“Mrs Bennet, this babe is not a son; she is a second daughter,” Mrs Hill said calmly.
“No!” Fanny screeched.“You are wrong! I know it is a boy.”
Before Mrs Bennet could pull the mite roughly out of the housekeeper’s hands, Mrs Hill exposed that part of the girl.
“WHAT A DISOBEDIENT, WILFUL CHILD!” Fanny screamed.“Take it away from me; send it out to the cottages. I want nothing to do with it! It was sent by the devil to punish me!”
The caterwauling was heard by Bennet and Jones in the study. Both men made their way upstairs to see what all the yelling was about.
They found a distraught Mrs Hill in the hallway outside of the birthing chamber, looking like her equanimity had been greatly upset, with the new babe in her arms. She very quickly related what had occurred and how Mrs Bennet had reacted.
Bennet threw the door open, and it slammed against the wall. The bang had the desired effect on his wife. She closed her mouth; her eyes flew wide with shock. He knew he needed to use her selfishness against her to make her comply.
“Mrs Bennet, one more word about Elizabeth Rose being sent away from this house, and you will be sent to the cottage in the worst state of repairs!” Seeing thebabe’s colouring was very much like his mother’s, Bennet decided she would be given his late mother’s names. His mother was called Beth by all who knew her; hence, he would call this babe Lizzy.“Now, listen to me and listen well. You will feed Lizzy as she should be fed. I will employ an additional nurse to watch over her. If you so much as look at her the wrong way, never mind do anything to harm her, you will be out of this house with immediacy.” Bennet paused as he allowed his words to sink in.“I suppose I can report you to Mr Pierce for blasphemy if you prefer.”
“How did I blaspheme?” Fanny demanded.
“As has been explained to you before, it is God who chuses whether you will be granted a babe and what the sex of that babe will be. In accusing Lizzy of refusing to be born a son, you are questioning the Will of God. I think you will find that the Church of England takes a rather dim view of that, not to mention what our neighbours will say when they hear what you have said,” Bennet threatened. His words had the effect he had hoped they would. His wife lost all of her colour, and her pallor got decidedly white.“Remember, one word about our daughter chusing to be born a girl, or any of the other nonsense you were babbling, and I will involve Mr Pierce.”
Fanny understood enough to know that she would be an outcast if her husband made good on his threat, and she had no reason to believe that he would not. She admitted to herself that her fear of the entail caused her to say things about her newest daughter that she should not have said.“I will be a good mother to Elizabeth,” she promised resignedly.
As much as he did not trust his wife, Bennet knew that as he had planned, her innate selfishness would not allow her to do anything to Lizzy which would affect her life negatively. Satisfied that she would comply, Bennet left the chamber.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Ihab a sister?” Jane asked Bennet in the nursery the next morning.
“Yes, Janey, dear. You have a sister, and her name is Elizabeth Rose, but we will call her Lizzy,” Bennet replied.
“Ipway with Izzy?” Jane enquired excitedly.
“Lizzyis a small babe now. Like you after you were born, she needs to grow until she is a little older, and then I am sure she will want to play with you all the time. You will be a good big sister and look after Lizzy, will you not?” Bennet responded.
“Yes, Papa,” Jane insisted.“Iwook after Wizzy.”
“You are a good girl, Janey.” Bennet pulled his eldest into a hug.‘I hate that I will not be here to see what wonderful ladies my girls grow into, but that is why I made Gardiner the guardian of any of my children at the time of my death, or any born to my wife in the months after I leave the mortal world,’Bennet thought as he watched his darling girl return to play on the floor while Nurse watched her indulgently.‘This is why I had resolved not to marry. All I can do is make as many provisions for their futures as I can for as long as God allows me to remain alive.’
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Fanny demanded that Mr Bennet come to her even before she was churched, as she was determined to birth a son.
Hoping she would become with child sooner than on the two previous occasions, Bennet agreed and began going to his wife about a month after Lizzy had been born. The act was the one thing the two agreed upon; they both found it distasteful.
Chapter2
Bennet and his wife found another subject about which they both agreed. They were both well satisfied that by April 1791, Fanny had missed her courses again, meaning they could stop their marital relations.
After feeding Lizzy for a month, his wife had developed an infection. Mr Jones had confirmed it was in fact so, and she needed to cease feeding Miss Lizzy. Thankfully, a tenant’s wife was about to wean her son, so she had taken on the role of wet nurse. Bennet was aware that as his wife was not feeding Lizzy herself, she may becomeenceintesooner.
Mr Jones examined Mrs Bennet and reported that all of the signs pointed to her being in the family way again. His diagnosis was confirmed in the middle of June when the babe made its presence known.
Her husband’s words about blasphemy and the run-down cottage still rang in her ears, so this time, Fanny told her few friends that shehopedfor a son.
With each passing month, as she grew in size, Fanny became more fretful because of the size and movement this time, was very much like when she carried Jane. This led her to suspect that she was carrying another daughter. The worry made her have flutterings, shuddering, and palpitations as she imagined she was having attacks of nerves. With each episode ofnerves, she saw herself and her daughters starving in the hedgerows when her husband would spite her by dying.
She was so busy imagining all of the horrific possibilities that she had not noticed her husband’s grey-tinged pallor.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
