The discussion about Mr. Collins’s proposal was almost forgotten.
The Bennet family had been invited to dinner at the Lucas home, and Charlotte once again spent much of the day patiently listening to Mr. Collins.
Elizabeth found a chance to thank her.
“You’ve kept him in a good mood all day.”
“I’m more grateful to you than I can say.”
Charlotte smiled.
“I’m happy to help.”
“It’s a small sacrifice of my time, and I’m glad it has been useful.”
But Elizabeth had no idea that Charlotte was helping her for a very different reason.
Charlotte’s real plan was to make sure Mr. Collins stopped pursuing Elizabeth by encouraging him to pursue Charlotte instead.
Her plan worked perfectly.
When everyone said goodnight that evening, Charlotte had every reason to believe she had succeeded.
The only problem was that Mr. Collins was supposed to leave Hertfordshire very soon.
But Charlotte had underestimated him.
The very next morning, Mr. Collins quietly slipped out of Longbourn.
He was careful not to let his cousins see him leave.
He knew that if they noticed where he was going, they would immediately guess what he intended to do.
He wanted to keep his plan secret until he knew whether it would succeed.
Although Charlotte had given him plenty of encouragement, he was less confident than before after Elizabeth’s rejection.
Still, he hurried to Lucas Lodge and went straight to Charlotte.
Charlotte had seen him approaching from an upstairs window.
She quickly left the house and walked down the lane, pretending that she had happened to meet him by chance.
She had hoped he might become interested in her, but she had never expected him to arrive with so much excitement and so many words of affection.
Before long, despite Mr. Collins’s endless speeches, everything was settled between them.
Both were satisfied.
As they entered the house, Mr. Collins eagerly asked Charlotte to name the wedding day.
He wanted to become her husband as soon as possible.
Charlotte did not give him an answer yet.
But she had no intention of playing with his feelings.
His awkward manner and lack of intelligence made his courtship anything but romantic.
There was no reason for her to want it to last any longer than necessary.
Charlotte was accepting him for one reason only.
She wanted the security of marriage.
The sooner she had that security, the better.
Sir William and Lady Lucas were quickly told about the engagement.
They were delighted and immediately gave their approval.
For their daughter, it was an excellent match.
They could not give Charlotte much money, while Mr. Collins had a secure position and very good prospects for the future.
Lady Lucas immediately began thinking about how much longer Mr. Bennet was likely to live.
After all, once Mr. Collins inherited Longbourn, Charlotte would become the mistress of the estate.
Sir William was already thinking about the social advantages.
He confidently declared that once Mr. Collins owned Longbourn, he and Charlotte should certainly appear at St. James’s and take their proper place in society.
The entire Lucas family was thrilled.
The younger girls were delighted because Charlotte’s marriage might allow them to enter society a year or two earlier than expected.
The boys were relieved that Charlotte would no longer risk becoming an unmarried woman for life.
Charlotte herself remained calm.
She had achieved exactly what she wanted.
She now had time to think about what she had done.
Mr. Collins was certainly not intelligent or pleasant.
Being around him was irritating.
And his love for her was almost certainly nothing more than an illusion.
But he would be her husband.
Charlotte had never been especially romantic about men or marriage.
For a woman with a good education but very little money, marriage was one of the few respectable ways to secure her future.
It might not guarantee happiness, but it offered protection from poverty.
Now she had that protection.
At twenty-seven, and never having been considered particularly beautiful, Charlotte felt extremely fortunate to have found such security.
There was only one thing that troubled her.
She knew Elizabeth would be shocked.
Elizabeth was her closest friend, and Charlotte valued that friendship more than any other.
She expected Elizabeth to question her decision.
She might even disapprove of it.
Charlotte’s decision was firm, but Elizabeth’s disappointment would still hurt her.
So Charlotte decided that she would tell Elizabeth herself.
When Mr. Collins returned to Longbourn for dinner, Charlotte asked him not to reveal their engagement to anyone.
He promised obediently to keep it secret.
But keeping such exciting news to himself was extremely difficult for him.
When he finally returned, everyone immediately wanted to know why he had been gone for so long.
