Yours ever,

Caroline Bingley


Mrs Bennet to Mrs Gardiner

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

November 28

Ah! Sister, was there ever anyone so cruelly used? Nobody is on my side, nobody takes part with me, nobody feels for my poor nerves. We have had such a few days I wonder I have survived. First Lizzy turned down Mr Collins, and now Mr Bingley has gone to London when he was to have married Jane. Everybody said so. Sir William Lucas himself said it was as plain as a pikestaff that Mr Bingley was head over ears in love with her, and now he has gone to town and we do not know when he will return. And if Lizzy takes it into her head to go refusing every offer of marriage she receives, she will never get a husband at all. I do not know who is to maintain her when her father is dead. I shall not be able to keep her. Nobody can tell what I suffer. But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied.

Your affectionate sister,

Janet


Miss Jane Bennet to Miss Caroline Bingley

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

November 29

My dear Caroline,

Thank you for your letter; it was good of you to let me know that you are leaving Hertfordshire. You will be sorely missed but I console myself with the thought that we can continue our friendship through correspondence as you suggest, and I hope that you will one day return to Netherfield so that we might continue our friendship in person.

Truly yours,

Jane


Miss Charlotte Lucas to Miss Susan Sotherton

Lucas Lodge, Hertfordshire,

November 29

Susan, you are to congratulate me. I am to marry Mr Collins. I was sure a proposal was coming, having listened to him all day yesterday, but knowing that he was to leave Hertfordshire very soon, I feared that he might not have time to speak before he left. However, I need not have worried. I happened to see him from an upstairs window as he approached the house and so I went out to accidentally meet him in the lane. No sooner did he see me than he proposed, assuring me of his wholehearted devotedness, and the approval of his noble patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. By the time we returned to the house I was engaged.

He speedily applied to my mother and father for their consent, which, as you might guess, was readily forthcoming, and my father set his seal on the match by saying that we should make our appearance at St. James’s. My brothers and sisters were overjoyed, my sisters knowing they will be able to come out more speedily now that I am to be married, and my brothers freed of the fear of me dying an old maid.

I am content. To be sure, Mr Collins is neither sensible nor agreeable, but still he will be my husband. I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.

I have not yet told Elizabeth. I fear she will be disappointed in me, but if so, I must bear it. I thought the news would come better from me and so I charged Mr Collins not to speak of it when he returned to Longbourn. I am not sure how far I can trust him, however.

Wish me courage!

Charlotte


Miss Susan Sotherton to Miss Charlotte Lucas

Bath, November 30

My dear Charlotte,

I wish you happy with all my heart. It is a good match for you. Mr Collins is a respectable man with a good living and a useful patroness, by all accounts. I am happy for you, indeed I am. I know you are not romantic, and that you have never been romantic, and I think that you are lucky to have found a man who is also not romantic. Think how awful it would have been if he were in love with you and you could not return his affections. He wants a wife; you want a husband; and although I know it is not Lizzy’s way of going on, we are each of us different. I long to hear all about Kent, and how lucky you are to be going somewhere so agreeable.

Now I have some news for you. I, too, have met a gentleman. I will not say more at the moment, only that he is very handsome and agreeable, and that I like him more than any other man I have ever met. His name is Mr Wainwright. Would it not be strange if we were all to marry within a few months of each other?

Write to me soon. Tell me all about your wedding. Are you to be married in Meryton? Are you to go to London to buy your wedding clothes? Are you to leave for Kent straight afterwards, or are you to have a wedding tour first? You see, I am insatiable!

Your dear friend,

Susan


Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Gardiner

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

November 30

My dear Aunt Gardiner,

I have been remiss in my letter writing, particularly since much has been happening. Just over ten days ago a visitor arrived, one of Papa’s cousins, Mr Collins, who is to inherit the estate. This upset Mama, as you might imagine, until he made it clear that he had come to make amends for his inheritance by marrying one of us, after which Mama was all smiles. His first choice was Jane, made in less than twenty-four hours of his arrival. On learning that she was likely to be soon engaged, he quickly transferred his favours to me, and three days ago, having known me for no more than ten days, he proposed. Naturally I did not accept, for even leaving aside his dubious motives for marriage, he is one of the most ridiculous men I have ever met. You do not know him, and so perhaps you doubt me, but I am not alone in my opinion of him: Papa thinks him one of the most absurd of men and even Jane can scarcely find anything good to say about him.

