“No, I do not suppose I was.” Fanny turned to Jane and Lizzy. “Do you think you will ever be able to forgive me for the way I treated you over the years?”
“As long as you genuinely intend to change, then yes, Mama, I am willing to pardon you,” Elizabeth stated. “There is one thing you need to do more than any other.”
“What is that?” Fanny queried.
“Take Lydia in hand, Mama,” Jane replied. “Can you not see that Lydia is becoming ungovernable? She was allowed to forgo her education, something that even I, who did not put forth the amount of effort I should have, am sorry about. For a woman, an education is not a disadvantage, but rather it is an advantage. And Mama, you can never again denigrate the looksof any of my sisters because they do not look like you. Lizzy, Mary, and Kitty are beauties in their own rights, but more importantly, they are intelligent and good people.” Jane paused as she smiled. “You, who have always been on the lookout for men to marry us, have missed that one of your daughters is being courted unofficially. No, it is not me!”
Jane’s words slammed into Fanny like a cyclone’s wind. So much so she almost missed the last thing Jane had disclosed. A daughter being courted, and it was not Jane? How could she have missed that. She hung her head as she admitted that if it was Lizzy or Mary, she would not have cared to notice. “I really need to do something about Lydia, do I not?” she admitted.
“Mama, bringing Lydia to heel will be a difficult endeavour. If you are serious about doing this, the only way may be to send Lydia to a school for difficult young ladies. I know that will be very hard for you,” Elizabeth smiled as she realised something. “With you behaving as you have for some weeks now, and if Lydia goes to school, Father will have nothing of which to make sport.”
What Lizzy said was incentive enough for Fanny. “Your father will say that we cannot afford to send her to school,” Fanny said sorrowfully.
Fanny did not notice Elizabeth look at Uncle Henry with an arched eyebrow as she cleared her throat, nor did she see his almost imperceptible nod as he understood Lizzy’s unspoken question.
“I know of a charity which educates males and females. They will pay for Lydia’s schooling, so Papa will not be able to object on financial grounds. We,” Elizabeth indicated Jane, “with aid from Mary and Kitty, will convince our father there are more advantages than disadvantages.” Elizabeth did not prevaricate about the charity. She simply omitted the information that it was wholly funded by Uncle Henry.
Soon after, Fanny was led on a tour of the house by Jane.
“Your mother seems to be changing for the better,” Charlotte, who had been silent the whole time, noted.
“I will pray it will continue and not be anything short-term,” Elizabeth replied.
A half hour or so later Fanny returned to the drawing room with Jane. She was in shock. The house was far more comfortable than Longbourn’s manor, and it was not that much smaller. Yes, she had been a fool about so many things.
Chapter 21
Someone knocked on the study door; Bennet huffed. Thanks to the recent changes in his wife, he had been denied his major source of entertainment. The only enjoyment left to him was being at peace in his study with his books and port. Lately, even Lydia had not caused any trouble, which would have amused him. Of more concern was the fact that in the last few days his wife had stopped indulging their youngest daughter.
He attempted to ignore the interruption and kept on reading without calling out. The person knocked again. He supposed he had to do something; it could not be his wife because she would have marched into the room by now.
It was Fanny who stood patiently outside of the study door. It had taken her a few days since being at the dower house for her to muster the courage which allowed her to make the decision that she needed to confront her husband. Since that day she had stopped indulging Lydia. In fact, much to her youngest’s surprise, she had begun correcting her and not saying yes regardless of the matter. Fanny had been shocked when she had truly listened to Lydia, who would not turn fifteen until the first day of December, speak of men and how she would flirt with them. This led Fanny to understand how wrong the way she had attempted to teach her two favourite daughters had been.
Fanny was thankful Jane had rejected the wrongheaded ways she had instructed her to use. Thank goodness, Jane had decided to seek counsel from Uncle Henry and Lizzy, which led her to follow their advice and not her own mother’s.Her thoughts were interrupted when she finally heard her husband’s voice after she knocked on the door again.
“Come,” Bennet called out.
Fanny entered as soon as her husband spoke. She did not miss the way his eyebrows shot up, obviously surprised she had waited to be summoned to enter. “Mr Bennet, we need to speak of our youngest daughter,” Fanny began before her husband could speak.
“What has that silly flirt done now?” Bennet hoped it was something which would vex his wife and amuse him.
“Mr Bennet, am I correct to believe you are well aware that Lydia’s behaviour is deficient, yet rather than do something about it, you sit here and smirk?” Fanny demanded.
Bennet was taken aback. Who was this woman, and what had she done with his unintelligent wife?
“Are you telling me that if Lydia ruined herself and the rest of her sisters with her, you would sit back, make sport, and do little else? What sort of man and father are you?” Fanny did not give her sputtering husband a chance to speak. “You should have demanded Lydia attend the lessons with her sisters. I am aware that if it was not for Uncle Henry, we would not have had a governess or masters, and none of our daughters would have been educated.
“And yes, I should have never spoilt Lydia the way I have, and I, too, needed to insist Lydia partake in Mrs Bellamy’s lessons. My reason was that I did not know better, but what was your excuse, Mr Bennet? As the head of this household, was it not your duty to teach me how to be a gentlewoman? You knew full well I had not been gently raised. Is it not the man’s duty to protect and guide his children? In that too, Mr Bennet, you have failed.”
“How can you speak to me in this manner?” Bennet blustered. “For your rudeness I will withhold…”
“What? Withhold my pin money? I am now aware youmay not do that as the money is not paid by you but rather from the interest on my dowry. That being said, I trust you still have the money you previously withheld in contravention to my settlement. I am sure you did not break the contract and use my money on yourself, did you?”
If Bennet had been previously shocked, now he was flabbergasted. How did his wife know about her settlement? The only way is that she must have spoken to Phillips, but how would she know to ask? The problem was hehadspent the money he had withheld on his own interests, which was, in fact, a breach of contract. There was no choice; he would have to repay the money from estate funds.
“I will have the money that I withheld returned to you in a few days,” Bennet ground out begrudgingly. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes, there is. Lydia needs to be sent to a school which specialises in educating recalcitrant young ladies,” Fanny stated. “Her behaviour is too ingrained for me to effectively change it at home.”
