Chapter 22
Even though Thomas Bennet could be called one of the worst parents in the land, he had been correct in his recommendation for the placement of his former daughters. Mary and Kitty had come to live with the Gardiners barely four and twenty hours ago, and already there were little signs of a lightening of the burden the girls had carried, fighting for attention as they had to do at Longbourn.
Accepted fully and absolutely since coming to Netherfield Park, neither Mary nor Kitty had heard a disparaging word directed at themselves, or anyone else. Even their little brothers, who were not shy in expressing their preference would be for more brothers, were warm and loving to their new sisters.
Mary looked at herself in the mirror and hardly recognised the girl who looked back at her. Without her glasses, her hair in a coiffure which suited her, and in a light pink gown, she acknowledged that Lizzy had been correct. The girl she saw in the mirror was not plain; she was in fact pretty.
In Meryton, Lydia woke up to her new reality. Aunt Hattie was the one person who had never pandered to or indulged Lydia’s whims in any way. Lydia was intimidated by her aunt and was well aware none of the behaviours which she had used to garner her mother’s attention would work on the Phillipses.
As Bennet had stated, Lydia was not deficient in intelligence; she had suspended her good sense because she enjoyed it when her mother spoiled her and never checked her—no matter how outrageous her behaviour.
As she evaluated the reality of her situation, she saw her mother’s teachings had brought them nothing but pain—and in her case, near ruin. Jane was married to that oaf of a parson; her mother was locked in the local gaol; she and her sisters were no longer living at Longbourn.
Lydia Bennet could see unless she was willing to accept the changes in her life, she would never be happy again.
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The original visit to the Hills had been deferred due to Mrs. Bennet’s intrusion and the expansion of the family. The morning following her sisters joining the family, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, Richard, Tiffany, and Giana paid a call on the Hills at their cottage. The cottage was of a good size and Elizabeth was more than pleased Longbourn’s former housekeeper and butler would be able to live out their lives in comfort close to their local family, the Nichols, who occupied the adjacent cottage.
“Miss Lizzy, how well you look!” Mrs. Hill said as she opened her arms for her favourite among the five girls who had grown up at their former place of employment. It was then Mrs. Hill spied Mary and Kitty. “Miss Mary, Miss Kitty?” Mrs. Hill asked questioningly.
It did not take long for Elizabeth and her sisters to explain what had happened and why the third and fourth Bennet sisters were also wards of the Gardiners. Lydia’s residing with the Phillips was also explained.
When they heard about the fate awaiting their former mistress, neither of the Hills was surprised that Mrs. Bennet would be committed to an institution for the insane. Now that they were no longer employed at Longbourn, the Hills could express themselves freely; they opined they thought their former mistress had been unhinged for some years.
The three cousins were introduced and then the Hills invited everyone to tea. “Mrs. Hill, I have a question,” Elizabeth asked after the tea and some of Mrs. Hills shortbread had been served. “When you returned my dress to me the day I was evicted from the estate, how did my ten pounds become one hundred and sixty?”
“My former master summoned me to his study and he gave me the banknotes for you,” Mrs. Hill related. “He was aware I used to hide your money.” Elizabeth did not react to the news but nodded stoically.
“Speaking of money, thanks to my father, Mr. Gardiner, I have some funds. Before you refuse, I want to give you this as a token of my appreciation for the protection you both offered me at Longbourn. Without you, my life there would have been unbearable.” Elizabeth handed a bank draft to Mrs. Hill who gasped and handed it to her husband.
“Miss Lizzy, you know there was nothing we did in expectation of reward, do you not?” Mr. Hill stated as he proffered the bank draft back to Elizabeth.
“Of that I am well aware. I am doing this because I want to, not because you expected it. The fact you do not, makes it all the more right that I do this,” Elizabeth stated assuredly.
“But, two thousand five hundred pounds…” Mr. Hill started to say.
“I promise you; I have more than sufficient funds and want to gift this money to you. I want you to be free to travel to see your children and grandchildren. More importantly, you will be able to spoil the little ones without having to worry about money,” Elizabeth insisted.
The Hills looked at one another and communicated silently, as those married for close to forty years could do. “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Mrs. Hill said, speaking for them both.
The remainder of their visit was spent with Elizabeth regaling the Hills with how she had lived since she last saw them. More than an hour later, the six made their way back to the manor house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On Friday morning, the constable arrived at his office and as he did every morning went to check on the prisoner. What he discovered was alarming, to say the least. The man who had been on watch overnight was lying on the floor in the room in which Mrs. Bennet had been locked, bleeding from his head, and moaning.
He must have unlocked the door to deliver her morning repast and from what the constable could see, she had struck his man over the head with her ceramic water jug. The shards of the broken jug were all over and the plate and the food he was carrying were strewn on the floor where they must have fallen when the man fell.
He sent a boy to Lucas Lodge in all haste to summon the magistrate, Sir William Lucas. The first man who arrived for work that morning was dispatched to Netherfield Park with a note to warn Mr. Gardiner of the woman’s escape.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After she hit the jailer over the head, Fanny Bennet had slipped out of the building that housed the gaol. Thankfully, there were few people around that early in the morning. She slipped between two buildings, making her way to the edge of Meryton.
That girl who cursed her was the cause of all of Fanny’s troubles, so she was bound and determined to make Miss high-and-mighty Lizzy pay for her crimes. She knew the old dower house at Longbourn was unused.
The roof had collapsed some years ago and her weak husband decided not to devote any funds to repairing it. The entrance level remained somewhat habitable from what Fanny remembered. She knew she must hide until everyone relaxed their guard, and then she would strike. She would rid the world of that girl who should have been a son had she not been so wilful.
