Recollections of Rosings Read Online Free PDF Page A

them.
        "He told me Jonathan Bingley had insisted upon having the house opened up and had inspected it himself. It is some time since it was occupied permanently, and Jonathan had given orders that all the rooms should be aired and prepared in the event that we may need to move there. He has been exceedingly kind, Becky, he cannot do enough for us," said Catherine and Becky agreed.
        "Indeed, it would seem that Jonathan feels no bitterness towards us at all, despite the fact our sister Amelia-Jane used him very ill. I always said he, above any of Jane Bingley's children, has inherited her sweetness of disposition and generosity of heart."
        Catherine understood exactly what she meant but was disinclined to go down that path. It had been for her a particularly harrowing period, during which she had watched her young sister, self-willed and ill-advised by fickle friends, destroy her marriage and later herself through a series of events that had driven her husband, Jonathan Bingley, close to despair. The memories were too painful to recount at this time.
        She chose instead to recall the many years that their family had lived at the parsonage at Hunsford, when their father Reverend Collins had been the incumbent. Later, after her marriage to Dr Harrison, she had returned to live there and had raised her family in the parish. Catherine had no other memories of a home.
        "I was born here, Becky, I have known no other home but Hunsford and Rosings, of course, thanks to Lady Catherine."
        Her voice sounded forlorn, as though she had already accepted the inevitable, and Becky, hoping to lift her spirits a little, spoke of earlier days when, as children of her chaplain, they had enjoyed the condescension and even the occasional benevolence of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Their father, Reverend Collins, had always insisted that they should be grateful; it had not always been easy for Becky, a precocious little girl, to understand why this was so.
        "You were always more amenable than I was, Cathy; no wonder Lady Catherine invited you to stay on at Rosings," she said with a grimace that indicated her own perception and made her sister smile at the memory.
        Jonathan Bingley, arriving to say his farewells before returning to his family, who were still at Pemberley, found them thus occupied and was relieved indeed to note what a significant difference her sister's arrival had made to Catherine.
        Though she was still undoubtedly in shock and anxious about her husband's health, she appeared in better spirits. Becky Tate was renowned for her natural cheerfulness, tending to optimism in the face of adversity. Combined with a genuine and strong affection for her sister, this would surely help Catherine greatly at such a difficult time, Jonathan thought. When he left them after a welcome cup of tea and taking with him their warmest wishes for a safe journey, he was feeling a good deal more hopeful than he had been all week.
    ***

    In reality, Rebecca Tate, having suffered in her own life some grievous misfortune, including the loss of her only daughter Josie, was far less inclined than before towards optimism. Her husband, Anthony Tate, deeply dejected following the death of their daughter, had so immersed himself in his work, leaving Becky very much to grieve alone, that they had grown apart and were now as strangers in the same house. As he found solace in expanding his commercial empire, Becky had turned to Catherine and the two sisters had found comfort in each other's company.
        More recently, as Mr Tate had made preparations for a journey to the United States, where he expected to do business with a fellow publisher, Becky had found less and less to occupy her at home. With both her son Walter and her husband away for many months at a time, there were fewer functions to attend and families to visit. Since her husband preferred to meet his business friends at his club, they