Your loving son,

Charles


Mrs Bingley to Mr Charles Bingley

Yorkshire, February 12

If that girl doesn’t think she’s the luckiest girl alive to have won your affections, Charles, then she’s not worth a candle. There are plenty of other girls who know a good thing when they see it. You’ll have them falling all over you before long, you mark my words. Never you fret, your old ma will be there next week and we’ll have a high old time of it. Is that friend of yours, Mr Darcy, there? How is Caroline getting along with him?

Your doting Ma


Mr Charles Bingley to Mrs Bingley

Bath, February 14

Dear Ma,

Caroline thinks she is getting along very well with Mr Darcy but she is no further forward than before. He is not in Bath; he has gone to stay with his cousins in Cumbria. Caroline wanted me to take a house there also but I told her I will not chase Darcy round the country like a puppy and so she has had to make do with Bath.

Your loving son,

Charles


Mr Darcy to Mr Bingley

Fitzwater Park, Cumbria,

February 19

Dear Charles,

I have just had a letter from Georgiana and she asked after you particularly. I know how much she enjoyed your company over Christmas and I hope you will come to stay with us at Pemberley after Easter.

I find myself in the middle of unusually clement weather up here in the Lake District, thank God, for you know how much I detest bad weather in the country. But the days are fine and we spend them out of doors, sailing on the lake, riding, fishing, and taking outings to entertain the ladies. They are all of them very accomplished and they paint and sketch; they are as pleased as we men that the weather is fine.

Maud is well and my godson is thriving. He was christened yesterday. He has a fine set of lungs and he displayed them to us throughout the ceremony. Maud made several comments about wanting to repay me by standing godmother to my children and exhorted me to provide her with them without delay. My aunt was of the same mind and introduced me to a very pretty young woman by the name of Miss Barton; however, I made it clear to her that I have no plans to marry this year.

The rector, Mr Grayson, accompanied us back to the Park and I was glad of it for I wanted to ask if he could recommend a deserving young man to fill the living of Kympton. It is only eighteen months since I had to appoint a new incumbent when Mr Rogers died, but now his successor has met with an unlucky accident and I am having to fill the living again. Luckily Mr Grayson was able to recommend a young man who is newly ordained but who is known to Mr Grayson personally and sounds very promising. I mean to speak with him tomorrow and see if he would be suitable.

The only complaint I have to make of my present circumstances is that my aunt is fond of charades and I am obliged to play, though I avoid it whenever I can.

I hope you are well entertained in Bath. Pray write to Georgiana and let her know how you get on—she has never been to Bath and she is longing to hear all about it. I know that Caroline and Louisa have promised to write but I believe Georgiana would value a letter from all of you. I have encouraged her to reply to everything she receives, as it will give her some practise in the art of letter writing, which will be very useful to her.

Darcy


Mr Bingley to Mr Darcy

Bath, February 25

My dear Darcy,

Of course I will write to Georgiana. You should bring her here, there are concerts and balls and all manner of entertainments. She is a little young for some of them, to be sure, but Caroline is convinced she would like the libraries and the firework displays and begs me to ask you to join us here as soon as you return from Cumbria. One of my younger sisters is here, who is not yet sixteen, and two of my younger brothers, and they are all very taken with the place. My mother is enjoying herself, too.

Have you heard anything from Colonel Forster? You will remember we met him in Meryton. I have written to him several times to ascertain his thoughts on the war. It seems a long way away, but my brother Ned is interested in the future of the hostilities because it affects the future of trade. Upon my soul, Ned has done very well for himself and we are all very proud of him, though Caroline says he needs to buy himself a new coat.

You will like to hear something of our neighbours at Netherfield. Colonel Forster happened to mention something about them in his letters and it seems that Charlotte Lucas has married Mr Collins. Did you know? If you remember, Mr Collins was the cousin of the Bennets, and also, I believe, your aunt’s rector. If you go to Rosings at Easter as usual, it seems likely you will see her there.

