Marry her cousin???
Did people do that during that century???
That is disgusting... even if he wasn't her cousin, he's a disgusting freak anyway.
You're not very familiar with Jane Austen's work, are you? It's a "values dissonance" sort of thing between now and the late 18th/early 19th centuries in which she lived, and it shows up a few times in her novels. Age gaps are treated similarly, as it's something of a plot point in "Sense and Sensibility" where it's perfectly acceptable for grown men (Colonel Brandon, mid-30's and teen girls (Marianne, 17) to get married. In fact, considering her other suitor, Willoughby who is rather closer to her own age.... let's just say it wasn't Brandon who broke her heart.
All in all, yeah, those things are likely to give a case of Squick to modern audiences unfamiliar with her work, but they were truly accepted practices back in those days.
And in Gilbert and Sullivan's light opera HMS Pinafore, which opened in London in 1878, Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty, marries his cousin Hebe at the end of the opera. Marriage to first cousins was apparently common throughout the Victorian era.
Not just in Austen's work... it was a fact of the time.
shareKeep in mind that "cousin" could refer to a cousin of any degree, not just a first cousin. The character of Collins in the book is actually a somewhat distant cousin of Mr. Bennet, not any closer related than that.
However, because the Bennet estate was entailed (and had to pass by law to the next male heir in line), it would pass to Collins on Mr. Bennet's demise.
And in most places today, it is still perfectly legal to marry a 2nd cousin
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