The Collins family estate Elderridge was in Brookeshire, England, settled in a lovely part of the country and quite a ways from Town. The distance from Town lent the area privacy, but the society was elevated, having a large quantity of wealthy members of the neighborhood. Mr. Charles Collins was one of these wealthy members with one of the largest estates in the region. Father to seven daughters, Mr. Collins had need of such a large house and vast grounds. His wife, known more for her savvy than for her kindness, enjoyed a life of luxury and good society. With seven daughters, two in their twenties and the others fast approaching that marriageable window, Mrs. Collins was exercising her position in society to get the girls into the parties with elligible bachelors. Mr. Collins, not unaware of his wife's plans, began making friendships and business acquaintances with the younger, unmarried men in the region. He was not too keen on seeing his daughters make their inclinations without his opinion counted, so he decided it would be better to involve himself to a greater extent instead of dismissing the reality of his daughters marrying all-together.
It was after a great party at the Kings' that the Collinses had real prospects in their sights. A Mr. Harrison of Kingsbury, a Mr. Allen of Kent, and a Mr. Price of London were amongst a handful of possibilities that Mr. and Mrs. Collins had in mind (it should be noted that they were choosing independently of one another). Mr. Collins was most definitely a father, protective yet gracious with his daughters, and because he was so careful in the care of his family, he was a studier of characters. Mrs. Collins was far more fleeting with her cares about character - for her, the greatest appeal of a young man was his society and his income. Following this, Mrs. Collins's list of young men was longer than that of her husband's. Between them, their daughters would have no want of options, at least. However, both had found Mr. Allen of Kent to meet their expectations (regarding both handsomeness and income), and Mr. Collins made the arrangements to invite him to Elderridge for day of sport and an evening of dinner and billiards.
The daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Collins were Mariah, Catherine, Julia, Helen, Margaret, Anne, and there was the eldest Abigail, who was the daughter of Mr. Collins and his deceased, first wife, Mrs. Mariam Collins. Excluding Abigail, the Collins women had an unhealthy level of vanity. Though not so strong in Julia or Helen, the other four were very much concerned with themselves and comparing what they had and didn't have with what their sisters had and didn't have. Abigail was by far the most reserved, around her family at least, compared to her sisters. And she was rarely to be found in their presence, unless it was just with her father. Her relationship with her step-mother was civil, but there was always a very real distance between them. Abigail doubted the affection of her step-mother, having seen Mrs. Collins altered after she did the smallest displeasing thing. She had all but severed their relationship through one such matter when she was seventeen. Abigail was convinced now that her step-mother simply managed civility out of duty to her father. Matters were indeed sad.
Because Mrs. Collins was the type to be very vocal of her dissatisfaction with anything (or anyone for that matter), the unhappy effect was that her daughters often followed suit. And, should Abigail be the focus of her dissatisfaction, often her sisters were more than willing to echo the sentiments of their impassioned mother. This had the very isolating effect of driving Abigail from the presence of their company. It became apparent that Mrs. Collins would find no satisfaction with Abigail regardless, and the divide in the family was known but never really acknowledged. Civility did prevail when necessary, but Abigail kept to her apartments and often the outdoors near the woods and parts around Elderridge.
For this isolation amongst other problems, Abigail did not attend parties such as those hosted by the Kings. She was aware of her step-mother's plans for marrying off her sisters, and as fascinating as news and young men were, she wished no part in the business. She stayed away and knew nothing of the specific plans that her parents made. It was a fine Wednesday when Mr. Allen came to Mr. Collins, and Abigail was about in the meadow with Miss Kell, her apartment maid painting and talking.
Mr. Allen was someone that Mr. Collins was actually looking forward to growing better acquainted with. Mr. Allen showed himself to be a man of sense, wit, and depth in addition to having a sizable living in Kent of five thousand pounds per anum. He was known to be a generous man with his time and attention, being sincere and humorous at the same time and very much invested in knowing more people. Mr. Collins, though an older man, rarely met with any men, much less young ones, who had sense and good humor. Add to Mr. Allen a real depth of excellent character and loyalty, he was in Mr. Collins's opinion, well worth further investigation as a potential son-in-law.
So it happened on a Wednesday when the weather was warm that Mr. Allen came to Elderridge to meet with Mr. Collins.
"Good day to you, sir."
"Indeed, a brilliant day, Mr. Collins. I hope it finds you well."
"As well as it can be, sir. Allow me to reacquaint you with my family before we head out."
Escorting Mr. Allen into the grand parlor, all of the Collins women excepting Abigail were seated waiting. Mr. Allen, a confident, perceptive man calmly greeted them all, paying the most attention to Mrs. Collins, well aware that there were six unmarried girls in the room. Mariah was very handsome indeed, but her vanity wore like a strong perfume merely by the manner of her expression and air. The rest of the girls were lovely, but rather youngish, nothing too keen to him, though nothing to be disregarded either. For now, he would keep his mind to sport.
"A pleasure to meet with you all again."
He and Mr. Collins then turned to leave. The men had decided to go shooting, so they were to be on the Elderridge grounds. As they passed through the corridor to Mr. Collins's game quarters, long windows naturally lit the passage. There was a clear view to the grounds around the meadows and beginning of the woods. Mr. Allen's eye caught something peculiar in the meadow. An easel and two women were outside. It was clear that one was painting and the other was talking. The young woman who was talking had the dress of a hand maid, no doubt to Mr. Allen. But the other woman, she who painted, was dressed in finer clothes. She was not old, so he could not suppose her to be an aunt.