Their questions were so direct that he had to invent clever answers.
Inside, however, he was desperate to tell everyone about his successful romance.
Mr. Collins was leaving early the next morning, so he would not have another chance to see the family before setting out.
That evening, when the ladies were preparing to retire, everyone said their goodbyes.
Mrs. Bennet spoke to him warmly.
“We’ll be very happy to see you at Longbourn again whenever you have time to visit.”
“My dear madam, that invitation is especially pleasing because it is exactly what I had hoped to receive.”
“You can be certain that I shall accept it as soon as possible.”
Everyone was surprised.
Mr. Bennet certainly did not want Mr. Collins returning so soon.
He immediately spoke up.
“But my dear sir, won’t Lady Catherine object to this?”
“You should be more concerned about upsetting your patroness than about pleasing your relatives.”
Mr. Collins quickly reassured him.
“My dear sir, I am extremely grateful for your concern.”
“You may be certain that I would never take such an important step without Lady Catherine’s approval.”
“You really cannot be too careful with her.”
“Never do anything that might anger her.”
“If you think she would object to your visiting us again, then you should simply stay at home.”
“And please believe that we would not be offended.”
“Your kindness means a great deal to me, my dear sir.”
“I assure you, I shall soon write to thank you for this advice and for all the kindness you have shown me during my stay in Hertfordshire.”
“As for my dear cousins, even though I may not be away long enough for them to miss me, I shall still wish them health and happiness.”
“And that includes my cousin Elizabeth.”
The ladies then left the room.
They were all equally surprised that Mr. Collins seemed so certain he would return soon.
Mrs. Bennet immediately began wondering whether he intended to propose to one of her younger daughters.
For a moment, she even thought Mary might be willing to accept him.
Mary had always admired Mr. Collins more than the others did.
She thought there was something serious and thoughtful about him.
Although she considered herself much more intelligent, she imagined that if she encouraged him to read and improve himself, he might eventually become a respectable companion.
But the next morning destroyed all such hopes.
Charlotte came to Longbourn shortly after breakfast.
She asked to speak privately with Elizabeth.
Then she told her what had happened the day before.
Elizabeth had briefly considered the possibility that Mr. Collins might become interested in Charlotte.
But she had never imagined that Charlotte would actually encourage him.
The news shocked her.
She could not hide her reaction.
“Engaged to Mr. Collins?”
“My dear Charlotte, that’s impossible!”
Charlotte had remained calm while telling her story, but Elizabeth’s blunt reaction caused her expression to falter for a moment.
She had expected Elizabeth to be surprised.
Still, she quickly regained her composure.
“Why are you so surprised, my dear Eliza?”
“Just because Mr. Collins failed to win you, does that mean you think he could never win the affection of another woman?”
Elizabeth realized that she had spoken too strongly.
She made an effort to control herself.
“I’m very happy for you, Charlotte.”
“I truly wish you every happiness.”
“I know what you’re feeling,” Charlotte said.
“You must be very surprised.”
“After all, only a few days ago Mr. Collins was trying to marry you.”
“But once you have had time to think about it, I hope you will understand my decision.”
“I have never been a romantic person.”
“I don’t expect a great love story.”
“All I want is a comfortable home.”
“Considering Mr. Collins’s position, his connections, and his future prospects, I believe my chances of being reasonably happy with him are no worse than those of most women who marry.”
Elizabeth quietly agreed.
“Certainly.”
There was an uncomfortable silence.
Then they returned to the others.
Charlotte did not stay much longer.
After she left, Elizabeth was finally alone with her thoughts.
It took her a long time to accept what she had heard.
Mr. Collins proposing twice in three days was strange enough.
But Charlotte actually accepting him seemed almost unbelievable.
Elizabeth had always known that Charlotte did not think about marriage in quite the same way she did.
Still, she had never imagined that Charlotte would be willing to give up everything else simply for financial security.
The thought of Charlotte becoming Mrs. Collins was deeply painful.
Elizabeth felt as though her friend had lowered herself in her eyes.
Even worse, she could not imagine how Charlotte could possibly be happy with the life she had chosen.