As Bennet considered his options, he again rang for Mr Hill and set him the task of finding Lady Longbourn for her to join them in the study. It was less than a five-minute wait before the lady joined the three men. Bennet relayed all of the facts to his wife, who was distressed for Helen having to mourn a second parent so soon after the first. Just before she was about to speak, Jacobson requested that he address them before they made a final decision. Both Bennets agreed.
“Until she met Lydia, Helen has never bonded with another girl. As much as I understand that my request could be seen as in imposition on your family, as a loving father I have to try and situate Helen where I know that she will be in the company of her best friend in the world and a loving family, though it is not a foregone conclusion that you will agree. You could choose not to, and yes, I would understand your refusal as this is an extraordinary request. In that case I would have to have her brother, who is barely able to look after himself, be her guardian.
“Please, Lord and Lady Longbourn, I do this out of love for my Helen. She resembles her mother so much in looks and character, so I know that she will never give you trouble, especially after a year at Dark Hollow where she grew from an incorrigible, ill-behaved young girl in her grief, to the young lady that you see now.” He held his breath as he watched the Earl and Countess confer with their heads close together. After a short while it was the Countess that spoke.
“Even had Helen not helped our Lydia at Dark Hollow the way she did and been a friend and sister to her, we would have agreed to help you without reservation. Yes, Mr Jacobson, we will accept your daughter as our ward and will make sure that your son knows that he will be welcomed in the bosom of our family at any time for advice or comfort, even once he is independent and past his majority. Helen will be raised as one of our daughters, and the fact that the family name will be Jacobson and not Bennet will in no way influence the way that she will be treated and accepted. I say that knowing my other daughters will easily love another sister, and we were just lamenting that we were losing at least one so soon. I do, however, want to offer my condolences for your family,” Fanny offered quietly and with all the truth of her meaning easy to read.
In his reflection, Bennet marvelled anew that Jane felt as deeply as her mother, and more, but had learned to hide it behind her mask of serenity so effectively. It was Kitty that closely resembled his Fanny, this ability for such perfect compassion, allowing herself to commiserate without the immediate need tofix, as their Lizzy attacked such emotions. Sometimes the greatest comfort was someone that could share your pain without requiring a stream of words to force it away. That thought faded as he recalled what had come after.
With tears of appreciation for her words, and feeling as if the weight of a millstone had lifted from his shoulders, Jacobson thanked the Bennets, the quiver in his voice betraying the depth of feelings with which it was offered. Bennet respected his feelings and had responded with a nod. A gentleman soon learned that thanks spoken a hundred times could not equate the depth offered in this one Jacobson had rendered. The documents were signed and then witnessed by Phillips. Now that the deed was done, Jacobson could offer the particulars: Helen’s dowry was seven thousand five hundred pounds, and there was a legacy of a thousand pounds that would be Tim’s when he turned five and twenty. Jacobson handed two letters to Bennet, one to be given to Helen when he had the unfortunate need to inform her of the fact that she was now their ward, and the second to be handed to her once he had left this world to join his beloved wife.
Jacobson, perhaps cowardly, could not face the look that he was sure that he would see on Helen’s countenance if he told her of his illness, impending death, and the guardianship. He hugged his daughter tightly, kissed her on both her cheeks and her forehead, and left her with instructions to enjoy herself and her time with her sister-like friend.
As Bennet prepared to have Helen summoned to his study to make the painful revelation, he remembered how Jacobson had looked at his waving daughter for the last time until his carriage made a turn and was lost from view. He asked Mr Hill to summon his wife, youngest daughter, and Miss Jacobson to the study so Helen would have their support.
The ladies seated themselves on the settee. Helen had a Bennet either side of her. At first, she was concerned that she had upset someone and that she was to be sent home, but soon she understood that she was, in fact home. As gently as he could deliver such devastating news, Bennet told her about the conversation with her father, the ramifications of his illness, and of his impending demise.
As much as she wished that her father was there to make the revelation himself, she understood why he could not. Some news was too painful to impart oneself. Helen’s hands were gripped firmly by those on either side of her as her silent tears streamed down her cheeks and fell on her gown covered legs as her heart broke for her father, but soon Fanny could not fail to hug her sixth daughter, holding tighter when Helen sank into her comfort. When she pulled back, she was better for having allowed her grief and accepted Bennet’s handkerchief, giggling when he winked at her and pulled out another and handed it to his wife, then laughing when he winked at her again and pulled out a third and handed it to his Lydia. His moment of levity had allowed all his ladies to smile as they collected themselves.
“Our father is quite incorrigible. You will keep him, anyway, will you not?” Lydia asked hopefully, and Helen could not help but feel wanted, not just accepted as a ward.
“Do you have any questions for us, Helen?” Fanny asked gently.
“W-w-what am I to call you and Lord Longbourn now?” she asked quietly as she looked up at the Countess.