In refusing him, I incurred Mama’s disapproval and I fear she has still not forgiven me. She makes constant allusions to it, and her ill will was matched by Mr Collins’s resentment until, three days after being rejected by me and less than a fortnight after arriving in Hertfordshire, he proposed to Charlotte! The love which he offered me is now hers, as is the parsonage at Hunsford and the patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Poor Charlotte. I do not know which I mind most: the thought that she has accepted him, for it has sunk her in my estimation, or the knowledge that she will not be happy.

This is a letter of wonders, is it not?

Mr Collins has now left us, although he intends to return very shortly, much to Papa’s despair, for Mr Collins is very fond of company and follows my father even into his library. Mama, too, is not eager for his return, thinking, not unnaturally, that he would be better staying at Lucas Lodge.

She has still not accepted the situation and consoles herself by variously saying that she disbelieves the whole story, or by thinking that Mr Collins has been taken in by Charlotte’s artfulness, or by trusting they will never be happy together, or by hoping that the match will be broken off.

Papa amuses himself by saying that he is relieved to know that Charlotte is just as silly as his wife and more foolish than his daughter. Jane is surprised but endeavours to see good qualities in Mr Collins and to believe that they will be happy. Kitty is entertained, being eager to spread the news as quickly as possible. Lydia is astonished, asking Sir William—who brought the news—how he could tell such a story, for Mr Collins wants to marry me!

Mama scolds me every time she sees me. I have some sympathy for her, as Lady Lucas cannot help speaking of having the comfort of a daughter well married whenever she visits, which is rather oftener than usual.

My other news is neither ridiculous nor happy. Mr Bingley has left Netherfield, and there is some doubt as to when, and if, he will return. Jane bears it bravely but she is deeply upset. I am sure his sisters are behind the separation, for I never saw a man so violently in love as Mr Bingley.

Your loving niece,

Lizzy

DECEMBER

Mrs Gardiner to Miss Elizabeth Bennet

Gracechurch Street, London,

December 1

Dear Lizzy,

Thank you for your letter, which as you will imagine I found impossible to put down. I did not know that Mr Collins planned to visit, and I am surprised your Mama did not mention it, which leads me to assume that you did not have much warning of his visit yourself. He certainly seems to be an extraordinary young man.

I am relieved that you refused him, though not surprised, for you have always had good sense. He must be very foolish, for who but a foolish man would propose to one woman he did not know, let alone propose to two? What can he have been thinking of? And after his rejection by you, to propose to another woman whilst staying under your roof? There is not only foolishness but a lack of delicacy in the matter.

Your mama has also written to me and feels herself very cruelly used, although at the time I did not understand what she was complaining of, as I had never heard of Mr Collins and her letter did not make it clear who he was, much less what he had been doing. Her talk of you rejecting an offer of marriage also made no sense as she gave me no details, so I am grateful that your letter has enlightened me.

Never fear, her anger will soon fade—far sooner than your problems would have faded had you indeed accepted Mr Collins.

You say that you are disappointed in Charlotte. I understand your feelings towards your friend, but remember that Charlotte is twenty-seven, and that her situation, as well as her temperament, is very different to your own. She has no congenial companion at Lucas Lodge, no sister with whom she shares everything, as you share everything with Jane, and this will necessarily give her less of an attachment to her home. Then, too, she knows that if she does not accept Mr Collins, she will very likely end up an old maid. Yes, my dear Lizzy, I know that you would far rather be unmarried than marry a man you did not love, but for Charlotte it is different. She has a practical nature, and, for her, being the mistress of her own home is preferable to remaining under her father’s roof. I would rather she had been able to love her husband, but I think, knowing Charlotte, that she will not repine over her lot. She will rejoice that she has so much, rather than mourn that it is not enough.