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question!”
    “I do beg your
pardon, Madam; however, I am at a loss to understand on what point I could have
been so negligent.”
    “About this Mr.
Tristan Collins!” she said impatiently. “Well, sir, you have not yet told us if
he is married or single.”
    Mr. Darcy could
not resolve the mystery.
    Mr. Bingley
could not either, although he went so far as to share the intelligence that
there was no record of Mr. Tristan Collins having taken a wife before
emigrating as a comparative youth. “Yet I think it reasonable to assume that he
might have done so since, once he established himself in America. He is a man of no less than thirty, you see, Mrs. Bennet, and must have wanted a wife by
now.”
    Mrs. Bennet let
the business drop, but Mary perceived that her silence did not betoken loss of
interest, rather a mind fully engaged. Mama would have much more to say on the
topic of Mr. Collins’s marital status by and by. No doubt it would be the same
scheme as before, only a different Mr. Collins; the heir to Longbourn must
marry one of Mr. Bennet’s daughters. Nothing else would do.
     
    ~~ * ~~
     
    Mrs. Bennet
retired to her room, leaving the others to ruminate over the events of the day
and, in particular, the need to make some provision for the soon-to-be homeless
Bennet females.
    Mary, who could
not allow herself to be classed amongst the helpless, spoke up. “I thank you
all for your concern, but I believe I am not so much at a loss as to require
your assistance. I shall do very well on my own, so no one need exert
themselves on my account.”
    “It is as you
say,” agreed Mr. Darcy. “However, should the inclination or necessity ever
arise, even in your case, you must know that you can rely on your family. That
goes for your mother and sister as well.”
    “Yes, of
course,” said Mary. “That is very good of you, I am sure.”
    “Well, I am not too proud to accept your kindness, Mr. Darcy,” Kitty rejoined, “or yours
either, Mr. Bingley. I find that I can tolerate the charity of rich relations
very well indeed. But what about Mama?”
    “Mama must come
to stay with us at Heatheridge,” volunteered Jane, “at least temporarily.”
    “She can
certainly visit us as well,” said Elizabeth, “from time to time, that is.
Still, I wonder if taking a house of her own would not be the best permanent
arrangement.”
    “Her limited
income would not support the letting of anything suitable,” said Mr. Bingley.
    “It would if
supplemented,” said Darcy. “The expense would be nothing, Charles. Perhaps an
investment of three thousand pounds. We could spare so inconsiderable a sum
with little inconvenience.”
    “And that would
allow her to remain in the neighborhood of Longbourn,” added Elizabeth, “with
Mary and her friends nearby. She might well prefer that to being uprooted only
to live far away, as a perpetual guest in someone else’s home.”
    What Mrs.
Bennet might prefer was the subject of some further conjecture amongst the
group, the various options being debated back and forth with eager interest by
those most concerned. Would she best like the comforts of Heatheridge? Or
perhaps the dower house at Pemberley? What about an establishment of her own in
Meryton, Bath, or even London? Mary at last pointed out the obvious means of
resolving the matter, that their mother must be applied to for her opinion. Yet
little additional light was shed on the question by taking this measure. Mrs.
Bennet foresaw insurmountable difficulties with every suggestion proffered,
finding each one more detestable than the last, and ultimately discarding the
lot as too loathsome to even admit contemplation.
     
    ~~ * ~~
     
    The Darcys and
the Bingleys made ready to take themselves off the following day, over the
violent objections of Mrs. Bennet.
    “It really is
too cruel!” she told her two eldest. “Deserting me as though you had not a care
in the world. I see how it will be. My trials shall soon be forgot. I shall