Letters between him and his mother were rare and stopped altogether by early 1774. Almost a year after that, a curt letter arrived from James telling Henry that their parents were dead. Based on the tone of the letter, Henry did not write back again.
There were a few English ladies in Kolar, but not one inspired Henry to offer for them.
Henry was content with his life and did not seek more than he had. His farm was prospering, and his fortune was climbing apace, so when shortly after he turned five and thirty in May 1774 everything was upended, Henry had not been seeking the massive change and wealth which came into his life.
There was an area of his land—part of the land hehad added when he exercised the option—on which no crops would grow, not even grass and shrubs for the grazing of sheep and goats. It was an area of close to ten acres. As he had a thousand acres, the small area did not bother Henry, so he had the area fenced off, and he let it be. He was seated in his dining parlour looking over the latest newspapers which had reached Kolar when the son of the overseer of the farm ran into the room, looking rather excited.
“Sahib, Sahib, come, come; Bapu say you need to come see,” little Deepak exclaimed in the high-pitched voice of a boy who was only eight.
Knowing that his overseer would not send his son on a whim, Henry followed the boy out of the house as soon as he had donned his riding jacket and hat. His horse was saddled and ready for him next to the donkey the boy had ridden. They rode for a distance until they arrived at the fenced-off area where the useless land was enclosed.
“Well, Gadhavi, why did you send Deepak to summon me?” Henry enquired.
“You will see, Sahib. Seeing will tell you far more than speaking,” Gadhavi stated with a grin.
Henry followed his overseer as they walked for close to ten minutes. They arrived at an outcrop of rock which Henry assumed had been exposed by wave after wave of monsoons over the years. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, he saw the glint of gold among the rocks.
“How was this discovered? No one ever comes here, do they?” Henry asked in amazement as he squatted down to have a closer look.
“Deepak was riding inside of the fence, knowing he would be in no one’s way here. He noticed the sun reflecting off something and came to call me. I came, Sahib, and saw what you are seeing now.” The overseer paused. “It could be a few nuggets or a seam. If it be a seam, then, Sahib, you are a veryrich man.”
“Gadhavi, if it is a seam, Deepak will be rewarded, and we will all prosper,” Henry insisted.
Within a month, the ten acres was teaming with activity. The Dutch East India company owned some of the goldfields around Kolar, so the local office agreed to send some of their experts to investigate the find at Longbourn East. It did not take long to discover that it was not a few nuggets, but an extremely rich vein, and not far below the surface, more were found dotted around in the ten acre area.
Due to his son Deepak’s discovery, Henry gave Gadhavi a two per cent share of the mine. Many Englishmen told Henry that he was addled to even offer them any percentage, no matter how small it was. Henry rejected all such counsel. Once the mining commenced and the ore was brought out and refined, it was not long before the Gadhavis became one of the wealthiest native Indian families in the state.
By early 1785, Henry Bennet had more wealth than he and ten families could spend in a hundred lifetimes. Before his birthday in May of that year, when he was to turn six and forty, Henry decided his adventures in India were at an end. The Dutch East India company had approached him many times over the years wanting to purchase Henry’s land and mine from him, and he had always refused.
He made a decision which led to an appointment to see the company’s manager in Kolar. Henry indicated his willingness to sell his property and mine, but with certain conditions. One was that the Dutch East India Company could only own ninety percent of the mine. Ten percent of the mine would be owned by his former employees, with the Gadhavis share increased to three and one half percent.
After the company agreed to pay an obscene amount of money, the sale was finalised. All of those who used to work for Henry were beyond grateful that he had made sure they wouldbe wealthier than they could have imagined.
The huge payment for his land was converted mostly to gold, but also gems. That gold, along with what Henry already owned, was split among ten ships, all of which he rented to work for him. Henry sailed on the largest vessel with the most gold and the trunks of gems on board. The ship he was on departed Surat in August 1785.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After a little more than six months, in the winter of 1786, the vessel Henry was sailing on arrived in London. After so many years in India, the cold hit Henry very hard. Eight of the ten ships had arrived; one had been lost to a storm and one to pirates off the east coast of Africa.
As the two ships that were lost carried the smallest amount of Henry’s wealth, it did not perturb him greatly that he had lost a little of his gold. He opened an account at the Bank of England. The manager of the branch nearly expired from an apoplexy when he saw how much gold, and three trunks full of gems, were deposited in the vault. Per Henry’s requirements, the transfer had been done in secret.
Just like he had with the ships, Henry opened accounts at five other banks where he had gold stored in their vaults.
Through an intermediary, Henry sold about two hundred and fifty thousand pounds’ worth of the gold at the Bank of England, and one trunk’s worth of gems—the fourth one that he had kept with him—which brought in a further one hundred thousand pounds, so he would have ready funds. He employed a man of business who told him of a house for sale on Grosvenor Square. Henry authorised the purchase but kept his name off the public records.
By August of 1787, Henry’s man of business had heard of a distressed estate for sale in Nottinghamshire. Henry had charged him with finding an estate, as he disliked London, especially in the summer. He missed the wide-open spaceshe had at Longbourn East. His man had also recommended investing with a new company, Gardiner and Associates. Henry would consider it after he had viewed the estate.
The property was a large one; the owner needed to sell due to his proclivity for games of chance and habit of losing far more than he won. The estate, Sherwood Dale, should have been able to earn more than nine thousand pounds per annum. Under the neglect of the current owner, the profit had fallen by three quarters.
As the man had no choice but to sell, Henry purchased it for a fraction of what it could be worth. Once the purchase was complete, he decided it was time to call on his brother at Longbourn. He resolved that he would not reveal his wealth unless James’s behaviour warranted it. If he was treated with disdain as he had previously been by his brother, he would leave and not return. He did not know if James and Elizabeth had any children or grandchildren. Seeing that he was eight and forty, James would be sixty by now.
As he had many times over the years, Henry wondered if Felicity was still alive, and if so, how she and her husband were getting on in the former colonies. His sister had never allowed the fact she was six years older than him to stand in the way of her being kind to him.
Hence, it was the second day of October 1787, that Henry ordered his small carriage made ready and gave the coachman the direction to Longbourn, a little more than twenty miles from his house in London.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Henry’s small but comfortable conveyance came to a halt in the circular drive before Longbourn. His footman opened the door for him, and he stepped down, his feet touching Longbourn’s land for the first time since 1765. It was hard to believe it had been more than twenty years already.
