The Ladies of Rosings Park – Chapter 14 and 15

The Ladies of Rosings Park is now published! Hooray! But in case you don’t have your own copy yet, I will continue posting chapters here every Monday until we finish Part One of the book (the time period covered in Pride and Prejudice). These early chapters read like P&P “missing scenes” – your favorite book from a different perspective.

Last week in chapter thirteen, you read the exchange of frank letters between Lady Catherine and Darcy that confirmed a full breach between them over his engagement to Elizabeth. Today is two-for-one day! A new chapter from Mrs. Jenkinson and also one from Charlotte, who are caught up in Lady Catherine’s anger as it radiates outward, like ripples on a pond, to those around her. You might find out something surprising about each of these ladies, too, as you hear from them for the last time in these shared chapters.

To catch up first, see these previous posts: Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Book Launch and Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter 12, Chapter 13

– 14 –

 Mrs. Jenkinson

 On Taking the Heat

It was Anne herself who gave me the news about Mr. Darcy’s engagement. Her ladyship had been in a particularly foul mood all evening long, and then Anne delivered the explanation later in private.

“We have just had a letter from Mr. Darcy,” she said as I brushed out her honey-colored hair that night before bed.

Her tone was unalarmed. In fact, I thought it sounded a bit overly controlled. “Have you, now?” I asked cautiously, continuing with my work.

“Yes, and with such good news, too. Miss Bennet has accepted him, and they are to be married in November.”

After a moment to recover myself, I said, “This is surprising news indeed, Miss, and yet you sound pleased. Can it be so?”

“Oh, yes, Mrs. Jenkinson. You must not imagine me shocked or made the least bit unhappy by this announcement. I was aware in what direction Mr. Darcy’s inclinations were leading him. And he is perfectly free to marry whomsoever he chooses, you know. I made that clear to him when he was here, admiring Miss Bennet. So you see, I was not surprised, and I expect they will be very happy together.”

I almost believed her. “That is very generous of you, Miss,” I said, weighing my next words carefully. “I hope her ladyship received the glad tidings with as much equanimity.” I kept my face a blank, taking great care to give the impression of innocent inquiry. But when our eyes met in the looking glass, they held a long time – one of those moments of silent communication we sometimes shared, where much truth and feeling were exchanged without a single word.

If she read my thoughts accurately, she heard me saying, I am so sorry, my dear! How can you be so calm, though? Are you truly uninjured? Is there anything I can do for you? This must be killing your mother, as much as she counted on his marrying you instead.

I studied her at the same time, having the sense that she wished to convey something like this to me. I am well. It was a minor blow, not a devastating one. I will soon recover. I cannot say the same for Mama, however.

Anne actually said, “I trust Mama will come to terms with the change in time, Mrs. Jenkinson.”

Despite her sanguine words, you may be sure I watched my young charge carefully in the weeks that followed, feeling it my duty to redouble my efforts to see that she came through this latest misfortune unscathed, that she had enough sleep, that she ate sufficiently to support life and health. She seemed to weather the crisis better and more peaceably than I could have expected. Yes, there was melancholy, but not of an extreme sort or anything more worrisome.

Conversely, Lady Catherine stormed and blustered for days on end, snapping at anybody who got in her way or did anything to catch her notice at all. The servants began to wince every time she opened her mouth and cringe in fear if they did anything clumsy like rattling the china or allowing a door to slam shut. They quickly became more adept at walking on tiptoe and noiselessly going about their business, hoping to be unseen and especially unheard.

I could not hide, however; I was required to be wherever Anne was, which meant usually within view of her ladyship. This made me an easy target. In an attempt to spare her daughter, I suppose, Lady Catherine seemed to redirect her criticism my way instead. “Mrs. Jenkinson, do something about the pillows. How is Anne to sit up straight when you have arranged them so awkwardly?” “Anne looks quite red in the face. How could you have allowed her to get over warm, Mrs. Jenkinson? If you must drape her with so many clothes and shawls, then for heaven’s sake place the fire screen where it will do some good!”

I nodded meekly, doing my best to take Mr. Collins’s place as lap dog and chief whipping boy. “A thousand pardons, Madam. How stupid of me. I shall correct the problem at once.”

Mr. Collins himself was conspicuously absent during this period, no doubt afraid he would receive the brunt of Lady Catherine’s wrath, since Elizabeth Bennet was his relation and had been his guest at the parsonage when the chief of the mischief was done.

