Margaret Carlton is my child. All other major characters belong to Jane Austen though.
Margaret Carlton had been one of the most sought among debutantes upon her coming out into society. Being clever and sensible, she did not have unrealistic expectations about her future. Indeed the ways of the Ton did not leave much space for those. As long as she could remember, her mother had always stressed upon her the importance of being a proper lady and marrying right. Hers had been a difficult birth which had left her mother unable to bear any more children but this had done little to phase her parents, whose only concern in life was their standing in the Ton. And so she was brought up to be proficient in all that the society declared should be the accomplishments of a gently bred woman and was declared all and sunder to be the epitome of a Lady. She batted her eye lashes, giggled behind the handkerchief she embroidered herself and hung onto every word out of the mouth of the gentlemen who called upon her. Indeed, paired with her sizeable dowry and her mother being the 'niece of the grandson of an Earl' - she rolled her eyes inwardly whenever that came up- her prospects were all that was labelled good and she resigned herself to being sold- married off to the best offer they got as soon as possible (her mother thought being married in your first season was the best thing that could happen to her. All fashionable ladies did so).
But life took a turn for her towards the end of the season. Both her parents had high hopes on Sir James Reginald when misfortune struck. Her father too gambled, like all worthy gentlemen - he supped with two Earls Meg, two earls - but in her humble opinion which no one sought, her father was particularly bad at the sport. But his losses have always been manageable due to the income from their two estates. That year however, floods had dealt great loss to the estate in Somerset which was responsible for a significantly large portion of their earnings and yet Mr. Richard Carlton was resolute that the next day would be when his luck would turn. A few days further saw him deep in debt to a number of people.
They had to sell their land in Somerset for the money, her dowry of twenty thousand pounds was reduced to six thousand and in the end, there remained just one more person they owed money to : Mr. Ferdinand Bennet.
Mr. Ferdinand Bennet was a widower with no children and who owned land in Hertfordshire. While he usually ventured into London for the express reason of dabbling in his favorite past time that was gambling, this time he had another purpose in mind - to find a wife. It was in this circumstance that the solution presented itself. Ms. Carlton was young, beautiful and accomplished and a match with her would remove the tiring necessity of having to actively court other women. So he proposed his solution : Give him Ms. Carlton's hand in marriage and he would absolve the family of the debt he was owed.
The elder Carlton's were only too relieved at the option which would let them keep their London townhouse instead of selling it for funds. They were all too aware thst word of them losing their land in Somerset would get around soon and along with Margaret's reduced dowry, the chance of her marrying high was extremely now low.
So decisions were made and the moment the last of the banns were read, Margaret Carlton found herself married to a man twice her age.
While the fact that her parents were practically using her as payment greatly angered and saddened her, her attitude towards the marriage itself was mainly indifference - Sir Reginald had been dull, vain and only spoke of how everyone admired his beard - for she she always knew she next to no chance of marrying for love. And when - on a later date - she learned about her parents having to sell their townhouse for paying off more debts and retiring to their other estate which earned two thousand per annum, she might have indulge in a brief smile of pleasure before penning the appropriate regrets.
Three years into the marriage saw the birth of George Bennet and another two years later little Thomas Bennet joined their family. Their was little love between the couple; indeed, matters became grim when the estate master's hobby proved disaster for the family. The experience of his in-laws had done little to curb his own fondness for the indulgence. By the time George was six, only the estate of Longbourn remained in the family - Netherfield and the townhouse having been sold off to pay off the debts. While she did not mourn the loss of their house in town due to her lack of love for London, Margaret had been livid that her husband was so careless with the future comfort of their sons. Such was her anger that Mr. Bennet promised to not gamble again.
The patriarch was less than pleased with having to agree thus and chose to spend his time indulging completely in his other favorite past time - hunting. Margaret in turn took up the education of their children.
George was kind and bright and he soaked up everything his Mama said like a sponge. Thomas however, payed little attention to anything other than his books and after all her entreaties proved for naught, Margaret gave up. It was more important that George learned not to waste away money like his father, that he learned how to manage the estate properly and so she worked with their steward to teach the heir of Longbourn. And years later when both Bennets were in Cambridge and Thomas let them know of his decision to not marry and remain dealing in Academics, her decision seemed to be proved correct.
By the time George had turned 19, Ferdinand's age and the accompanying ailments did not facilitate his desire to hunt. With the greatly diminished sojourn's to Town, Ferdinand became more involved with what went on in Meryton. When he suddenly became concerned with George's education whenever he visited between his studies, Margaret learned that it was the current fashion to compete over who had the better estate. But her husband's current inclination was one she was loathe to discourage.
Things seemed to be changing for the better and when he returned from his studies, Margaret had been so proud as she watched her eldest manage the estate with dedication and generosity.
Then tragedy struck.
George was found dead in his bed a year after he had taken charge of Longbourn. The doctor declared it heart failure but Margaret couldn't understand. There was no precedent for it - no one in her family or husband's have ever come under the affliction. But her son remained dead.
