Just after midday on the fourteenth day of September, another daughter came into the world. Due to her being so large, damage was wrought to her mother’s body as the babe was born, which led to much more bleeding than normal.
Because of Mrs Bennet’s size, Mrs Brown had requested that Mr Jones, the local physician and apothecary in one, be present when Mrs Bennet began her lying-in. Thankfully, the lady had lost consciousness soon after the enormous daughter had been delivered. Hence, she was not awake while the man worked to save her life. It was close, but Mr Jones was able to repair most of the damage and eventually stem the flow of blood.
Once he had cleaned himself, Mr Jones knocked on the study door where Mr Bennet was being kept company by his two brothers-in-law. When he was summoned to enter, Jones looked at Mr Bennet. “You have another daughter. You have my congratulations. However, I need to discuss something with you regarding your wife’s delivery.” He saw the looks on the faces of the three men. “She lives, but…”
“Jones, Phillips is my solicitor. I have no secrets from either him or Gardiner, so you may speak freely,” Bennet allowed.
“Your daughter was almost twice the size of her previous sisters. She is hale and healthy, but I am afraid your wife will not be able to deliver another child. If she again becomes with child, the birthing process will kill her,” Jones reported.
“So, I will never have a son,” Bennet realised stoically.
“Not unless it is with another,” Jones confirmed. “I do believe that other than her ability to bear children, Mrs Bennet will make a full recovery.” He paused. “For the next few days, I will check on her daily, but I believe that your wife and sister will make a full recovery.”
Bennet thanked Jones and paid him. He would be the last Bennet to be the master of Longbourn.
The girl was named Lydia after Fanny’s grandmother Gardiner.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Over the years, Jane adopted a mask of serenity, refusing to acknowledge anything that might cause discomfort in her world. She and Lydia—who was very much like their mother in both looks and character—were always treated better by that lady. Unlike Lydia, Jane was not overindulged and was not wild like the youngest Bennet.
Lizzy became more impertinent and intelligent. Due to that last trait, their father educated her like he would a son. The truth was she was far more intelligent than most males and had an equivalent education to what those who attended Oxford and Cambridge would receive. She still climbed the occasional tree and loved walking out over the estate, especially to Oakham Mount, but since she had turned ten, she no longer partook in the boys’ games. The boys were pleased, not because they did not like Lizzy, but because she most often bested them.
Mary, as the middle child, was on her own, so she turned to Fordyce’s sermons and the pianoforte for fulfilment. She was no less pretty than her other sisters, but their mother was always telling Lizzy, Mary, and Kitty that they were nothing to Jane and Lydia, and it hit Maryespecially hard. Because of that, she began to have her hair done in a tight bun, wore severe dresses which covered everything up to her neck, and in addition, she took to wearing spectacles she did not need.
To try and gain some of the approbation that their mother bestowed on Lydia, Kitty decided to follow her younger and far more forceful sister in all things. It did not earn her much attention from Mama, but Kitty imagined it did.
Bennet called the three youngest daughters the silliest in all of England, without ever taking the trouble to get to know any of them. He did stir himself to take care of his estate from time to time, but not nearly as much as he should have. It was one of the reasons he had educated Lizzy as a son. She fulfilled most of the tasks needed to manage the estate; he just signed when she asked him to.
He would not trouble himself unless there was no choice, and that included when Fanny put Jane out at fifteen. Jane had begged, and Lizzy had asked him on her sister’s behalf to not allow their mother to push Jane out into local society. Bennet had chosen to leave matters be and not have another confrontation with his wife. When each of her daughters reached fifteen, Fanny pushed them out, including Lydia in September 1811, although that girl complained not at all.
Although Fanny never spoke of blaming Lizzy for being a girl, she was unkind to her second daughter. Thankfully, for the most part, Lizzy let her mother’s criticism roll off her back, and, whenever she needed to, retreated to Papa’s study.
