Prologue
Meryton, Hertfordshire June 1788
As Thomas Bennet recited his vows to the woman he was being forced to marry, Frances Gardiner, he knew something she did not, but he dutifully said what he had to say.
“I, Thomas Henry Bennet, take thee, Frances Jane Gardiner, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, insicknessand inhealth, to love and to cherish, ‘til death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth,” he repeated.
Frances Gardiner, called Fanny by all who knew her, had chased Bennet since she had been fifteen, determined to catch him, and he had been just as committed to not being caught by her. Her father, Elias Gardiner, was the local solicitor in Meryton, and Miss Gardiner was determined to be the next mistress of Longbourn. The Bennet estate was a mile east of the market town of Meryton and second only to Netherfield Park in size and income. Bennet was aware that had Morris, who owned the former estate, been single, Miss Gardiner would have set her sights on him.
It was his bad luck that shortly after he came out of mourning for his mother in May of the current year—his father had been gone these five years—he had not been paying attention when Fanny, who was not seventeen yet, had engineered a compromise in Meryton’s main street, right outside of her father’s law office. Her older sister, Hattie Phillips—she had married her father’s law clerk, Frank Phillips, a few months previously—assisted her younger sister and told her father that Bennet had accosted his youngest.
Unfortunately, the only Gardiner with sense and integrity, Edward—he was between Hattie and Fanny in age—was at Oxford busy with his final year at the university. None of the other people who had been close to them had noticed exactly what had occurred. Gardiner demanded Bennet marry his youngest daughter, and Bennet had not seen a way out.
Given what he knew of his health, Bennet had not planned to marry, thus allowing Longbourn to pass to a distant cousin, Clem Collins. Collins was a miserly, unintelligent, barely literate brute. Thanks to the entail on the estate in favour of heirs male, he would be the next master of Longbourn. Bennet would no longer be on the mortal coil to see Collins run Longbourn into the ground, so there was nothing he could do to stop it. The estate had been in the hands of a Bennet for some years after the Magna Carta was signed, so it saddened him to think that he would be the last Bennet at Longbourn. In his mind, it was not fair to marry a woman knowing that he would not be alive for many more years. He had fallen in love with Morris’s daughter, Agatha, but Bennet had never pursued her because he was not willing to marry and leave a woman he cared for a widow after a few short years.
Like his father before him, Thomas Bennet had an ailment of the heart which could end his life at any time but certainly within a few years. His determination not to marry had been formed when he had seen the anguish his mother—Elizabeth Rose Bennet—had displayed after his sire’s death. Over the five years after losing her husband, Bennet’s mother withdrew more and more into herself until she was taken home in November 1787. Bennet believed that his mother had died of a broken heart, which only firmed his decision not to marry.
But then, fate in the dishonourable form of Fanny Gardiner and her older sister had intervened.
The truth was that Bennet could have refused to marry her. Her father would have blustered, but that was all he could have done. She would have been ruined, and he could have walked away. Because he cared nothing for her, it made it easier to agree to the marriage. Perhaps before he was called home to join his parents in heaven, he would sire a son, a son he prayed would not suffer from the ailment both he and his father did. In that case, some good could come out of this, and the Bennet name would live on at the estate.
If there was no son before Bennet was called home, he would die with the satisfaction of knowing that Collins would throw Fanny out of Longbourn as soon as he could.
In the month since the compromise, Bennet’s opinion that Fanny Gardiner was mean of understanding, very selfish, vain, a shrew, and ill-suited to be the mistress of an estate was confirmed. The only Gardiner who had apologised to Bennet for his sisters’ actions had been Edward Gardiner, who had graduated from Oxford at the end of May.
Bennet’s soon-to-be wife’s recitation of her vows brought him out of his reverie.
“I, Frances Jane Gardiner, take thee, Thomas Henry Bennet, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey ‘til death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my troth.”
The rest of the ceremony passed by in a blur, and all too soon, Bennet was married to Fanny Gardiner, except now her family name was Bennet.
Morris had stood up for him, while Fanny had her co-conspirator, Hattie Phillips, as her matron of honour. The four made their way to the registry, where they signed the register. It was irrevocable now; Bennet knew he had been sentenced to a form of purgatory with the wife he had, but he cheered himself that it would be over soon enough.
His wife had demanded her father provide a sumptuous feast for the wedding breakfast in the Gardiner home attached to the law office. The one thing she had not considered was that her husband would refuse to attend. Bennet had not made a secret of the fact he was being forced to marry. One thing he knew was any denizens of the area would be sure of that fact when he was absent from his own wedding breakfast. That would not be the only surprise Fanny was to be gifted that day. Bennet could imagine her reaction when she discovered the lack of allowance stipulated in the settlement, or the other provisions he would have pleasure enumerating—if her father did not inform her first—when she arrived at Longbourn after the meal.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“How can my husband disrespect me so? He should be here!” Fanny Bennet screeched as she stamped her slippered foot on the rug.
The fact that she was making a spectacle of herself in full view of the guests seemed to escape her. It was noticed by her brother. Edward Gardiner gripped Fanny by the arm and steered her out of the large room, that when the walls were back in place, was a parlour, dining parlour, and sitting room.
“Edward, unhand me!” Fanny commanded shrilly.
Ignoring her ranting, he pushed his sister into his father’s offices attached to the house. Before Edward could respond to Fanny, his father, older sister, and brother-in-law entered. Thankfully, Phillips—the last one in—closed the door.
“What is the meaning of this?” Gardiner demanded.“This scene was very embarrassing for our family!”
“It was Edward’s fault…” Fanny ceased speaking when her brother interjected.
“I was stopping you from making a spectacle of yourself and all of us,” Edward growled.“First, you entrap Bennet,” He looked to his older sister,“You lie for Fanny,” then he turned his eyes to his sire,“and you, knowing what your daughters planned, supported them and made a good and intelligent man marry Fanny.” Edward paused as he calmed his temper.“Father, did you bother to show Fanny the settlement that Bennet presented to you?”
Gardiner looked away. Everything Edward said was true. He had gone along with what Fanny and Hattie planned because he needed to have Fanny out of his house. She was just too much, and she had been so ever since he had lost his Jane some three years past. He wondered how his son knew about the settlement. Gardiner was certain that his head clerk, Phillips, would not have told him.
Before her father could respond, Fanny processed her brother’s words about the settlement.“What about the marriage contract? You made sure I will get one hundred pounds allowance per quarter, did you not? Longbourn can afford that and much more,” Fanny enquired.
“Ahem, no, Fanny. Mr Bennet would not agree to that amount. At least he agreed that if you survive him, your dowrymayreturn to you, but while he lives, the interest will be his,” Gardiner revealed.
“How much!” Fanny stamped her foot again, arms akimbo.
