Free Recollections of Rosings by Rebecca Ann Collins Page A

if afraid to contemplate the inevitable. Other friends and family had consistently and confidently declared that he would soon be well again and about his parish business, and Dr Harrison himself had confidently proclaimed his belief that it would indeed be so.
        But now he was dead.
        Only Rebecca, understanding her sister's anxiety, had not attempted to belittle her concern. She had sat with Catherine at his bedside, throughout the long night and into the morning, until it had become clear he was gone.
        Dry-eyed and tight-lipped, Catherine had been unable to respond to the sympathy expressed by those who called at the house, feeling alone and cold, as she sought to comfort Lilian, while worrying that she had felt no great shock or sorrow herself.
        Mr Benson attended to everything that needed doing in preparation for the funeral, and Mr Adams was always available to lend his support. Members of the family and friends of the Harrisons came from many parts of England: the Darcys, the Bingleys, the Wilsons, and of course her dear mother Charlotte Collins, who was in some pain with her rheumatism and yet had insisted on accompanying Jonathan Bingley and his wife, Anna, who travelled from Hertfordshire.
        It was a melancholy occasion, made considerably worse for Mr Darcy by the sight of Rosings after the fire. His reaction, one of shock, almost of disbelief, was natural; nothing anyone had said could have prepared him for the sickening vision that met his eyes.
        Darcy had been back and forth from Rosings Park since childhood; his mother and Lady Catherine were sisters. In adult life, he had been frequently called upon by his aunt to advise and assist her on matters of managing her estate after the death of Sir Lewis de Bourgh. Though they had often disagreed on many matters, there had ultimately been a grudging respect between them. Rosings had been everything to Lady Catherine; now she was gone and so was most of her heritage. Both Darcy and Elizabeth were quite unable to absorb the shock of it all.
        The funeral service was a simple one. Catherine had insisted that her husband be laid to rest in the churchyard at Hunsford among the parishioners he had served with great dedication and not at Rosings, where lay the more distinguished graves of several generations of faithful servants, including her own father, Mr Collins.
        Supported only by Lilian and Rebecca—for her two elder children were many thousands of miles away overseas—Catherine appeared remarkably calm, and afterwards, as they gathered at the Dower House, she was gracious to everyone who had attended.
        She had noticed that John Adams had been at the funeral, standing with a group of people from the Rosings Estate, but there had been no sign of Frank Burnett. It did cross her mind that he may have returned to London, but thought no more about it at the time. After all, she thought, he had never known Dr Harrison personally.
        On the day following, Mr Hanson the attorney came to read the will, and both Mr Darcy and Jonathan Bingley attended at Catherine's invitation. Dr Harrison did not have a very great deal to leave, but what he had was carefully and prudently invested and the whole of it willed to his wife. There was sufficient to support her in a modest way and little else, save for a collection of Bibles, many theological books, and writings, all of which were destined for the library at Rosings!
        A letter addressed to his children was handed to Lilian, but that was all.
        When it was over, Mr Darcy assured Catherine that she could continue to live at the Dower House for as long as she needed.
        "The lease has been paid for a complete year and you need have no concern at all should you wish to stay on," he had said.
        Catherine thanked him for his generosity and replied that she would like to stay on for a while until she had made some plans for herself and