"Beg your pardon, Mr. Collins, but who is it that paints there? Your estate is magnificent, to be sure, but I did not think you had a professional artisan on staff."
Mr. Collins was caught off guard. He was so used to Abigail's invisibility that he didn't think of the problem he might incur from her occasional visibility. It was simply awkward to explain, rather than he feeling any shame about her constant absence.
"Ah, yes. That is my eldest daughter Abigail, Mr. Allen."
"Indeed?" Mr. Allen found this immediately fascinating. "And she does not keep to the indoors with her sisters? Come to think of it, I did not meet her at the ball the other evening..."
"Abigail very much enjoys the grounds on fine days like this. I like to think she takes after me in that regard. She is not much for grand society, though she is excellent with people and entertaining. It's not as if she is a wild spirit either however much she enjoys just what she enjoys. I do not think she knew that I was having a guest today."
"Hmm, you said that she is your eldest?"
"Yes, she is four and twenty. She is the daughter of my late wife Mariam and myself. She favors her mother very much in beauty, a good thing." Mr. Collins then laughed, but there was such depth to his words - and a lingering sadness, though his loss was ages ago. "Yes, Abigail is my eldest. Perhaps I shall introduce you to her. She is one of the few young women in the neighborhood with good sense and wit about her."
"I should be happy to make her acquaintance." Mr. Allen was compelled by shear curiosity at this point. He found that peculiar people necessitated study, and more importantly, friendship. He enjoyed the enrichment that different types of people could provide his understanding, and it seemed that Miss Abigail Collins could be another one of those people.
"Shall we go out now? I cannot guarantee that I will be able to find her later this day."
"Certainly." Mr. Allen nearly laughed out loud for the fact that a grown young lady like Miss Collins could elude her father so effectively. More humorous was that her father, rather than concern, simply accepted the fact that she would be missing for parts of the day. They walked outside, moving to the meadow where Abigail and Miss Kell were. Miss Kell was sitting in the grass, just as it pleased Abigail to have her there as a friend. Abigail moved from behind the easel, having perceived somehow, a difference in the atmosphere - or rather, she saw Miss Kell distracted by something. She beheld her father and a young man walking toward her, and thought it curious. The young man was definitely handsome and appealing, which made her a trifle happy, since most of the young men around were not to her taste. She wondered what her father could want. They would visit that evening as usual, so she wondered if there was something amiss.
"Abigail?"
"Yes, Papa?"
"I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Henry Allen of Kent. He is staying in town with some relatives. Mr. Allen, this is my daughter Miss Abigail Collins." Abigail moved away from the easel, coming forward and gave a little curtsey. From up close, Mr. Allen was definitely handsome - so much so she could hardly look at him with out blushing a bit. He was so attentive looking. Shyness was not something she often felt, though she could be reserved when she felt it was necessary. She rarely if ever met her father's young guests - and she presumed that Mr. Allen was just another of the same, if handsome with an attentive look.
"A pleasure, Miss Collins. Your father has told me a little about you since I spied you from the great windows over there. I understand you enjoy the outdoors."
"Indeed I do - I find them refreshing and a comfort. It seems that I can think clearer outside than I do within the house. As much refuge as the vast corridors and rooms can provide, the constant bustling gives me no peace. And with such fine woods, it's a shame to allow them to go to waste." Abigail was very conscious of her rambling, wishing that she had just given a simpler answer. Mr. Allen looked thoughtful and smiling, he gave his reply.
"The woods here are very fine. I'm glad that you have such appreciation for the park around your estate - so many of my acquaintance in the area do not value the beauty without of their house and are satisfied to be enamored with what is within it. Nature is a glorious work of Creation - something meant to be enjoyed, in my view."
"With that sir, I can only agree. Well, then, Papa, I do not wish to keep you from your game. I know that there is a short amount of time for you to shoot today before there are other things to occupy you. And you know how I can talk. Mr. Allen, am I to assume that you are staying for supper?"
"Yes, your father has been so kind as to keep me here for the day."
"I shall see you then, if not sooner. For now, enjoy your sport. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She extended her hand inadvertently, which only a fine lady would do, and Mr. Allen took it without hesitation, bowing in a departing gesture.
"The pleasure was all mine, Miss Collins. Until dinner then, if not sooner." Abigail smiled, again inadvertently, at the reciprocation of her phrase and turned her back to the men, walking to the easel. They watched her turn, then looked at one another, having felt like they had accomplished something good.
"Shall we continue then?"
"Let's. I am glad of some shooting sport this season. Mr. Kittridge is more of a fishing sort of gentlemen, so there is little of that to be had at Kittridge Lodge."
"Sir, you are always welcome to my estate in that case - come and shoot with me whichever days of the week you like while you are in the region."
"Be careful, Mr. Collins. I just might take you up on your offer."
"I am hoping you will!"
As the men walked away, Abigail was nothing short of intrigued. Who initiated this meeting? Her father? Not possible - Papa was aware that she wished nothing to do with the business of her sisters. Much less, her father knew that the option for a match between herself and some young man would be highly improbable, if not impossible, because of any number of issues within her family, herself, and her age, of all things. But could Mr. Allen really have had a desire to meet her? Certainly, he knew why he was invited. Mariah was definitely the most handsome of all. How very strange it all seemed. Ah well, she thought, until dinner, if not sooner. And she smiled after her remarks to herself.