“My dear,” Fanny hugged her in again, “in all but name you are one of our daughters. It is up to you, you may call me Mother, as you can have only one Mama, or Aunt Fanny, whichever feels right. The same for Thomas, either Father or Uncle Thomas,” Fanny promised before letting her go again.
“Helen,” Lydia turned to her friend as her friend turned toward her. Lydia took both Helen’s hands in hers, “I am so very sorry that your papa is sick, but we are to be sisters indeed and not just in feeling. I have thought of you as my slightly older sister for a long time, and now you are.” Lydia’s arms replaced her mother’s as she hugged her newest sister and best friend.
“For now, I think I will be more comfortable with Aunt and Uncle,” Helen admitted and both the Earl and Countess nodded. It was as they expected, but they hoped soon she would know she was as loved as the rest of their daughters and would feel more comfortable with the idea of calling them Mother and Father. “When will I see Tim? I so feel for him that he is to have all of the responsibility of running Janet’s Well at such a young age.”
“He is required to spend as much time as possible learning how the estate runs from your father,” Bennet explained gently. “His education will require his total immersion. Once we hear that your papa has gone to join your mama in heaven, we will make sure that we go to Tim so you can condole together. For Tim’s sake and yours, I pray that the event is not too soon in happening.”
“I did not have a chance to say goodbye to Papa,” Helen said as the tears renewed themselves as thoughts and regrets cascaded in her mind.
Bennet reached into his desk drawer and withdrew the first of the two sealed letters for his ward that he was holding for her father. “Before he departed, your papa requested that I hand this to you after we informed you of his illness and your becoming our ward. Once you have read it, you are free to write to your father and brother as much as you desire. I believe we fully stock the desks in your sitting rooms weekly, but if we need to buy the whole of Meryton out of ink and paper and make a cart’s full of delivery for more, we will,” he vowed, gaining giggles from all of his girls, allowing them each to take a breath before the next, and possibly the hardest part of the interview. He handed the missive to Helen who held it if as if it were the most precious gem in the world.
“Is there anything else, Papa?” Lydia asked, knowing that Helen would want to go read the letter as quickly as she could as well.
“Before you go, Helen, there is but one more thing to address. Lydia just received a new wardrobe as a gift for doing so well at your school and I refuse to treat my daughters differently. We will have a few gowns made up here as we have a wedding and some family events. When next in Town, your new wardrobe will be ordered for you. As you are not out, you will receive the same colours allowed ladies on the verge of becoming young women. Keep in mind that even when you and Lydia do have your come outs, we will not push either of you to marry, nor are we hoping you will leave us too soon. If you never marry, we will be glad to keep you with us all of our days. You will not be allowed to pay for your wardrobe or writing supplies and the like, as they are for us expected and our pleasure to provide. Additionally, you get ten pounds a month for pin money for you to use or save as you will,” he nodded when her jaw dropped.
“But that is too much!” Helen protested.
“I do not play favourites with my daughters nor do I treat any as less than. Do not ask me to. Those parents that do one or the other have children that end up growing up with resentment,” he explained. Helen nodded. When said like that it made perfect sense as five, no six daughters in one house would easily cause such. “Now you are free to leave or read it here, as you wish,” he said gently.
“We are here or will come to you as you desire,” Fanny added.
Helen thanked her new aunt and uncle and left the study hand-in-hand with her new younger sister to go read her letter from her Papa that was worth more than all of the gold in the world to her. Once they had left, Bennet informed his wife that he would increase Helen’s dowry tenfold to five and seventy thousand pounds. The money would be invested in Gardiner and Associates so that by the time that she married, if she so chose, it would be substantially more. She was gifted a one percent stake in the company out of Bennet’s remaining five and twenty percent so she would never need to worry about money again for as long as she lived. Tim’s legacy was increased to fifty thousand pounds with a one-half percent stake in Gardiner and Associates. The stakes gifted to the two remaining Jacobsons had but one restriction, that they could not be sold unless to one of the Bennets or Gardiners. Dividends were theirs to do with as they willed.
“That is perfect. I wonder if by the time we meet Timothy he will be our fourth son that we get to bring into our family?” Fanny teased, and after so long with not having to worry about the entail, she and Thomas both began to laugh that softened many formerly painful memories.
The new sisters repaired to their shared sitting room. Lydia asked Helen if she wanted the solitude to read her letter, but Helen shook her head so Lydia settled into a chair and opened her current book. As she did, she smiled to herself, wondering what her former self would have thought if she had glimpsed into the future and saw this moment. She would have denied it and all she could say to herself now was ‘Yes, Lydia, I read books!’ Lydia kept an eye on Helen but focused on her book so she was ready to support her sister, but allowed her to take things at her own pace.
Helen, after a time of just staring at her Papa’s broad strokes that formed her name on the outside of the missive, finally turned it over and broke the seal on the thick communication. It contained two letters, one from Tim and one from her Papa. She read Tim’s first.
Janet’s Well
Surrey
