Page 24 of Her Favourite Daughter

It did not take Ladies Elaine and Anne much to convince Lady Amelia to travel with them, first to Pemberley for Giana’s fourth birthday celebration and then on to London.

It was as if the whole of Hornby Castle seemed to breathe again once Her Grace decided to continue on with her life and not sit and waste away in her bedchamber.

As for Amelia, she felt a new sense of purpose and swore to herself and her late husband that she would live to find Bethie. No trace of a body had been found in almost eight years, which she would take as a positive sign that her daughter was alive, and she would be reunited with her one day. Bethie would reach the age of eight on the day after Giana’s birthday.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Elizabeth Bennet felt very old now that she was eight. She was pouting a little because, as much as Mamma and Papa would grant any of her or her siblings’ requests, there were some things on which they would not be moved.

The thing Elizabeth was lamenting was that her request to walk or ride out on her own had been rejected by both of her parents, and no amount of pleading to Grandmama Beth or Aunt Penelope to intercede had changed their minds. In fact, rather than being allowed to go ramble or ride on her own, or even with her brother or sisters, Papa had employed several men to act as what he had called ‘footmen-guards’.

Papa had contacted Uncle Edward in London and asked him to find eight men who could fill the roles of protectors of the five Bennet children. Uncle Edward had found men who were about to join the Royal Marines. They had told him it was the only employment they could find. Instead, Uncle Edward had offered them positions on behalf of Papa for a lot more pay and far less danger than they would have had in the Royal Marines.

What Elizabeth did not know was that her parents had employed men to protect their children from harm in case anyone learnt of their true financial positions. They wanted to make sure that none of their children were ever targets for kidnappers or, in later years, fortune hunters. With the growth of the dowry accounts for Elizabeth and her sisters, there was a rather significant amount in the account. The increases were thanks to Uncle Edward’s skill at investing and Aunt Penelope adding a significant portion of her fortune to the account for the dowries.

All eight men were large and strong, but two of them made the others look small. Their names were John Biggs and Brian Johns. As much as Elizabeth chafed at the restrictions of never leaving the house to walk or ride without one of the men escorting her, she had come to like the two huge men quite a lot. She called them the ‘gentle giants’.

Even when she and Mamma went for their walks in the wooded areas, one of the men trailed behind them. As her mamma did not seem to object to the escorts, Elizabeth supposed it was not so very bad. Mamma was the only Bennet who did not ride.

When each Bennet child turned five, she, or in James’s case, he, was presented with a pony. At eight, they graduated to cobs, and next year when Janey turned twelve, she would be given a gelding or a mare. Elizabeth was very excited, as she had been presented with a cob on her birthday in February. Now she and James could race their cobs. He had received his in May the previous year. Elizabeth loved winning, but only if it was fairly done; she refused to cheat to gain what she wanted.

The last one to receive a pony would be Kitty in August of the current year. The older three Bennet sisters were training to ride side-saddle; however, on Longbourn’s land they were all permitted to ride astride. For that purpose, they had special split-skirt riding habits made for them to preserve their modesty.

Riding that way enabled the three eldest Bennet children to have their races. Mary had been riding a pony since April of the previous year, so she did not partake in the races…yet.

Chapter 9

1803

Before Elizabeth turned twelve, Longbourn’s governess Mrs Taylor, requested a meeting with the master and mistress of the estate; they met in the study.

“Mrs Taylor, I hope this meeting is not to tell us you are to resign your position,” Fanny stated somewhat nervously.

“No, Mrs Bennet, that is not the purpose of my request to see you and Mr Bennet. It is regarding Miss Lizzy, and it is nothing bad,” Mrs Taylor assured. She knew how much her employers loved their children, especially their third child. She saw them relax at her statement. “The truth is that I have reached the limits of what I am able to teach her. You know how intelligent she is, not to mention that she has perfect recall. It is not that she just regurgitates what she has read, but her mind is so sharp that she analyses what she has in her memories and can apply it logically when she needs to do so.”

“What do you propose?” Bennet asked.

“Allow her to join Master James’s lessons with his tutors. She will easily be able to assimilate what is being taught. Also, you may want to look at adding more masters than the music and art masters who come to work with the girls,” Mrs Taylor suggested. “It is not just for Miss Lizzy. Miss Bennet, as I believe you are aware, loves maths and is extremely good at them. I believe she would enjoy being taught more involved maths.”

“So it is more than an ability to add columns of numbers at speed and identify errors others miss?” Bennet enquired.

“Yes, Sir, Miss Bennet loves all kinds of mathematics,” Mrs Taylor said.

“What of Mary and Kitty?” Bennet queried. “Have you identified any special abilities as you have with Jane and Lizzy?”

“Indeed, I have. Miss Mary does not have perfect recall like Miss Lizzy, but she is a very intelligent young lady and excels at the pianoforte. Miss Kitty also has a sharp mind, but her talents lie in the arts. Even before you employed an art master, I saw great potential in her,” Mrs Taylor responded. “As you know, Master James has his share of intelligence and is an excellent student. As such, he will be more than ready when he attends Eton beginning with the 1804-1805 academic year.”

“We have been greatly blessed in the children we have,” Fanny observed. “I know Edward and Maddie think they are the most blessed parents, but I believe that title belongs to us.”

For almost three years, it seemed like Edward and Maddie Gardiner would not be granted any children, but then Lillian Jane, named after her two late grandmothers, was born in June 1798. She was followed by Edward Elias in January 1800. The youngest Gardiner was May Beth, who was born in December 1802 and was soon to reach the three-month mark since her birth.

Bennet turned away so his wife did not see the guilt flash on his face. The article he had read in early 1799 invaded his memories no matter how much he tried to push it aside. Had they misinterpreted the part of the note Fanny had discovered on the dead criminal? Had they robbed another mother of her child?

‘No!’ Bennet told himself silently. ‘We saved her, and I have no proof that the note did not mean what we believed it did. Unless I was sure there would be no danger to Lizzy, I would not allow her to leave us. I would never devastate Fanny in that way. If we lost Lizzy, it would break her heart.’ He shook the inconvenient thoughts from his head. “What think you of Mrs Taylor’s suggestion regarding Lizzy, Fanny?” Bennet asked aloud.

“I do not object. As long as we find tutors like you, who will not take issue with teaching a girl…” Fanny paused as she cogitated for some moments. “Thomas, why do you not tutor both James and Lizzy for some time each day when you are not involved with estate business? Who better to teach our children than you?”

“I suppose that I do have time to teach them since we have a steward as good as Mr Mason. I will speak to Mr Jamison and explain that my taking on some of the tutoring has nothing to do with the quality of his lessons,” Bennet agreed.