In short, just after a year had closed following Charlotte’s death, Mr. Collins was convinced that he had again found his true partner in life, one whom he could admire and respect for the improvement of her mind, as well as the gentleness of her temper. A more rational view might describe Mary’s amiability as preoccupation, but the difference is of little consequence; it suited Mr. Collins’s views of feminine virtue that Mary provided empathy as a balm to his sorrow in the form of those admirable books which contain the most common-place of wisdoms. Mary, often the object of ridicule within her own family for her peculiar turn of mind and unfashionable pursuits, rejoiced in having found a friend who could appreciate the value of her studies and the unusual nature of her accomplishments. In as short a time as could be considered decent, Mr. Collins brought Mary to Hunsford as his wife, and mother to his child. The Lucases must have had their disappointed hopes in Mr. Collins’s second marriage, but more’s the pity that Mrs. Bennet did not live to see Longbourn restored to its rightful ownership, in recompense for the grievous choice of his first.

It might be expected that Mary would make a very sober and ridiculous parent. But as is so often the case, necessity made a virtue. Mary found that in being a mother to Miss Collins, she had an opportunity to put her studies into practise, and to be of real use. She was an endless source of comfort, inspiration, and information to her husband and, if the parsonage at Hunsford did not have the same elegance that it had under Charlotte, it now had the benefit of an union of equal intellect, similar turns of mind, and a genuine mutual respect. In less time than he scarcely could have thought it possible, Mr. Collins was once again the happiest of men, and, in a form she could never have imagined, Mary was the mistress of an home, a wife, a mother, and a necessary addition to her parish. In time, even Lady Catherine came to be so persuaded of Mary’s abilities as to ask Mary to help her with a specific quotation, or assist her in writing some little speech. These requests pleased and delighted Mr. Collins, and were a source of supreme pleasure to Mary, although it is perhaps best that these requests were never so frequent as to turn Mary’s vanity to writing more than the occasional paragraph for the benefit of the public.