Over the next several years, Mary Carleton had the pleasure of watching her great-nieces grow and learn the manners and accomplishments of gentlewomen, after she helped Mrs Bennet to hire Mrs Taylor to be their governess.
Between the guidance provided by Mrs Taylor and Mrs Carleton, the girls prospered. Even her niece, who calmed somewhat at being reassured about her and her daughters’ future, paid some slight attention to the lessons the governess provided for the girls.
During those years the family started the tradition to have Edward Gardiner spend Christmas at Longbourn. He thoroughly enjoyed getting to know his nieces and having an opportunity to spend the holidays surrounded by family.
Early in the new century, Mrs Carleton was pleased to attend Edward’s wedding to Miss Madeline Brooks, a lovely and intelligent young gentlewoman from Lambton in Derbyshire. After their wedding, the girls frequently visited the couple at their home in Gracechurch Street, although Christmas continued to be celebrated at Longbourn with the whole family. It also pleased Mary Carleton no end to hear about the birth of Andrew Gardiner a few days before she succumbed to her final sleep.
~T~
The reading of the will caused Mrs Bennet great effusions of joy when she was informed that for each of her daughters Aunt Mary had set aside a dowry of two thousand pounds, which had been invested with Mr Gardiner until the marriage of each girl or when she reached the age of five and twenty.
In addition, Mrs Bennet was officially told that Mrs Carleton had granted her and her daughters a lifetime tenancy in her cottage, and money had been set aside to cover maintenance, taxes, and basic running costs. The will also provided for the situation that when Mrs Bennet passed away and once all her daughters were married, the cottage was to be sold and the proceeds distributed to the girls.
Some weeks later after a heated discussion with his wife, Mr Bennet was chagrined when he heard the lady mutter, ‘Some gentleman you are. At least my family, even though they are tradesmen, had the decency to provide for me and our daughters when you do nothing for us.’
That slur hurt Mr Bennet’s pride but at the time did little to spur him to greater involvement with his family.
~T~
2Lessons
Mrs Bennet was the first to admit that her intelligence was only average, and she was not academically gifted, but since women were not given the opportunity to attend schools of higher learning, she had never considered that a handicap, especially since society disapproved of overly educated women. But her husband was wrong when he called her of mean understanding and uncertain temper.
Much of the lady’s uncertain temper had been caused by frustration when Mr Bennet did nothing to secure the future of herself and her daughters. Instead, he made sport of her fears which had exacerbated the situation.
The lady’s mean understanding had been caused not so much by her lack of intelligence but by her lack of education. In the early days of their marriage, Mrs Bennet was untrained for the role as mistress of Longbourn and it had not occurred to her husband that his wife would need guidance. He took it for granted that all women knew the duties as the mistress of an estate, which as the daughter of a solicitor, his wife had never had the opportunity to learn. As a result, the lady had covered her ignorance by focusing on being an excellent hostess and setting the best table of anyone in the neighbourhood.
She also believed that the more expensive something was, the better it must be, which was why she insisted that her garments and those of her daughters must be lavishly embellished by lace.
Once her fear of being homeless was removed by the generosity of Mrs Carleton, Mrs Bennet blossomed.
After her aunt passed away and Mrs Bennet was presented with the document guaranteeing her future, she started to pay greater attention to the lessons the governess imparted to her daughters as far as they pertained to the duties of the mistress of an estate. She learnt that she had been under the mistaken impression that the lady of the manor wasto give orders to the staff about the running of the house but should not have any further involvement.
She was shocked to discover how wrong she had been.
~T~
Mrs Bennet was having tea with her three oldest daughters, but her mind was in the past. Without being aware of it, she gave a big sigh and shook her head.
‘What is wrong, mama? What is troubling you?’ asked fifteen-year-old Jane.
Mrs Bennet was startled out of her reverie and frowned.
‘You sighed,’ Jane explained with a tentative smile.
‘Oh. It is nothing. I was just thinking of Aunt Mary and regretting that I did not pay greater attention to her. Something Mrs Taylor said earlier reminded me of some advice my aunt tried to give me some years ago.’
‘Go on,’ encouraged Elizabeth, who at the age of thirteen was well on her way to becoming something of a blue-stocking, much to her mother’s dismay.
The lady twisted her handkerchief and replied in a rather pensive manner, ‘She was trying to explain the duties of a gentlewoman and the mistress of an estate but since she was from the same tradesman’s family as I was, and had been married to a tradesman, I refused to listen to her counsel. I thought that being married to a gentleman I knew more than she did.’ She sighed again. ‘I just recalled that her advice was the same as your lesson with Mrs Taylor today. Now I wish that I had paid more attention to her.’
‘Although Aunt Mary is gone, it is not too late for you to learn. I am convinced that Mrs Taylor would be happy to advise you about anything you wish to know,’ Elizabeth encouraged.
Mrs Bennet’s eyes widened as realisation hit her. ‘And so, she shall,’ she exclaimed with newfound determination.
~T~
The most noticeable change at Longbourn occurred when Mrs Bennet started to visit the tenants in the company of her oldest daughters.
