None of the Bennet children felt they needed to make others feel bad so that they would feel superior. They were beautiful inside and out, Jane always being a shining example for them to follow.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
One afternoon, as Bennet revelled in knowing how happy his family was and how close they were to the Fitzwilliams, his thoughts drifted back to the first time he met Lord Reginald Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale, then the heir to the Earldom of Matlock.
Bennet was three months into his first year of Trinity College. He was sitting in the college library one afternoon, lost in concentration, with a chess board in front of him. He played against his brother Oliver via post.
Not being a sociable person, Bennet had not put himself forward to meet any of the gentleman students unless required. As he was contemplating the next move to send to his younger brother, he felt a presence over his shoulder and heard, “king to rook seven.”
After that simple piece of strategic advice, he met his first acquaintance at Cambridge. Lord Hilldale introduced himself and seemed to care not a whit that Bennet was not of his social circle.
They began to play chess once a week, and soon Bennet was helping Lord Hilldale—Reggie—with Latin, Greek, and mathematics.
Bennet found these subjects easy. He had a deep intellect, and as such, he was able to help his friend to understand subjects Hilldale was struggling with. For his side, the Viscount introduced Thomas Bennet to his small but preferred group of friends.
The Viscount was a year ahead of Bennet and had shared with him that he was very much in love with Miss Elaine Worthington. She was from an untitled family with a medium-sized estate, and his father had suggested his son seek an heiress from among the ton instead.
Reggie saw how unhappy his older sister, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, was in her marriage of convenience to a baronet chosen only for his status and wealth after her fourth unsuccessful season.
He was determined to marry for love, and as his father’s only male child, there was no option for his father but to accept his choice. His sister Catherine railed against Elaine for her lack of breeding, wealth, or connections she considered inappropriate for the wife of a future Earl of Matlock. As did most people with sense, Reggie ignored the pompous pronouncements of his older sister.
Bennet and Fitzwilliam’s friendship grew strong. At the end of his first year, Bennet was invited to join his now best friend at Snowhaven, the Matlock estate, and at Hilldale, the Viscount’s estate, for a month complete.
At Snowhaven he met the Viscount’s younger and affable sister, Lady Anne Fitzwilliam, who was being courted by Mr. George Darcy. Mr. Darcy had inherited his estate, Pemberley, just over a year ago at the age of two and thirty, after his father was killed in a hunting accident.
It was well known Lady Anne Fitzwilliam’s older sister, Lady Catherine, was envious of her sister due to one fact—the Darcy estate was far larger and more prosperous than Rosings Park, her husband’s estate in Kent.
Two years later, when the Viscount graduated, he and Bennet had become inseparable. They complemented each other nicely, Bennet being more studious and stoic, and his friend Reggie more social and affable.
As Bennet sat at his desk thinking of his friendship with Reginald Fitzwilliam, he was snapped out of his reverie by thoughts of how he might do everything in his power to protect his family.
Due to his concerns about fortune hunters, he had concealed the real value of the girls’ dowries from the neighbourhood, and the extent of the Bennets’ wealth. The neighbours only knew the Bennet girls had five thousand pounds each, more than anyone else in the area, but not an amount sufficient to tempt a fortune hunter.
Along with his brothers Gardiner and Phillips, Bennet had arranged for a safety mechanism—without consent from all three of them, no dowry could be released. That would prevent any unscrupulous rakes from attempting to compromise one of his girls!
Bennet did one more thing to protect his girls—something known only to his closest confidants. Using the best firm of investigators money could buy, he had any potential suitor thoroughly investigated, as he did any potential lessees of his properties.
Jane was soon to turn two and twenty, Elizabeth—Lizzy—was twenty. Mary was now almost nineteen and had only been out in society for one year. Catherine—Kitty—was seventeen and not yet out.
Tom and James Bennet, the catalysts of so much good, they could be called nothing else but gifts from God, were almost sixteen. Although the three eldest had taken their curtsies before the Queen, the Bennets did not host coming out balls for any of the girls. They would have given a ball if any of their girls had wanted one, but each of them declined the offer. This meant the Bennets remained relatively unknown among theTon, except for a few of the Fitzwilliams’ closest friends.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
One fine Hertfordshire morning Bennet sat in his study with his brother Phillips reviewing a potential new lessee for Netherfield Park, Mr. Charles Bingley. The man had applied for a one-year lease of the estate. Mr. Bingley’s only contact was with Mr. Phillips because Bennet preferred to remain anonymous to the lessees of his properties.
Phillips recommended that at some point Bennet reveal his ownership of Netherfield Park to Mr. Bingley at some point because they would have a great deal of social contact. Bennet agreed to lease the property—but only after his investigator had returned a favourable report on both Bingley’s character and his finances.
The fact he was a tradesman’s son did not concern Bennet; both of his brothers were in trade, after all. Mr. Bingley was to take up residence at Netherfield Park just before Michaelmas. His sisters, a Mrs. Louisa Hurst and a Miss Caroline Bingley, the latter of whom would act as his hostess, would be arriving with him. His brother-in-law, Mr. Harold Hurst, would also be one of the party.
His investigator’s report was less favourable with respect to the Bingley sisters, especially the younger sister, Caroline. She was characterised as a grasping, social climbing fortune hunter in the report before him. Bennet groaned at the tediousness of these types of women, almost dropping to his knees to again give thanks to God for his Fanny.
He exhaled slowly and read on. It was not she who was the lessee and so should not sway his decision, though he would warn Lizzy to keep an eye out for any bad behaviour during the times a father could not politely intrude on the ladies.
The investigator also noted Miss Bingley had set her cap for one Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, who reportedly had no interest in the lady. It was hinted he tolerated her only for the sake of his friendship with her brother.
Bennet knew the Darcy name well; Mr. Darcy was the nephew of Reggie and Elaine Fitzwilliam, the one they had always missed meeting during their trips to Snowhaven and Matlock House. From the information in the report, the older sister apparently followed the lead of the younger one, placating her to keep the peace.
After Phillips departed Longbourn once their discussion about the Bingleys was completed, Bennet joined his family. He told them about their new tenants and warned his family about the two sisters.
