“I agree!” Lydia cried immediately.
“You hold your tongue, miss!” Mrs Bennet exclaimed, though already she had lost much of her influence over the discussion. Nobody seemed greatly concerned any longer by either her nerves or her objections. She looked desperately from one face to another, uncertain how serious the matter truly was, though evidently fearing the worst.
“And what would you do for him?” Mr Bennet asked.
“I could walk with him every day and show him around,” Lydia answered, and Kitty nodded approvingly beside her as she almost always did.
“I could move into the little room beneath the stairs and give him my chamber,” Mary added, still timidly.
The expression upon Mr Bennet’s face gradually changed from curiosity to composed gravity.
“And you, Lizzy? Jane?”
“Whatever is necessary,” Elizabeth answered, looking towards Jane, who nodded immediately.
“So, if I understand correctly, all five of you agree that Uncle Thomas should come to Longbourn?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth answered on behalf of her sisters, and cheerful smiles appeared amongst them all, though none ventured to look towards Mrs Bennet, who seemed almost breathless with indignation.
“You are all mad,” she said to her husband. “To involve the girls in such a decision! I remain entirely against it.”
“Obviously, madam, but there are six of us in favour of Uncle Thomas’s request,” Mr Bennet replied, smiling again at the evident willingness of his daughters. “Nobody shall be asked to surrender her chamber, as we intend to build two new rooms upon the eastern terrace, where we had once planned that gazebo. The structure shall now be somewhat more substantial. He will have a separate entrance and complete privacy. As for the daily meals, madam…I do not imagine we shall become poor merely because one additional plate appears upon the table.”
“What do you know?” Mrs Bennet murmured, though it was already clear that the battle had been lost.
She was not accustomed to defeat. In most situations, her nerves, or at least her opinions, prevailed. Rarely did her husband impose his will, but when he did, further resistance generally proved useless. Mrs Bennet understood better than anybody when persistence might succeed and when it was wiser to yield.
“I do not count in this house,” she said, though her voice had softened considerably from its earlier fury.
“You count a great deal, madam. We rely upon you greatly and appreciate all your efforts, and I am certain Uncle Thomas shall do the same. If memory serves, he is a very gallant man. My dears, I shall answer your uncle immediately, and each of you may write him a letter of invitation in your own way. I wish him to feel welcome amongst us all.”
Chapter 2
By the following week, a team of three men began the work under Mr Bennet’s close supervision. He had even made sketches of the two rooms to be built upon the eastern terrace of the house, where a pavilion had originally been intended.
“There will be a parlour with glass doors leading to the garden, but it will also be connected to the house.”
Mr Bennet was so enthusiastic about the plan that he spent most mornings outdoors supervising the works, to Mrs Bennet’s continual exasperation. “I dreamt that once the girls were grown up, we would slow down from this busy life we have had for the last twenty or more years. But no!”
Mr Bennet merely smiled at her complaint, not at all provoked by his wife’s whims. “My dear, he is not a child or one of those elderly gentlemen who spend all day in bed. He is active. Why, merely to come home, he has had to cross Africa. I assure you that such an endeavour is nothing like a day at church. It is full of dangers and discomforts.”
Their only subject of conversation lately had been that uncle, yet seeing how interested her friends were in him, Mrs Bennet had secretly begun to enjoy the change in their daily life.She finally accepted that Mr Bennet was right. One more plate at table was not such an imposition after all. As for the rest, she would make him understand that neither she nor her maids were at his disposal. If the girls wanted him there, they could take care of him. Besides, it might prove interesting to introduce him to her friends.
Miss Cavendish, an old maid living comfortably on the main street in Meryton, appeared somewhat interested in the gentleman. “Perhaps he will be dressed in one of those long gowns that you see African people wearing in books,” she said, far from disturbed by such a possibility.
“I am sure Miss Cavendish will be the first to make Mr Thomas Bennet’s acquaintance,” said Mrs Phillips whilst strolling with her sister beyond curious ears, “and she will make a great effort to attract his notice. I think she is even ready to buy herself a husband.”
Miss Cavendish’s circumstances were well known. She was the sole heiress of a prosperous trader.
“Well, my dear, in that case, she may have him for nothing!” Mrs Bennet replied, and they both laughed. “However, when did you ever see a gentleman, even an older one, choose a fifty-year-old maiden as a wife? They always look for younger wives. Still, I agree it could be the best solution. He could stay a while at Longbourn and then marry and live with a wife who would take care of him.”
“Then let us think of a suitable wife for him.”
And patiently, having an entire morning at their disposal, the two sisters reviewed the unmarried ladies of Meryton and its surroundings.
For once, Mrs Bennet returned home in an excellent mood and asked Mr Bennet in a warm tone when Uncle Thomas was due to arrive.
Mr Bennet stared at his wife over his spectacles, as he was wont to do when surprised. “In three weeks. I have had a message from him to say that he is in Europe and heading for this country.”
