Before the Lamberts left London, the two men had agreed to correspond about issues of mutual business interests. In the almost two months since they had left, Gardiner was in receipt of two letters, which he had replied to without delay.
He had, of course, asked afterallof Lambert’s family, and any mention of Miss Lambert was a boon to Gardiner’s heart. He was sure she was the lady hewanted to court, and now he only needed to work out how to do so with the over one-hundred-mile distance between them. His thoughts were diverted when his head clerk handed him an epistle from Bennet. Gardiner broke the seal and began to read.
6 December 1791
Longbourn
Gardiner,
I have taken the precaution I told you I would take of leaving a copy of my final wishes with Phillips.
There is no reason not to use his legal services, as he carries no blame for what his late wife and your sister did. You know what he came close to doing once he discovered what they had done.
Perhaps I will use Mr Crawley from time to time (as long as I am in the mortal world) if anything he worked on for me needs adjustment, but Phillips will do the rest.
You remember I told you that I wanted to move forward with Miss Morris and why I could not, do you not? I ask because the day before the date of this letter, your brother-in-law requested and was granted a courtship with Agatha. I offered him my congratulations and best wishes for their shared future, but I would be lying if I told you that my heart was not hurt by this.
As it was my decision, I do not hold ill feelings for either of them. The pain I feel was self-induced, so I would be a hypocrite if I held anything against Phillips.
As she approaches her lying-in, your sister seems very fretful, but she has not told me what it is that bothers her.
As you are fully aware, we do not have that kind of marriage where we share our thoughts and feelings with one another. My advice to you, as your older brother, is that when you find the one you cannot live without, make sure you are truly compatible, and she is not just a pretty face. Of course, whatever you do, guard against an entrapment.
Enough advice; I will climb down from my high horse.
On a more pleasant subject, will you join us for Christmastide? Knowing how antagonistic your sister is to you, I will understand if you chuse to remain in London.
There is much to see in your nieces. Janey is as sweet as she has ever been and is so pleased that Lizzy, at the grand old age of 10 months, has begun to say some words. In addition, I swear that she is getting ready to walk. She is smaller than Janey was at that age, but Lizzy is so very strong.
Her eyes are always watching as if she were taking everything in. It could be my own desires, but I swear she is going to be a very intelligent little girl. Do you remember I wrote to you and informed you that before she reached the 6-month mark, Lizzy’s eyes became the same emerald-green as my late mother?
Mother was a petite woman, and I believe Lizzy will be as well.
Janey is a very pretty young girl (your sister agrees because Janey looks like her), but I believe Lizzy will be just as beautiful (my wife disagrees because Lizzy does not have the same looks as her), so when they get older, if I am still here, I will need to keep the young, admiring men away from them. They will have beauty, and thanks to your skill at investing, a respectable fortune.
Regards,
Bennet
Gardiner was pleased at Bennet’s decision to work with Phillips. He knew what Bennet referred to regarding his health, but as far as he was aware the man was still hale and healthy.
He was waiting for a reply to the last missive he posted to Lambert, and he was hoping that an invitation to spend part of Christmastide with the Lamberts in Lambton would be forthcoming. His businesses would be closed from the Thursday before Christmas until Tuesday, the day after Boxing Day, and he trusted his head clerk to keep everything in order if he was away from London for a few days either side of the time things would not be open.
He would wait until the next letter from Lambert before replying to Bennet about whether he would be going to Longbourn. If not then, he would find a time soon enough because Gardiner very much enjoyed spending time with his nieces. Especially now with all Bennet had told about Jane and Lizzy, as the latter approached her first birthday.
As far as Gardiner was concerned, Bennet limiting Fanny’s time with the girls was a good thing. Unless it benefited her, his sister was not interested.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As her time to deliver her babe approached, Fanny Bennet’s worries that she was not carrying a son were heightened. As she drove herself to worry, she ignored the fact that when she had carried Lizzy, she had been larger, and the girl had been far more active than Jane. She forgot that she had been convinced that because of the difference to when she carried Jane, she had firmly believed she now carried a son.
Had she been a rational thinker, she would have realised that the amount of activity while she carried the babe did not portend anything. But Fanny was anything but sensible, so she drove herself to distraction with worry.
Her husband had shared the letters he had received from Cousin Collins after first Jane’s and then Lizzy’s births. He had gloated that God had not granted his cousin a son as, in his words, it was right and just that Longbourn devolved to his line. He adjured them not to have any more children. Even with her worries that she carried another daughter, Fanny was pleased that contrary to Mr Collins’s instructions they were soon to have another child, and how she prayed that no matter what, it would be the son and heir they needed.
Surely God could not be so cruel as to force her to endure Mr Bennet’s attentions again after this babe was born and not a son, was He?
Her worries notwithstanding, until the babe was born, there was still a chance it would be the son for which she prayed.
