Page 33 of Such Low Connections

“Jane ought to have secured him when she could,” remarked Charlotte, quite in earnest despite Elizabeth’s little laugh.

“Secured him? You make men sound like horses that might bolt,” Elizabeth joked.

“That is not an entirely unfitting analogy,” Charlotte replied. “If only Jane had given Mr Bingley more assurance of her affections, he might have made her an offer before he left. Now, who knows how his feelings could change after these weeks away?”

Elizabeth squeezed her friend’s arm.

“You know how modest and shy Jane is, Charlotte,” she pointed out. “Mr Bingley will have to make the first move in their game. It could not be otherwise.”

“Then the game might be over,” Charlotte said, rather too baldly for Elizabeth’s taste. “It must be played boldly, or not at all.”

“Look at us, a pair of spinsters, talking about offers of marriage as though either of us knew the first thing about engagements or how to proceed!” Elizabeth jested, intending then to lead them off the subject.

“Each of us knows more than others might guess,” was Charlotte’s peculiar reply, making Elizabeth realise that there had been something more than a little odd in Charlotte’s manner since she first rang the bell at Longbourn. “I do have some news for you, Lizzy.”

“What? Do not tell me you are getting married!” Elizabeth teased her and then stopped as she saw that Charlotte’s face was still entirely serious.

“Yes, I am. I wanted you to be the first to know now that the contract has been drawn up and everything is arranged between my father and Mr Collins —”

“Mr Collins?” interrupted Elizabeth in loud disbelief, stopping dead in her tracks and staring at her friend as though she had gone mad. “Mr Collins?! You are joking, aren’t you?”

“Mr Collins and I are to marry at St. Anne’s church as soon as the banns have been fully read,” Charlotte told her with calm determination. “

“No, you cannot, surely…” Elizabeth stumbled on, still. “For he is so… And you are… Oh, Charlotte, forgive me.”

Charlotte sighed and led Elizabeth to a stile where they might both sit for a few minutes.

“Mr Collins offers all that I seek from a husband, Lizzy, and I am grateful for it. I want only security, a good character, and a social position in keeping with my family’s. He is not a drunkard, a gambler or a brute, is he? In his own way, Mr Collins is a principled man with good prospects. My own prospects, by comparison, have been growing bleak.”

“Oh, Charlotte!” Elizabeth exclaimed again, her face red and uncomfortable as she tried to come to terms with what she was hearing. “When I think of how I talked of Mr Collins to you, and the terms I used, and now you are to marry him. I am so sorry!”

“Do not be sorry,” Charlotte laughed now. “Congratulate me instead, and I shall forget every word. Mr Collins will give me the life I seek, even if he is not clever or interesting enough for your tastes.”

“Congratulations, in that case,” Elizabeth managed to say at last, pulling together her reeling mind. “If you are happy, then I am happy for you. And you are quite right that Mr Collins is a principled man and will make you a perfectly respectable husband, Charlotte. Are your parents pleased?”

“Pleased and relieved. They were both long resigned to me being an old maid, I think.”

“When did it happen? I really had no idea whatsoever.”

“Mr Collins proposed the very day that you refused him. Do you remember that I took him back to Lucas Lodge for luncheon? After that, we took him to the stagecoach in Father’s carriage. It was so very clear that Mr Collins wanted a wife, and that any respectable young woman of good family would do. It took very little to prompt him into a second proposal.”

At this answer, Elizabeth could not repress a small giggle, although she tried hard to do so, unsure how Charlotte might receive her laughter. To her relief, Charlotte smiled back.

“Two proposals in one day,” Elizabeth remarked. “Mr Collins is a determined man when he sets his course, is he not?”

“Lady Catherine de Bourgh is determined that he ought to be married in order to set a good example in the neighbourhood,” Charlotte remarked. “Mr Collins could not do other than obey the edicts of his noble patroness, could he?”

The two young women giggled together at an observation at once so innocent, so true, and so absurd.

“Given your observation that any respectable young woman would have done, Mr Collins is fortunate that he fell into your hands, Charlotte,” Elizabeth told her friend, putting aside any lingering qualms about pragmatic and clear-thinking Charlotte taking such a husband. “He can have no idea of the wisdom and good temper of the wife he is about to gain. I wish you both joy.”

“Thank you,” Charlotte accepted the compliment graciously. “I believe we have as much chance of happiness together as any other couple.”

“Now, let us continue our walk while the weather is good. As you will be married and established in Hunsford before the spring, we shall not have many more opportunities. I shall be the solitary old maid of the district before long, I suspect, and all the young girls will point to me as a cautionary tale.”

Standing and shaking herself down, Elizabeth held out an arm to Charlotte, who took it with a smile.

“Do you not wish to marry someday, Lizzy?” Charlotte asked curiously. “I understand that Mr Collins could not find favour with you, but is it marriage itself you reject?”