As she was his wife, Mrs Collins could not threaten him with anything, and legally he was allowed to do anything short of causing her death.
Agatha was not sure if what she heard from her maid was accurate or embellished after said woman spoke to one who worked at Longbourn. However, it was clear that her husband abused Mrs Collins, both physically and verbally.
“Gardiner told Mrs Collins that she was the architect of her own problems. That does not mean I do not abhor what that bully does to her; I do. Unfortunately, agree or disagree, it is legal,” Phillips mused. “Mr Collins’s antipathy towards Mrs Collins can be traced back to the day I read the will. First, he lost the money in the estate accounts, and then, the dowry he still believed belonged to his wife was not his either. That man is driven by avarice. I can only imagine what he would say to hear that before his death, Bennet had an income above three thousand pounds and under Collins, Longbourn earns less than one thousand annually.”
“Is that enough to keep the estate solvent?” Agatha enquired.
“Barely, they are living hand to mouth,” Phillips estimated. “There is certainly no profit, even with the reduced number of servants. The Collinses had to pay more than normal wages to entice anyone, even from Hatfield and St Albans, to work for them.” Phillips paused as he got a malicious gleam in his eye. “I will wager anything that Collins has not read the whole of the document governing the entail. If he drives the estate into bankruptcy, he will be removed as the master.”
“Who will gain the estate in that case?”
“Bennet’s daughters. As he is their legal guardian, Gardiner would hold Longbourn in trust until one of them marries or reaches five and twenty. If we reach seven years without knowing where the girls are, Gardiner will not ask the courts to declare them dead. He said, and I agree with him, that until there is proof they are no longer living, he will not do so,” Phillips explained.
“It is poetic justice that after both of them maligned Thomas and accused him of not being a true man as he could not sire a son that they have a daughter. I feel for her. Kitty is what I am told she is called, growing up in that house with a supremely selfish mother and a father who is a brutish bully. I can only pray that God will protect her.” Agatha turned to her husband and looked at him through her lashes. “Enough about the Collinses; it is time for us to be man and wife.”
Phillips could never deny his wife anything, least of all this.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
August 1793
On Monday, the twelfth day of the month, Maddie and Edward Gardiner were seated in their dining parlour, breaking their fasts together as they did every morning before the latter left the house to go to his offices.
Maddie noticed the melancholy on Edward’s countenance. “Edward, what is it? Where is my smiling, happy husband this morning?” she asked concernedly.
“It is Janey’s fourth birthday today. I try not to think of them every day, but I seldom succeed. It is especially poignant on a special day like today. Lizzy will be three in February, and Mary, who I only saw once as a babe, will be two in January 1794,” Gardiner explained. “I wish I knew they were well, but this not knowing if our nieces are alive, and if they are, where they are, is torture.”
She slid her one hand down to her flat belly. If only they had the hope of their own child already, but after almost a year and a half, nothing. Maddie prayed that He would grant them a babe sooner rather than later.
“Business is better than ever,” Gardiner continued. “Our life is wonderful, and I love you more than I have words to tell you. That reminds me, I apologise again that the business did not allow us to travel to visit your family in Lambton. It is our turn, as they were here for Easter.”
“With my father and brother running the book emporium, they more than understand your restrictions with regards to travel,” Maddie assured her beloved.
“By next summer, I will have my new manager trained in all facets of the business, and wewillgo to Lambton. By the by, speaking of that town, did I tell you that Lord Matlock and Mr Darcy said that when they are in London for the season of 1794 they will bring a friend, another earl, to invest with me?”
“Who is he?” Maddie queried.
“Lord Paul Carrington, the Earl of Holder. They would have introduced us before, but it seems the Carringtons have not been seen in London for a few years.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Carringtons were preparing to depart from Pemberley on the Monday after they had celebrated Jane’s fourth birthday. They had been at the Darcy’s estate since mid-June. The Fitzwilliams were to make for Snowhaven two days later.
It had become a tradition of sorts. Each year the three families would pass the summer at one of their main estates on a rotating basis. It had been Snowhaven the previous year, while the summer of 1794 would be enjoyed at Holder Heights. There were no blood ties between the Carringtons and the other two families, but thanks to the three girls, their connection, which had been one of very good friends, was now one of family.
All three girls were intelligent, but as she got older, it seemed that Lizzy had some special abilities. In a year Jane would begin with Jamey’s governess. It was almost certain Lizzy would join the lessons as well even though she would not be four yet.
In the last months, Jamey was taught by tutors rather than Mrs Healy. Said lady was overjoyed that her services would be needed with the Carringtons for years to come.
As young as she was, Lizzy was beginning to recognise letters and loved being around books. It was the reason she had been indulged over the summer and been taken to Lambert’s Book Emporium to look at books each time she had been in Lambton with her family.
Lizzy was the only Carrington girl the Lamberts met. If they thought it strange she was not referred to as Lady Elizabeth, they never said so, either in public or privately.
Chapter 12
March 1796
Lady Anne Darcy’s labours began just before midnight on the third day of March 1796.
