“Are you going to read to us, Papa?” Elizabeth asked keenly. “If not, I can read to you. I am sure my aunt and uncles will enjoy the way I make voices when I read a story.”
“Yes, Lizzy, I am sure that is true. This is about your mother, the lady who bore you,” Bennet corrected.
“You mean the lady who would sniff at us when Lizzy and I joined you for meals sometimes? We did not know her, Papa. You told us her name is Mrs Bennet, and when we were older, you would explain all to us,” Jane wondered confusedly.
The late Fanny Bennet’s siblings looked at one another. Hattie nodded at her brother’s raised eyebrows. No, mourning would only confuse these dear girls. Thomas’s idea of explaining everything regarding their moth—no, Fanny could not be called that, as she was never a mother to any of her girls, she was nothing more than a wetnurse—was a good idea.
“Yes, I refer to Mrs Bennet. Do you remember I told you how my mother and father were called to God and live in heaven now?” Bennet saw his two eldest daughters nod. “Mrs Bennet was called home today, just after your newest sister, Lydia, joined our family.” Bennet would wait some years before explaining that his late wife had been his daughters’ birthmother. There was nothing to be gained by explaining any of that now.
“That means we will not see Mrs Bennet when we join you in the dining parlour anymore, does it not, Papa?” Elizabeth was puzzled.
“Yes, Lizzy, that is true,” Bennet confirmed.
“I will not miss the looks she gave us like she was angry with us,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly. “Mrs Dudley told me it was not good manners to ask her why she looked at us that way.”
“Mrs Dudley, you may return the girls to the nursery,”Bennet ordered.
The four adults waited until the governess and the two eldest Bennet sisters had left the study and the door had been closed.
“Bennet, I have discussed this with Hattie and Phillips, none of us expect you to go into mourning. It will only confuse our older nieces, and there is no reason to disrupt their lives. As it is, I will only mourn for…” Gardiner explained how long he would mourn and why.
He received hearty congratulations from Bennet. “Entail or not, I will never marry again. The only woman I could ever love is married. Hattie, you can let it be known that I will never again honour an entrapment attempted on my person.” He turned to Gardiner. “I will save as much for my five girls as possible so that when I am called home, none of them who have not married will have any fear for their futures.” Next, he turned to Phillips. “We will draw up a new will in which I will name you and Gardiner as guardians if I go to my final reward before any of my girls reach their majority. I willneverleave them at the mercy of a Collins.”
Although his brothers-in-law did not agree with Bennet’s resolve not to marry again, each man held his peace.
Chapter 7
Longbourn 1802
Regardless of how many mothers had attempted to match their daughters with him, Bennet resisted any and all attempts. Thankfully, no one attempted to entrap him because Hattie had been very effective in spreading the gossip that he would never give in to a compromise again.
Within a year of his wife’s passing, some brazen fathers had taken the step of coming to confirm the gossip with Bennet. He had sent them away leaving no doubt that he was deadly serious in his resolve never to be forced to marry again. The upshot of their calls—which could only mean one of their daughters was being prepared to compromise him—was that he was never at home to the men or anyone in their families, and he refused any invitation from them. If he was approached by anyone he found objectionable at one of the few places he called, like Lucas Lodge, Bennet cut them, like he had the Kingstons. He had never liked the family, but then they tried to push their eldest daughter—who was barely fourteen—at him. Hence, he cut the connection permanently. It did not take long before the four families who he did visit, never invited any of those Bennet objected to—especially not the Kingstons—when an invite had been sent to Longbourn.
The only good which came out of the shameless attempt to discover his determination to not gratify a compromise was that the gossip was confirmed, and since then, no one who saw their daughter as the next mistress of Longbourn approachedhim.
In the six years since his wife’s death the thing which gave Bennet the most pleasure, even more than he derived from reading his books, was his gaggle of daughters.
Mrs Dudley was worth her weight in gold. She provided a complete education to his daughters, which aside from academic subjects included music, comportment, and how to behave with propriety. Thanks to her lessons, Bennet had five extremely well behaved daughters. Each had her own quirks, like teasing, impertinence, or high spirits, but those traits were never seen in public.
