizabeth could not convince her that the marriage was unlikely to succeed.
Kitty and Lydia felt no jealousy toward Charlotte.
Mr. Collins was only a clergyman, after all, and they had never wanted him for themselves.
To them, the engagement was simply interesting gossip to take back to Meryton.
Lady Lucas, however, could not resist enjoying her victory over Mrs. Bennet.
She was now able to boast that she had a daughter who had made a good marriage.
She visited Longbourn more often than usual and repeatedly talked about how happy she was.
Mrs. Bennet’s angry looks and bitter comments did not seem to affect her happiness at all.
Between Elizabeth and Charlotte, things became uncomfortable.
Neither of them wanted to discuss the engagement.
Elizabeth began to feel that their friendship could never again be as open as it had been before.
Her disappointment in Charlotte made her appreciate Jane even more.
She trusted Jane completely and was certain that Jane would never sacrifice her principles for money or security.
At the same time, Elizabeth was becoming increasingly worried about Jane.
Bingley had now been gone for a week, and there was still no news of his return.
Jane had quickly replied to Caroline Bingley’s letter.
Now she was counting the days until she might reasonably expect another letter.
On Tuesday, Mr. Collins’s promised letter of thanks arrived.
It was addressed to Mr. Bennet.
The letter was written in such a serious and grateful style that one might have thought Mr. Collins had lived with the family for a whole year instead of only a few weeks.
After expressing his gratitude for everything the Bennets had done for him, he finally revealed the real reason for his happiness.
He proudly announced that he had won the affection of their pleasant neighbor, Miss Lucas.
He explained that this was the reason he had been so eager to accept Mrs. Bennet’s invitation to return to Longbourn.
He hoped to come back on the Monday in two weeks.
He also reported that Lady Catherine was extremely pleased with his marriage.
In fact, she wanted the wedding to take place as soon as possible.
Mr. Collins clearly hoped this would persuade his beloved Charlotte to choose an early wedding date and make him the happiest man alive.
Mrs. Bennet was no longer pleased at the thought of Mr. Collins returning to Hertfordshire.
She was just as annoyed about it as her husband.
She thought it was very strange that he would return to Longbourn instead of staying at Lucas Lodge.
It was inconvenient.
It was troublesome.
And with her health in such a poor state, she hated having visitors in the house.
Having a man in love was even worse.
But before long, she found something much more important to complain about.
Mr. Bingley was still away.
Neither Jane nor Elizabeth felt comfortable about his continued absence.
Day after day passed without any news.
Then a rumor began spreading around Meryton.
People were saying that Bingley would not return to Netherfield for the entire winter.
Mrs. Bennet was furious.
She repeatedly declared that the rumor was a horrible lie.
Even Elizabeth was beginning to worry.
She still did not believe that Bingley had lost interest in Jane.
But she was starting to fear that his sisters might succeed in keeping him away.
She hated the thought because it could destroy Jane’s happiness.
She also disliked the idea that Bingley’s feelings might be so easily controlled.
Still, she could not completely dismiss it.
His two sisters were determined to keep him in London.
Darcy, his closest friend, also had considerable influence over him.
Then there was Miss Darcy, whom the Bingley sisters clearly wanted him to admire.
London itself offered endless entertainment.
Elizabeth feared that all of these things together might be strong enough to weaken Bingley’s attachment to Jane.
Jane was suffering even more.
But she tried very hard not to show it.
She and Elizabeth never discussed Bingley directly.
Neither sister wanted to make the other more anxious.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Bennet had no such restraint.
Hardly an hour passed without her mentioning Bingley.
She constantly talked about how impatient she was for his return.
Sometimes she even demanded that Jane admit how badly she had been treated if he never came back.
Jane’s gentle and patient nature was the only thing that kept her from losing her temper.
Two weeks later, Mr. Collins returned exactly as he had promised.
His reception at Longbourn was not nearly as warm as it had been when he first arrived.
Mr. Collins, however, was far too happy to care.
Fortunately for everyone else, his courtship kept him away from the house most of the time.
He spent almost every day at Lucas Lodge.
Sometimes he returned to Longbourn only shortly before bedtime, just long enough to apologize for having spent the day elsewhere.
Mrs. Bennet was miserable.
Whenever anyone mentioned the marriage, she became furious.
And wherever she went, she seemed to hear people talking about it.
She could hardly stand the sight of Charlotte.
Charlotte was going to become the future mistress of Longbourn, and Mrs. Bennet could not bear the thought.
Whenever Charlotte visited, Mrs. Bennet imagined that she was already thinking about taking possession of the house.
Whenever Charlotte spoke quietly with Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet became convinced that they were discussing Longbourn.
She imagined them planning to throw her and her daughters out as soon as Mr. Bennet died.
Eventually, she complained bitterly to her husband.
“Mr. Bennet, it is unbearable to think that Charlotte Lucas will one day be the mistress of this house.”
“I may actually live to see her take my place.”
“My dear, try not to think so gloomily.”
“Let us hope for something better.”
“Perhaps I will be the one who outlives everyone.”
Mrs. Bennet found no comfort in that at all.
Instead, she continued complaining.
“I cannot stand the thought of Charlotte and Mr. Collins owning this entire estate.”
“If it weren’t for the entail, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.”
“What wouldn’t you have to worry about?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then let us be grateful that you have been spared such complete indifference.”
“I will never be grateful for the entail, Mr. Bennet.”
“How could anyone possibly have arranged for an estate to be taken away from his own daughters?”
“I simply cannot understand it.”
“And all for Mr. Collins!”
“Why should he inherit it instead of anyone else?”
Mr. Bennet looked at her calmly.
“I’ll leave that question for you to answer yourself.”