A Change of Jane’s Personal Philosophy
Prologue
Jane Frances Bennet was born on the eleventh day of April in the year of our Lord 1788. Even though her mother, Frances Bennet, called Fanny by all, had very much wanted her babe to be a son, Fanny fell in love with her, certain the next child would be the son. A son and heir was needed to end the infernal entail on the Bennets’ estate, Longbourn.
The new babe’s father was Thomas Bennet, the master of the estate of Longbourn, near the market town of Meryton in Hertfordshire. Although he no longer loved his wife, he did love his daughter with all of his heart. He was only sorry his parents were no longer in the mortal world to meet the mite.
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Bennet was a second son who had recently inherited the estate when his father and older brother had been taken in a smallpox outbreak in Buckinghamshire. Henry and James Bennet, father and son, were, among many others, stricken with smallpox along with James’s betrothed. The two Bennet men had travelled to that shire to attend the wedding of the heir to Longbourn. There was no older Mrs Bennet because the Bennet matron had died in childbirth during her lying-in for a third child, who had also not survived.
Thomas Bennet had been left at home because of a severe cold; hence, he was unable to celebrate his elder brother’s wedding. This fateful illness had spared him from contracting smallpox.
The younger and surviving Bennet had neither desired nor expected to be the master of Longbourn, but he had accepted it was his duty because the alternative was that one of the Collins line would have the estate. Had he his choice, he would have become a Cambridge don.
After Bennet had mourned his father and brother for six months, he re-entered local society again. Never a debonair man, he was very naïve when it came to the fairer sex and his head was turned by the extremely pretty Miss Fanny Gardiner. During the period that he courted her, she always seemed to listen to him attentively and be interested in the books he was reading—he was a bibliophile—although she did not speak, she only listened, which to Bennet boded well for the future. In addition, she had seemed very sympathetic regarding his loss of his father and brother. Bennet also felt an affinity towards her because they had both lost their mothers during their childhood. Hence, he believed her to be a compassionate woman. After not too long, Bennet had fancied himself in love with the beautiful, vivacious lady.
What Thomas Bennet never knew was that Fanny had been determined to marry a landed gentleman and refused to marry some tradesman. In order to achieve her aim, she had done whatever she had to do to make herself appealing to the master of Longbourn which included listening to his inane chatter about books and other subjects for which she cared not a whit. Even though she had not been gently born, using her wiles, Fanny had induced Mr Thomas Bennet to offer for her. Less than three months after meeting him at the age of sixteen, she accepted his proposal without delay.
If Bennet thought it strange that his future brother-in-law, Edward Gardiner, asked if he was sure he wanted to marry his youngest sister, he did not question his affianced’s brother. He had told Gardiner he was in love with his younger sister.
There was an older sister, Hattie, who had recentlymarried her father’s head clerk, Frank Phillips. As his son had no interest in the law, Elias Gardiner was preparing his son-in-law to one day take over his law practice. The older sister was not one who was vicious, but she was not an intelligent woman and loved to gossip.
Bennet had congratulated himself that his wife was nothing like her older sister. It only took him a few weeks after his wedding to understand why Gardiner had asked him what he had. Fanny was as bad, or worse than, her sister. When it was too late, he discovered she never had any interests in common with him; she was vapid, mean of understanding, vain, a gossip, and liked to tear down others to make herself feel good. To everything else, Bennet added conniving. She had shown him what he wanted to see until she was safely married, and then she allowed her mask to slip when nothing could be done about it.
He knew that Clem Collins, Bennet’s mean, illiterate distant cousin, would inherit Longbourn if he passed away with no male issue. Even though his wife did not bear him a son, Bennet was well pleased with the birth of a daughter. Based on his wife coming to be in the family way months after the wedding, Bennet was not concerned. She was young and healthy, and there would be other children, one of whom he was certain would be a son who, when he reached his majority, would join him in breaking the entail.
His great-grandfather had written the entail to heirs male and made it so it would only end with the fifth generation after him, which was why Bennet, who represented the fourth generation, needed a son.
There was an exclusion, but as Bennet did not think it applied to Mr Collins, he didnot worry about it.
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March 1791
Fanny had thought she had loved Jane when she was born, but that was nothing to the present as her daughter approached her third birthday. Jane had golden blonde hair, the deepest blue eyes, and was an outgoing girl. The reason she loved Jane so much was because her firstborn looked like Fanny had at the same age.
While she lay in the birthing chamber waiting for her son to be born, Fanny had the wonderful thought that as soon as she fulfilled her duty and provided an heir for the estate, she would never have to welcome her husband into her chambers again. She found no pleasure in the act and followed what Hattie had told her before her wedding: lie still on her back, close her eyes, and wait for the unpleasantness to be over. It was the early morning of the fifth day of March, and Fanny had been labouring since the previous evening. No matter how much she urged her son to be born, he had not made an appearance yet. It was past five that morning when the midwife told her to push.
When she heard the squalling of the babe, Fanny ignored the tiredness and pain. “Hand my son to me,” she demanded.
Mrs Hill, Longbourn’s housekeeper, looked at Mrs Brown—the midwife—nervously. Having served Mrs Bennet for more than three years and knowing how the mistress would react when she was told that all of her pronouncements had been wrong, she did not want to be the one to inform Mrs Bennet of the truth.
The midwife cared not. “‘Tis a daughter, not a son,” Mrs Brown stated brusquely.
“No! It cannot be another daughter; I commanded that it be a son. You stole my son; where is he? Get that imposter out of here!” Fanny screeched.
Bennet had been waiting in his study, one floor below the birthing chamber. Notwithstanding the closed door, evenhe heard the caterwauling. It was another example of his folly of allowing his head to be turned by a pretty face. He was living the saying: choose in haste, repent at leisure. As tired as he was, he knew he needed to go and see what the screams were about.
The nursery at Longbourn was located on the third floor, two above the birthing chamber. The hullabaloo emanating from below her woke Jane with a start. It made her scared, and she began to cry.
Nurse was sleeping in the small room attached to the nursery when she heard Miss Bennet’s anguish. She jumped out of bed, and donned her slippers and a robe. She was soon at Jane’s side, pulling the little girl into the warm circle of her arms. “Miss Janey, all will be well; it is something which occurs when women give birth. At times, some ladies make a lot of noise,” Miss Johnson assured her charge.
“Will Mama be well?” Jane asked worriedly. “I want to meet my bruver very much. But I do not want Mama hurt,” Jane stated as she wiped her tears away.
“I am sure your mother will come through this and be healthy,” Miss Johnson opined. She was more than aware that too many ladies met their ends during, or after, childbirth, but she could not and would not explain that to her charge. “Come, Miss Janey, I will dress you, and we can go make sure your mama is well.”
Jane nodded her head vigorously. Even though Nurse had told her Mama would be healthy, it would be better to see for herself.