Bingley

MARCH

Mr Darcy to Mr Bingley

Fitzwater Park, Cumbria,

March 7

My dear Bingley,

I knew of Mr Collins’s marriage, as you surmised. Hurst heard something of it as we left Netherfield and he happened to mention it to me. It seems that Mr Collins proposed to Miss Elizabeth Bennet at first but was refused and then found more favour with her friend. He is fortunate in his wife, I think—I remember Miss Lucas as being a sensible young woman.

I have given the living of Kympton to Grayson’s protégé, Mark Haydock. I heard him preach as part of his duties as the curate of Highwater, and my aunt invited him to Fitzwater Park so that I could see something more of him. He is young, intelligent, sensible and committed to the church, whilst understanding the foibles of human nature and being prepared to encounter them in all their forms. He is popular with the people hereabouts as he does not preach, unless it is from the pulpit, and yet he sets a good example in his daily life. He attracts a great deal of attention from the ladies, as he has a handsome face but he does not trade on it. I think he will do very well.

Darcy


Mr Mark Haydock to Mrs Haydock

Cumbria, March 7

Mama, I have had a piece of astonishing good fortune. The Fitzwilliams have guests and one of them is a cousin of theirs, a Mr Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. He happened to need a rector for one of his livings and I was recommended to him. In short, he has given me the living! It is a great thing for me, a very great thing indeed, the kind of preferment I could only dream of. The living is a handsome one and, from all I hear, the rectory is a fine house in large gardens. Mr Darcy himself is an imposing gentleman. I was nervous of him at first, although he is not many years older than I am, for he has an air of pride about him, but once I began to know him, I found him to be intelligent and—I will not say agreeable, for he remained aloof throughout our meetings—but at least not disagreeable. I think I have been very lucky and I have given thanks for it, you may be sure.

I am to travel to Derbyshire at the end of March and take up my duties shortly thereafter. I will write to you when I have any more news.

Your loving son,

Matthew


Mrs Charlotte Collins to Miss Elizabeth Bennet

Hunsford, near Westerham, Kent,

March 10

Dear Eliza,

The daffodils are out and the banks outside the parsonage are covered in them. Mr Collins has spent the morning digging up some of the bulbs and moving them around the garden, a healthy recreation which I have encouraged, though I believe they looked prettier where they were.

He is a little out of sorts at the moment. When we went to Rosings Park for dinner last night, Lady Catherine happened to mention that her nephew, Mr Darcy, had been looking for a new vicar to fill the living of Kympton and I could tell that Mr Collins hoped he might be given it, for it would have meant an extra two hundred pounds a year. He began to say that he had been most impressed with Mr Darcy when he met him at Netherfield, and that it would be an honour to serve such a bountiful man, but hardly were the words out of his mouth than Lady Catherine finished by saying that Mr Darcy had already appointed a Mr Haydock. Mr Collins was disappointed, I could see, but he immediately remarked that he was sure a nephew of Lady Catherine’s could never appoint anyone unworthy to such an important position, and to console himself with the fact that Mr Darcy may have other livings to give.

I hope you have not forgotten your promise to visit me. I miss you, Eliza, and I look forward to seeing you and to showing you my new home. My father and sister are to set out on the twenty-third and you promised to be one of the party, you know. Indeed, I quite rely upon it. We are unlikely to leave Kent for some time, Mr Collins being unable to leave his duties, and I would like to remind myself of my Hertfordshire life and Hertfordshire friends.

Your friend,

Charlotte


Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Charlotte Collins

Longbourn, Hertfordshire,

March 15

My dear Charlotte,

How can I refuse you? Besides, I am looking forward to seeing you again. The arrangements have all been made, and even improved, for now we are all to stay with my aunt and uncle for a night on our way down to Kent. We will be leaving Longbourn on the twenty-third and as it is only twenty-four miles, there will be plenty of time for us to spend the morning shopping and the evening at the theatre before we leave again. We will be with you by the twenty-fourth.