A few pushes later and Fanny delivered her third child. The newest Bennet did cry, but not with the volume and vigour of Lizzy.
Fanny looked at Hill and the midwife expectantly. Even with her doubts, she still hoped this was the son and heir she needed. Those dreams were shattered the instant she heard Mrs Hill speak.
“A healthy lass, Mrs Bennet,” Hill announced.
Her first instinct was to reject the girl and refuse to feed her, but the memories of what her husband would do intruded on her consciousness. It would not do to be sent out to a broken-down cottage for making her displeasure with the child known. As much as she hated the prospect, she would have to lie with her husband again in a few months. She would not try having him back in her bed too soon this time. After all, it did not help when she had done so. As far as she was concerned, the fault for the lack of a son was to be laid at her husband’s door. She knew not why, but it could not be her fault.
When Mrs Hill brought his newest daughter to him, Bennet became resigned to the fact he would go to his final reward and his estate would have Clem Collins as the master. He thanked God he had the foresight to plan for his children.
“What shall we name her, Master?” the housekeeper asked.“Mrs Bennet said you will give the mite a name.”
“She will be Mary Eloise for my late grandmothers. Mary was Mother’s mater’s name,” Bennet decided.“Please let me know if Mrs Bennet is able to suckle Mary; if not, we will find a wet nurse.”
As it happened, Fanny did not have any issues feeding Mary.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The letters flew between Lambton and Gracechurch Street, and towards the end of January, Gardiner was sure Maddie was the only woman he would ever marry. As much as he hated to propose via the post, there was no choice.
He held his breath, and the day before he was to leave to attend Lizzy’s first birthday at Longbourn, letters from Maddie and Lambert were received. Hers accepted his proposal with love in her heart, and Lambert bestowed his consent and blessing.
Floating in the clouds before he left for Hertfordshire, Gardiner wrote a letter to Maddie and her mother in which he informed them he would be able to be in Lambton the week before Easter so they could chuse the date. He also related that he would have the banns read for the next three weeks at the church he attended in London if they would do the same in Lambton.
It was an overjoyed and deeply in love man who began the twenty-mile journey to Bennet’s estate.
Chapter4
Like Jones had predicted, and as he had seen in his father, a few days before Lizzy’s birthday, Bennet seemed to improve; his colour was better, and he felt like he had more stamina.
Because of that, when as he had promised he would, Gardiner arrived the Friday before Lizzy’s birthday, Bennet looked about as well as he always had, which enabled Gardiner to relax significantly. Jane, who was two in August past, remembered herUnca Edwawd, and was very happy to see him. Lizzy came running into the drawing room, her little legs pumping and giggling at the top of her voice while Nurse tried to rein her in.
Lizzy stopped before the man she did not know, but he looked friendly and Janey liked him, so that was enough for the toddler.“Up!” she demanded as she stood before Gardiner with her little arms up.
Trying hard not to laugh, Gardiner indulged his middle niece. While he held her, she used her hands to explore his face, pushing and prodding here and there.“I am your Uncle Edward,” Gardiner told the mite.
“IWizzy,” she responded. Now that she had had her fun, she demanded,“Dun.”
Understanding she meant down, Gardiner obliged his niece.
“They are both delightful. Will I meet my newest niece soon?” Gardiner enquired.
“Your sister is feeding Mary now. Once Mary is sated, if she remains awake after Nurse changes her, she will bring Mary down for you to meet. She reached the one-month mark one day previously, and she is growing nicely. In character she seems to be more like Janey than Lizzy. She is a very calm babe,” Bennet related.
The second nurse brought Mary down once she was ready. When Gardiner held her, making sure to support her head, he was enchanted by this niece as well. She seemed to stare back at him with big blue eyes, already with long, delicate eyelashes, but hardly squirmed and did not cry. She too was blonde, and the little hair she had was short and a lighter shade than Jane’s. Her little eyebrows were the same colour as her hair. She had a big yawn, and her eyes began to close. Gardiner gently handed Mary back to her nursemaid.
After a nod from Bennet, the other nursemaid led the two older sisters out of the drawing room and up to the nursery.
“Your sister keeps to her chamber,” Bennet revealed after the girls were gone.“Her contrived nervous attacks were bad enough after Lizzy was born. Now she claims the shuddering, palpitations, and flutterings are so bad that she cannot leave her bedchamber. Since Mary was born, she has not even seen Mrs Lucas or any of the other few ladies to whom she is close.”
“Fanny has always been a hypochondriac. She imagines all sorts of aches and pains, not to mention maladies, like her imagined nervous attacks, which are not real.” Gardiner shook his head.“That you have been forced to have her as your wife these almost four years saddens me. Although I am not sorry for the birth of my nieces.”
“On that we agree. As much as I want a son, I am very happy with my daughters, notwithstanding your sister’s claims that I can have no use for female children.” Bennet looked off into the distance, at nothing in particular.‘If only I would be granted life to see them grow and mature into girls, young women, and then ladies. I will have to watch over them from heaven,’he thought. He decided not to spoil Lizzy’s birthday with talk of his impending end. He had written to Gardiner about his state, and he had made all of the plans he could to see that his girls would have the best life they could.
‘Perhaps Bennet is worried about his health for no reason,’Gardiner thought as he looked at his friend, investor, and brother-in-law.‘He looks as well as I have seen him. No matter, if I am needed, I am ready to take the girls and protect them.’
The two men discussed the health and growth of Bennet’s investments. Gardiner reported that he was gaining more investors from high society, and the more word spread of his returns, the more applicants to invest with him he had.
Not long after purchasing the books, Mr Darcy had returned with his brother-in-law, Lord Matlock. Once they had seen the returns Gardiner produced, they both invested modest sums—for them—of twenty thousand pounds each. As they watched their funds grow at close to ten per cent calculated on an annual basis, they told others, and so it went. Although Gardiner would not mention the names of his investors to anyone outside of the business, there was nothing to bar his investors from telling others. It was getting to the point that Gardiner would have to think about employing a manager and some other men, finally making the name of his main company accurate, as he would have associates.