Margaret expected the quarrel that followed. Thomas had always made it known that he did not want to be a landowner. While he - with great reluctance - agreed to shoulder the expectations that came with being heir, he was incensed at his father's insistence that he come home immediately after his studies as opposed to after a tour of the continent. Her support of Thomas made little effect. After threats, entreaties and promises of withholding allowance, Thomas came in home in great temper.
It did not end there. After a year had passed, Ferdinand began his insistence that Thomas marry to beget an heir so that something like what happened to their eldest would not happen. Rows ensued until Thomas stayed away for three days after having stormed off again. When he returned he had a scathing smile on his face as he announced he was courting Miss Fransces Gardiner. Her father was an attorney in Meryton and Ferdinand was nearly apoplectic with rage that his son meant to marry so below his station. But Thomas' decision remained unmoved.
It only took a moment after meeting the young lady for her to realize that Thomas had proposed to the first pretty face he saw - after ensuring she was no gentle bred of course. She would have gladly accepted the girl had Thomas loved her or at least, had she been sensible but Margaret looked at the pretty blonde who was giggling and trilling about bonnets and realized her son was making a big mistake. She tried to caution him, telling him he was being too hasty and blind in his decision, that he wouldn't be truly happy unless he respected his spouse but so great was the young Bennet's rage at his father that he would hear nothing against his actions. (Later one day Thomas would turn to his mother with despair in his eyes after yet another nonsensical monologue from Fanny but Margaret would never remind him of all her advises against the match).
Within three months, Fanny Gardiner was Fanny Bennet. Perhaps it is might as well that Ferdinand died six month later after falling down the stairs as his disappointment would have been great what with Fanny giving birth to little Jane Bennet. Or perhaps he might have found an ally in his daughter in law, bonding with her over lamentations about their misfortune in the babe being a girl. Nevertheless, Ferdinand left an unpleasant gift when he died. Upon his son's engagement, in a fit of rage, he had changed his will to put an entail on it. When Margaret learned, she had nearly committed bodily harm but she controlled herself and reduced his ire such that he agreed to change his will as soon as possible. He died the next day.
Thomas gently held his daughter and Margaret found reason to hope that perhaps her son might yet find happiness.
She was partly right. Thomas loved his daughter but he was did not exert himself in the least to oversee any part of her growth. He held her and perhaps spent an hour in Jane's presence but otherwise looking after Jane fell upon her mother and Margaret. The older woman watched pained, as Thomas became a complete recluse, sequestering himself in his library, not exerting himself in the least to look after the estate and becoming disgusted with lack of sense his wife showed.
Margaret tried to instruct Fanny how to manage the household, she truly did but the new wife was buoyed with the sense of entitlement that came with the sudden elevation in her status and ignored her mother-in-law completely. So it fell upon her to visit the tenants and ensure the smooth running of the house.
Two years later, Fanny was nearing her confinement again. This time she was sure it will be a son. And so, when little Elizabeth was born, Fanny had refused to touch her. The first time Margaret saw Thomas lose his temper with his wife was when Fanny refused to breast feed the babe.
She had greatly underestimated Fanny's hostility with the babe. While it mellowed over time, in the beginning, it fell upon her to take care of Elizabeth as Fanny went around the neighbourhood crowing over Jane's admittedly lovely face.
A year hence, Fanny went into labour with a fear which proved true - Mary Bennet was born.
Another two years and she was barely held any hopes. The household greeted Catherine Bennet.
Two years down the line, Fanny was entirely resigned and when the doctor declared that Fanny won't conceive again after Lydia, she barely blinked.
Margaret remained disappointed in the lack of interest her son showed in his girls but her ire alleviated a little one day when she came upon him staring at Elizabeth as the 4 year old tried to wear her father's breeches. The child kept a steady stream of complaints to herself about her Mama and dresses and Thomas threw his head back laughing before taking the bewildered child in his arms, murmuring her name with great affection. That was the moment Thomas found his favorite daughter.
Margaret was not insensible to the dire circumstances of her grand children. The estate did not yield sufficient enough to provide a good dowry and Thomas' indolence wasn't helping. They had to let go of the steward when paying one became to cumbersome. Fanny was too busy thinking about bonnet's and dresses and future son in laws - Lydia was barely an year old! - and the entail left their lives in a great state of uncertainty.
Margaret looked at wild, clever Elizabeth who sat in her lap, lisping through the words of the book before deciding that she would have to take matters into her own hands.
Hey people. I just got this idea and had to write it so tada! You might realize it is kind off hurried. I will go through it again on a later date. I just had to post it because I wasn't sure if I would get time again before January.
I have ideas for the story but I'm not sure if it will work out. I'm not exactly the picture of diligence but I'll try! The name and summary might change depending on how I go with the story.
If you have any ideas for the story let me know, yeah? I can't promise you I will act on it but I will see? But note : if I continue, I have no plans of writing a story with Margaret Bennet an active participant. She is only to guide. She will not remain alive much longer. Mwahwaha
Let me know what you think. All criticisms welcome!