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After what seemed an interminable time, Jane fell asleep.

Having apprised Mr Collins of his intended visit by mail, Mr Gardiner rode down to Kent on Wednesday, leaving his carriage at the disposal of his wife and business employees. His negotiations with the clergyman were spectacularly unsuccessful. He came away having managed to increase Mr Elliot’s yearly income from the measly twenty pounds offered in the letter to Mr Elliot to the princely sum of twenty-five pounds. Mr Collins seemed to have a ready counterargument for every point that Mr Gardiner had raised in favour of Mr Elliot—his gentle upbringing, his need to act semi-autonomously on behalf of the parish, the debt the estate owed him for his years of service as the principal instrument of Mr Delaney. Edward had never suspected Mr Collins of being so eloquent, but economy seemed to be a topic that roused him.

Riding home, Mr Gardiner dwelt on his double defeat at the hands of Mr Darcy and now Mr Collins. Overnight he seemed to have lost his famed bargaining ability—once, his competitors had joked that he had golden fingers; now, everything he touched seemed to turn to lead. Perhaps his success in business so far had just been luck, as his detractors alleged.

On Saturday he was off again to Hertfordshire to convey his less than stellar results to Mr Elliot and check on the progress of Harry and Lizzy. His wife accompanied him in the carriage for the day trip, leaving the children behind in London in charge of Nurse.

Arriving at Longbourn, his sister uncharacteristically greeted them at the door, bubbling with excitement. The day after Mr Elliot’s proposal, Mrs Philips had arrived with the latest gossip from Meryton, which had set Mrs Bennet’s imagination afire.

“Such goings on in the village, Brother! Why, Mr Delaney was related to a Marquess who came all the way here from Somerset to attend the funeral. Why wasn’t I told? I would have attended the service with Mary and Elizabeth! And who would have thought that Mary could be so sly?”

“Sly, Sister? I do not see that. She has been quite active in her duty to the church. I am sure that Mary attended the service out of the goodness of her heart.”

“Oh, Brother! Sometimes you are as thick as a brick! You know I am talking of her snaffling Mr Elliot; not attending the funeral!”

“Hold on, Fanny! Mr Delaney has left Mr Elliot a bequest, the extent of which is uncertain, and which will likely be contested. Don’t go building a house of cards!”

“But did you not see the ring, Brother? Mayhap, the rector intends Mr Elliot to be the new Marquess!”

“He couldn’t do that, Fanny! The title is hereditary.”

“Nonsense, brother! How could they ever make new Marquesses and dukes?”

“Only the King can bestow the title, Fanny.”

“Queens can too! Did not Queen Anne create twelve peers in a day?”

“Yes, queens too,” sighed Mr Gardiner, giving his wife a look loaded with meaning.

Mrs Bennet then proceeded to tell her husband of all the details she had acquired, both via Meryton and by endless and mostly fruitless interrogation of Elizabeth and Mary—of the Marquess, the more noble aspect of Mr Delaney, and the funeral. During this breathless recitation, Mrs Philips arrived in her carriage from Meryton and, after greeting her brother, edged several words into Fanny’s discourse indicating her willingness to contribute further to the topic.

Mr Gardiner waited for his elder sister to be seated before reading the riot act to both of them. Their loose lips and endless speculations, he reminded them, could do Mr Elliot and Mary much harm.

Chastened, Mrs Philips humbly apologised to her brother while Fanny glowered balefully at him, clearly in a huff. She had never forgotten that Edward was her younger brother. Mr Gardiner then proceeded to explain the outcome of his negotiations on Mr Elliot’s behalf, which gave Fanny a new vent for her indignation.

“Twenty-five pounds a year! Why ‘tis monstrous! How can he live on such a sum? What if probate should not be granted before we must leave Longbourn?”

“Indeed,” replied her brother. “I had hoped Mr Collins would be more generous, especially since his own fortunes have risen so rapidly. But it would appear he is not a person to pay his good fortune forward.”

“What is to be done?” asked Mrs Philips.

Mr Gardiner then explained Mr Elliot’s expressed wish to earn some extra bread by tuition before finishing with: “Harry has a need to improve his scholastic attainments, and I hope that a couple of more pupils may be found somewhere, possibly as boarders.”

Grumbling, Fanny called for tea to be served. While this was being arranged, Mr Gardiner spied Elizabeth walking in from the fields with the new bailiff.

Stepping outside, he greeted his niece before detaining Harry who had tipped his hat to his old master in preparation for quitting a family tête-à-tête.

“Stay, Harry. There is something we might discuss. How go things at Longbourn?”

“Very well, sir,” said Harry, giving a cheerful smile at Elizabeth.

After politely returning his smile, Elizabeth drew apart from the men, busying herself by shifting the chained goat to a new spot on the lawn.

Soon Harry went off to the stables and Elizabeth’s uncle moved to join his niece, intent on taking the mallet she held from her hand. However, while Billy was quite content to be relocated by his mistress, he was not tolerating any interlopers on his turf. He lowered his horns.

With a quick sidestep, Mr Gardiner grabbed the goat’s horns before he could inflict any damage. Lizzy took hold of Billy’s collar and surrendered the mallet, allowing her uncle to drive the stake into the ground.

“I suppose your father used to do this?” asked her uncle.