Fanny had pushed Jane at every man since she was fifteen because everyone knew she could not be so beautiful for no reason, and other than some verses of poetry, Jane had not received an offer. Fanny could not believe that Jane at three and twenty was following Miss Charlotte Lucas, who was six and twenty, into spinsterhood. According to Fanny, the latter was very plain. She was the daughter of Sir William and Lady Lucas.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By the time one Charles Bingley occupied Netherfield Park, starting in mid-September 1811, the dynamics in the Bennet family had not changed very much, if at all. When Hattie Phillips told her younger sister about the rich, single, and wealthy man from the north, Fanny had immediately claimed him for Jane because a single man of wealth must be in need of a wife.
Things had not gone according to plan. By January 1812, Jane was in London with the Gardiners attempting to contact Mr Bingley; Lizzy had refused Mr Collins, the heir presumptive of Longbourn, and that conniving Miss Lucas had married him.
Chapter 1
If only Mama would realise that her lamenting Mr Bingley’s defection all the time only made Jane feel worse. She may not have accepted Aunt Maddie and Uncle Edward’s invitation to accompany them back to London after Twelfth Night if the subject of Mr Bingley had not been raised multiple times each day, and she felt as if she could have no peace at home. Jane accepted to both escape Mama’s lamentations, as well as the looks and comments being made in the neighbourhood around Meryton about her being a jilt after Mr Bingley’s marked attentions had raised expectations, only to have him abandon her. She hated that her reputation had been tarnished in the process. Jane felt like a coward, but she knew remaining would have been far worse, Lizzy’s support notwithstanding.
The opinions she had heard, mind you, not so subtly spoken of in her company, had opined that Mr Bingley deserved the censure of the world for caprice and instability, and she its derision for disappointed hopes. All Jane felt was misery of the acutest kind.
Jane could not believe that of Mr Bingley. She was certain that Miss Bingley was her friend and had written honestly, only wanting to warn a friend, when she had told Jane that her brother was about to enter a courtship with Miss Darcy and had meant nothing by his friendly behaviour. Why would Miss Caroline Bingley have written what she did unless it was the truth?
Lizzy had told her, more than once, that Miss Bingleyand Mrs Hurst were not her friends. Her next younger sister had stated with certitude that Miss Bingley was dissembling. Lizzy had been sure that Mr Bingley was in love with her and that regardless of what his sister had written, he would return as he had said he would. He had not! He had departed the next day, Wednesday, after the ball. The letter which had shattered all of Jane’s hopes and dreams had arrived on Thursday morning, three days before the end of November, stating that Miss Bingley, the Hursts, and Mr Darcy had left Netherfield Park and the area with no intention ofeverreturning.
As much as she had wanted to express anger or disappointment in a way Lizzy was wont to do, although her feelings were as profound as those of any of her sisters’, Jane had maintained her serene façade until she had reached her bedchamber. There she had sobbed while her heart broke. Of course, Lizzy had come to comfort her. Her younger sister knew her too well and had known that the tears would come as soon as Jane reached the privacy of her own chamber.
Based on Lizzy’s claim that Mr Bingley would return, Jane had allowed a sliver of hope to bloom. By the time the Gardiners arrived on the morning of Christmas Eve, almost a month had passed with no sign of Mr Bingley’s arrival at Netherfield Park. Jane had written to Miss Bingley twice, as her friend had requested in her letter, but there had been no replies.
On the third day of the new year, the invitation to be hosted by the Gardiners in London had been proffered and accepted. At first, Mama had opposed Jane leaving the house for an extended period. That changed in an instant when her clever sister, Lizzy, pointed out that Mr Bingley was in London.
To make sure her friend knew of her coming to Town, Jane had immediately sat down and written to Caroline Bingley to tell her when she would arrive and where she would be residing. Given the planned departurethe day after Twelfth Night, Jane told herself that Miss Bingley would not have time to write about their meeting once Jane was in London. Again, the hope rose as Jane imagined seeing Mr Bingley. She had done what she was able to do so that the words about Mr Bingley and Miss Darcy were pushed to the side.
