Several days later, the establishment at Rosings received a visitor in the form of Anne’s cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was also the cousin and confidant of Mr Darcy. The unexpectedness of the visit caused a small flutter in their immediate circle. Charlotte remembered the Colonel very well, especially from the early days of her marriage, when he and Mr Darcy had visited Rosings to pay their respects to their aunt. She had liked him for his wit, gallantry, and easy way with Lady Catherine, while not inclined to consider him wholly trustworthy. She recalled the avidity with which he had sometimes regarded Miss de Bourgh, and the different kind of avidity with which she had occasionally caught him watching Elizabeth, on the occasion of her friend’s first visit to the Parsonage.

She wondered at his travelling at such an inclement time of year, but assumed that Kent made a convenient stop en route to the winter pleasures that London afforded. The Collinses were invited to dine at Rosings on the evening of his arrival, but Laura was fretful with a cold that day, and Charlotte refused to stir from her side. One slippery aspect of grief, she had found, was the unreasonable but no less real anxiety that any lack of attention or vigilance might lead to disaster. So Mr Collins argued in vain that Katie could tend to their daughter and send for them in case of need; Charlotte would not be moved, and her husband was obliged to walk over to the great house by himself.

On his return, he was able to list the dishes served, the sad matter of Lady Catherine’s vexation upon discovering that the fish was perhaps not quite fresh, along with the extreme obligingness of his noble hosts and their guest. The latter had offered to accompany him the following morning on a visit to a parishioner, a wounded soldier, with an eye to providing advice as to what aid could best be offered the crippled man. However, Mr Collins could shed no light on the reason for the Colonel’s visit, which he ascribed to the irresistible joys of Rosings, and the delight of Lady Catherine’s company.

The next day, the Colonel did indeed pay the Parsonage a short visit, during which he was as habitually civil and charming as always, offering Charlotte his condolences on the loss of her son with real and gratifying kindness, before heading out with Mr Collins on their errand of mercy.