 I did my best to soothe her ladyship’s offended feelings. I tried to pet down the bristling hairs of the wounded animal, for so she seemed to me – snarling as much out of pain as spitefulness. Not that she had the right to take out her misery on others, but I could comprehend her wanting what she thought best for her daughter. According to her perspective, her careful arrangements for her only child’s security had been cruelly and unexpectedly crushed. Now Anne’s future hung in a precarious balance.

I had had a child once, and I could understand somewhat of that mindset. I would have done nearly anything to secure a safe and happy future for my Robbie. I would have fought tooth and nail for him. I would have begged, borrowed, or stolen. I would have gladly given my own life if it could have saved his – so young, so innocent – from that murderous fever. What mother would not?

But I suspected Lady Catherine’s motives were not entirely unselfish. I suspected the source of her consternation went well beyond desiring what was truly best for her daughter. Whatever match Anne ultimately made (or failed to make) reflected on her ladyship. Loss of a prize like Mr. Darcy was a blow to her pride, and so was loss of control. I was afraid that was the real issue – the damage to Lady Catherine’s pride and prestige. That is what she would be willing to fight to the death to protect, and beware to anybody who happened to get in her way, including her own daughter.

– 15 –

 Charlotte Collins

 On Facing the Music… Or Not

I had begged Mr. Collins to keep quiet about my early suspicions that I might be with child, but he could not contain himself. Before I could stop him, he had published the news of his expected “young olive branch” to those he most wanted to impress – to Lady Catherine and the Bennets. Thankfully, it went no further because, when it all came to nothing, we were obliged to publish that news to the interested parties as well. We had to correct my husband’s erroneous – or at least premature – announcement.

I clearly was not carrying a child anymore, if ever I had been. There was no reason to despair, however; our marriage was young and we had plenty of time. No, my main mortification stemmed from the fact that it had not and now could not remain a strictly private matter.

The necessary information was related as simply and quietly as possible. I saw to that myself.

The timing could not have been better; that is one thing to be grateful for. Since both families were soon afterward in uproars of different sorts – the Bennets in preparing for the marriage of two daughters, and Lady Catherine in a storm of anger against Mr. Darcy – no doubt they became completely occupied by their own concerns and found my trifling news dull by comparison. I trust they soon forgot to think of it altogether.

Toward that end – that Lady Catherine should think of us as little as possible – I recommended to my husband that it would be an auspicious time to pay a long-overdue visit to Lucas Lodge. He had just returned from Rosings and looked rather shaken.

“Perhaps you are right, my dear Charlotte,” he said with an uncharacteristic tremor in his voice. “I did try to console her ladyship on her grievous affliction, but she only yelled at me, if you can imagine it. ‘This is all your fault, Mr. Collins,’ she said. ‘Now, get out of my sight!’ Those were her exact words. I believe I may take that as permission to absent myself for at least a few days, just until her ladyship is more herself again. She is too affable and fair-minded to hold to such an unjust accusation for long, and I trust I will soon be back in her good graces.”

Thus, we suddenly decamped in favor of Hertfordshire, and I was glad for it. I would no longer have to hide my true feelings about the engagement between Mr. Darcy and my friend. I rejoiced at it and at my happy reunion with Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy was very civil, but he did not seem to view the meeting with as much pleasure. I took no personal offense, since I was quite sure it was my husband, and not I, who was the source of this hesitation. Some people simply are not comfortable with the clergy.

(Continue reading chapter 16)

What do you think? Did you discover anything new about these two ladies? Only one more episodes of Part One to go! Next week we hear from Anne as she closes this chapter of her life and looks to the future.

The Ladies of Rosings Park is currently available in paperback and Kindle, with audio coming soon. Learn more about Shannon Winslow and her books at www.shannonwinslow.com

At first glance, Anne de Bourgh doesn’t seem a promising heroine. But beneath that quiet exterior, there’s a lively mind at work, imagining how one day she will escape her poor health and her mother’s domination to find love and a life worth living.

Now Anne finally gets the chance to speak her mind. But Lady Catherine demands equal time. Even Charlotte Collins and Mrs. Jenkinson get into the act. Chapter by chapter, these ladies of Rosings Park take turns telling the tale from the moment Elizabeth Bennet sets foot in Hunsford, changing everything. Is Anne heartbroken or relieved to discover Mr. Darcy will never marry her? As an heiress, even a sickly one, she must have other suitors. Does Lady Catherine gracefully accept the defeat of her original plan or keep conniving? Will Anne’s health ever improve? And what really happened to her father?

Complete in itself, this work expands The Darcys of Pemberley series laterally, beginning during the timeline of Pride and Prejudice and carrying beyond to reveal the rest of Anne’s story. When a young lady is to be a heroine… something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way. (Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey)