Mr. Bennet was a man without options. He had never meant to become the sort of father who used his children as chattel, selling them to the highest bidder on the marriage mart. He had always intended to allow his daughters to make love matches. However, the irksome indigestion he always had following dinner had become unbearable. Upon consulting the local doctor, he was diagnosed with ulcers and instructed to avoid spicy foods and stress. The good doctor gave him a rather ambiguous prognosis citing that some patients lived for decades with the disease, while others were stone dead in a few months.

At first, knowledge of his possibly immediate demise gave him no pause. After all, he was a composed man by nature, unlikely to engage in the sort of dramatics some men might succumb to upon hearing such news. He rarely took anything too seriously and therefore had very little stress. With a few instructions to the cook meals became blander and his stomach upset diminished considerably. Mr. Bennet began to believe he would live long enough to see all of his daughters settled with husbands they loved and respected.

And then Mr. Collins had arrived. Though a rich source of entertainment at first, the ridiculous little man reminded Mr. Bennet of his mortality. Worse still, through his attentions to his daughters he illustrated to Mr. Bennet all the dangers his own lackadaisical outlook on life had cause for them. Mr. Bennet realized now, because of his own failings, how vulnerable his daughters were. He should have made arrangements for them, should have saved more in his youth so that his daughters might not end up penniless in the hedgerows.

It had all been fun and games when Mr. Collins had invited himself into his home and made it quite clear he intended to marry one of his daughters. First his attentions had rested on Jane. This might have given Mr. Bennet some apprehension since Jane was so kindhearted she might be persuaded to accept the fool out of pity. Fortunately, Bingley had already taken her tender heart and so Mrs. Bennet was keen to point his attentions toward the other girls. Lizzy was to be his second victim. On her account Mr. Bennet had no worries. She was not the sort to suffer fools, nor would any material concerns influence her decisions.

When, however, Mr. Bingley suddenly removed himself from the neighborhood without making any promises of a swift return, things in the Bennet house became quite dark. Mrs. Bennet hounded Lizzy for her refusal of Mr. Collins, and though she would never show it to the world Lizzy began to regret her decision. True, she had no tender feelings for Mr. Collins, indeed she loathed the very sight of the man. And true, she did not fear for her own well-being, she knew she could make her living as a governess or companion if it came down to that. But she did worry about the security of her mama and younger sisters should her father go to his grave in the near future. When Jane had been on the cusp of marrying Bingley she had felt safe. Bingley was not the sort of man to let his mother-in-law and sisters-in-law starve. But now his pernicious sisters had spirited him away to London leaving Jane broken hearted. Lizzy began to feel her refusal of Mr. Collins might have been selfish.

Mr. Bennet witnessed the railing Lizzy endured and felt her pain. He could tell, even if his wife could not, that his favorite daughter agonized over her refusal. He wished she would not. The responsibilities that she was trying to take on were not hers to bear. He must be the one to find a secure future for his family, and he would even if it meant calling in a favor he had never intended to take.

It was just a week after Collins left, when Mrs. Bennet's badgering of Lizzy had reached its apex, that Mr. Bennet's stomach pains returned in full force this time accompanied by the vomiting of blood. This was very concerning to the generally carefree man. He had just taken a rare close look at the family finances and determined that by some miracle they were solvent, however there was no room for any excess in their budget and no assets which could be separated from the estate and saved for his wife and daughters. It was at this point that Mr. Bennet, a man who generally disliked personal correspondence, penned a letter to a man he had never met and prayed this Darcy would feel honor bound to fulfill the promises of his grandfather.