While husband and wife were both desirous of showing Elizabeth that she had been mistaken in her responses of the previous winter, Charlotte’s object was to show Lizzy that she was occupied and content; that her decision was not one that she regretted, other than what it cost her in terms of their friendship; and that she was capable of happiness in her new marital home and state. She took real pleasure in ushering her family and friend around the Parsonage, attending to their needs, offering them plentiful food and drink, not out of any desire for display, but in all the beneficial glow of willing hospitality. She had a home and a welcome to offer those she loved, and she took no small amount of joy in this.

Once the visitors had eaten and drunk, and been shown their accommodations, Mr Collins was eager to take them on a tour of his garden. Once again, as they processed around the grounds, Charlotte noticed the glance Lizzy threw her when she spoke of her approbation for her husband’s attention to, and work in, its plots and beds. Likewise, she was a little uncomfortable with her friend’s penetrating look when she showed off the somewhat gloomy back parlour in which she sat at a remove from her husband’s study. But such inevitable moments of awkwardness were all soon over, and she could focus on the business of being a hostess.

At first she was a little anxious at the prospect of their establishment swelling in number; it was strange to have the house full of voices and bustle, especially as Mr Collins spent the first day shadowing his guests, telling them of the marvels in store for them – the opportunity to lay eyes upon Lady Catherine in church, the likelihood that they might be invited to drink tea with her thereafter. However, things soon settled down. Her husband was determined to show her father all about the neighbourhood, its farms, woods, roads, and rivers, and his gig would take only the two of them, and that at a pinch – neither were small men. They thus spent all the hours of the day that first week, which was the duration of Sir William’s visit, out exploring. For Maria, who had taken over Charlotte’s role in the running of the Lucas household, the stay was a real holiday; although assiduous in lending herself to her sister’s domestic projects, she had leisure for reading and embroidery, as well as all the novelty of new walks and excursions into the village.