There were some areas in which the governess was not an expert, or she had taken the girls as far as she was able. Hence, it was no insult to her when masters began to come to Longbourn.
When Jane turned twelve, she asked for the ‘y’ to be dropped from her name, and was now thirteen. Lizzy, had reached the age of eleven in March past, and Mary would be ten in July upcoming. They were all three mainly being taught by masters, in addition to still having a few lessons with the governess. For Kate, who would be eight in September and Lyddie as she approached her sixth birthday in June, the lessons were almost exclusively with Mrs Dudley.
In addition to all of his daughters being very intelligent, each one had an area in which she excelled. Jane’s skill was in the still room; she could make tinctures and elixirs as well as Mr Jones. In fact, there were times when Jane assisted the apothecary and physician in one person. If that were not enough, she was expert in distilling the scented water she and her sisters preferred. When she had the ingredients, she could also produce the scent Bennet used.
Lizzy had a memory like Bennet had never seen before. He had read about those who could see or read something onceand recall every detail perfectly, but until he realised that Lizzy had that ability, he had never seen one with perfect recall. If that was not enough, his second daughter was a genius in maths and was the best of his daughters with languages.
Each of his daughters had chosen musical instruments they liked to play above all others—Jane the harp, Lizzy and Mary the pianoforte, Kate the cello, and Lyddie the violin—each one was on her way to being proficient. However, Mary excelled on the pianoforte. The music master who Bennet employed, one of the most renowned music masters in England at the time,Senore Alberto da Funti, spent two days at Longbourn every fortnight.Senorehad told Bennet that Mary was one of the most gifted students he had ever taught.
To ensure that both Lizzy and Mary would have a good pianoforte on which to play and practise, Bennet purchased a Stodart grand pianoforte for his daughters. The only problem was the parlour, where the current instrument was, did not have the space for the new one. Bennet’s solution was to build a proper music room onto the east side of the house. When completed, it had more than enough room for all the instruments his daughters enjoyed, including the Stodart. The upright pianoforte was left in the parlour it had always occupied.
Kate was a natural artist. She was so good that from the age of seven, upon Mrs Dudley’s recommendation, Bennet had added Kate to the lessons the art master gave to Jane, Lizzy, and Mary when he taught at Longbourn. No matter the medium—charcoal, pencil, water colours, or oil paints—Kate flourished. When she drew either human or animal, she could capture the mood of her subject perfectly. Given her proficiency, Bennet had the art master remain for two hours longer to give Kate lessons on her own.
Bennet had taught his three eldest daughters chess when they were eight. Kate would begin her lessons with himbeginning in October of that year. Bennet had thought he was humouring Lyddie when soon after her fifth birthday she had requested to sit in when he gave her older sisters lessons, or when possible, when actual games were being played. Rather than get tired of watching and listening, Lyddie had soaked in everything. That had become apparent when four months later, Lyddie had asked Bennet if she could play against him. He agreed and decided to play in a way which would allow her to win no matter how bad she was. After two moves Lyddie called him out for not playing properly, so Bennet did. She had played him to a draw! The only daughter better at chess than Lyddie at that point was Lizzy. But not for long. Two months later, Lyddie was beating anyone who challenged her.
Bennet played chess via post with Mr Robert Darcy, his acquaintance from his days at Cambridge. At first, their games were evenly split with each having the same number of wins and losses. Suddenly things changed, and Mr Darcy never won again. Bennet did not have the heart to tell Darcy that it was his five year old daughter who beat him.
Over the years since his wife had been lost in childbirth, Bennet had become even closer to Sir William Lucas and Johnathan Long. He was not a misanthrope, but he preferred not being active in local society. Invitations he consistently accepted were to the estates of the Lucases and Longs. It did not hurt that each family had girls who were very close to some or all of his daughters. The eldest Lucas daughter, Charlotte, who was eighteen, was a best friend to Jane and Lizzy. The intelligence of the latter two, more than made up for the age difference. The youngest Lucas, Maria, was six and very close to Kate and Lyddie.
