To have just realised that Mr Collins got Mrs Collins in the family way.

[squoosh]

Have just re-read Pride & Prejudice for the first time in yonks and at the end Mr Collins mentions 'dear Charlotte’s situation, and his expectation of a young olive-branch. How had I not noticed that before?

I'd always imagined dear Charlotte avoiding that messy business by keeping him occupied with his sermon writing and his gardening and his pash on Lady Catherine.

But she was a woman who knew what she wanted so I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who took conjugal matters in hand.

Good old P&P, the book that keeps on giving.

At the end of the book it says that spending more time with Lizzy and Jane improves Kitty's character and no doubt ensures she meets some ultra eligibles. So I'm sure she married.

Mary? No chance. But having rich sisters means it probably doesn't cause her too much stress either. She doesn't have the noose of penury hanging over her head anymore.

This thread has raised such horrifying images. If I dream of having sex with Mr Collins tonight I shall blame Mumsnet. If I enjoy it I shall kill myself.

On the wine issue, actually there's a rather good bit in one of JA's letters after she hit the age at which she was no longer considered a marital prospect, and expected to dance - it goes something like 'now I am put on the sofa by the fire and can drink as much wine as I like'.

Isn't there textual evidence for Mr Collins being a bit of a porker, though? I think he's described as a 'heavy young man' .

Oh, JA said to family long afterwards that Mary married one of her Uncle Phillips's clerks, I think.

I reckon Kitty does, probably a soldier. I'm not sure about Mary, I always assumed that she ended up living with Jane and Bingley as a middle-aged woman. She could be usefully set to work giving improving lectures to the maids to ensure their moral wholesomeness.

You enjoy yourself cooroo

What a lovely thread, really enjoying it.

And I've just downloaded Longbourn to my kindle, so thanks to whoever mentioned it

Mary marries? Well I never!

And I'm glad to hear booze was more plentiful than I feared.

I think the important question is did Mrs Bennet outlive Mr Bennet and, if so, which of her daughters did she end up living with? Perhaps she was given a cottage on either Bingley's or Darcy's estate and Mary lived with her.

I always thought that Mary should have married Mr Collins. They would have been very well suited, and unbearable to sit beside at dinner.

Considering that Mary likely had no idea what her "marital duties" would encompass, I am happier with how it turned out. I mean, how old was Mary? Wasn't she, I don't know, only 15 or such?

I mean, if marriage was just about living together, then yes, Mary might have been happier with Mr. Collins, but as things are, I am happier with Charlotte making an informed decision.

I hope Mary married, I always felt sorry for her being plain, and therefore written off! I thought well of her for trying to carve out a niche of learnedness for herself, even if it was not a success.

That's made my day, paper.

Kitty also marries someone near Darcy's estate, I think. And Lydia, it is implied, never loses her reputation for being a tart. One is left thinking that she has had affairs with half the regiment..

Church livings were based on tithes, which were still expected to be paid by every parishioner. Some parsons had several church livings, hired other clergy to actually perform services for a stipend and wandered off to discover dinosaurs, work out how old the earth was and other gentlemanly pursuits.

If you could wangle a decent few livings from a wealthy patron, such as Lady de Bourgh, you could end up fairly wealthy yourself. Patronage by the landed classes and aristocracy was an important way of keeping money within those families, but also a way for impoverished but bright young men could make a name for themselves.

The Navy was a usual choice for aristocratic older sons, with the army for the second son. At least until they came into their inheritances.

Girls from poor backgrounds could either enter service, marry or become prostitutes.

' I thought well of her for trying to carve out a niche of learnedness for herself, even if it was not a success.'

She did try very hard!

Now that I think of it, she's like an earlier version of Adrian Mole isn't she? The words of Mr Mole 'I am an intellectual, but at the same time I am not very clever.' could have been said by poor old Mary.

yes, she is

I never bought the idea that Elizabeth gave pecuniary relief to Lydia and Wickham, I think she would have told them to bugger off and manage their finances better. Jane would have been a soft touch though.

JA would have loved mumsnet.
I hope!

Lydia and Wickham grow up to be Mr and Mrs Palmer in Sense and Sensiblity.

What a very satisfying thread :)
With regards to " And Lydia, it is implied, never loses her reputation for being a tart. "
I remember getting to the end of the book, where it mentions the frequent visits of Lydia and Wickham to Elizabeth and thinking much the same, but also wondering how she doesn't have a troop of children at foot (who may or may not be truly Wickham's).
Is she just very, very good at counting? Or has she accessed whatever bc was about?

In the awful, obvs not authoized Death Comes To Pemberley Kitty is barely in it she lives with their mother paying calls etc instead of Mary who is a very happy and very superior vicars wife.

DCTP is properly shit though, very badly written, I don't recommend, Longbourn was rather good.

But Humphrey didn't Darcy have a misplaced sense of responsibility for Wickham due to his father's affection for W as a boy?

I don't think Wickham got to go to Pemberly, he was only welcome at the Bingley Estate. It says that only Lydia goes to Pemberly whilst both of them frequently outstayed their welcome with the Bingleys, with (IIRC) Bingley going so far as to talk of giving them a hint

PP says that Elizabeth gave them money by practising economy in her private spending, so the implication is that Darcy doesn't know.

If I was Lizzie I shouldn't have given her a penny