October 25, 1811

Catherine, Jane, and Elizabeth admired Mr. Darcy from the window before he departed. " He is handsome," Catherine blushed and fiddled with her bonnet she rescued from Lydia's thievery. " A handsome man such as that should suit you, Lizzy. Jane's preferred man is fair haired and gay," Jane shook her head unable to contain her amusement and accurate observations.

" I prefer a man who is able to enjoy life," Jane shared serenely. " A smile lightens the day, it proves that life is not so intolerable that we are held down by it,"

" Speaking of smiles, Simon obeyed Miss Rowley," Catherine noted. " Mary likes her, and Mary rarely likes anyone,"

" It is odd, isn't it?" Lizzy agreed, turning away from the window as Simon started back to the house. " Did you see the look on Mama's face when Miss Marina said that wealth was not important. Papa said nothing, but Mama was wounded by that comment. Do you think that Mama wishes she and Papa were more intimate?"

Jane mulled it over as she followed Lizzy to Catherine's bedroom. " They are so far apart, more than we were younger, but do you think Miss Marina was right? If we can not trust or esteem our partner, then no amount of wealth will protect us," The sobering truth left them silent until Catherine caught up with them, giddy as a lady falling in love. They all looked forward to their doting on a lady he adored.

Downstairs in the drawing room, Mrs. Bennet vented her anger to Lydia and Mary. " How dare she say that Simon can not be trusted-"

" Mama, she did not say that," Mary corrected her. " If anything, she is fond of Simon. She merely meant to tell the truth-"

" 50,000 pounds is suddenly an unbearable responsibility," Emma sniped. " How will she ever survive?"

" Mama, Miss Rowley is a respectable-" Mary stopped playing.

Mr. Bennet sighed. " I don't want to hear any more of Miss Rowley. Mrs. Bennet, you will respect the lady. Mary, you may call upon her any time you wish. And if Simon has anything to say about the lady, he can speak of it to his conspiring sisters who are embracing the expected betrothal," He looked to both women, who returned to their respective activities. Mary abandoned the drawing room after two more songs, unable to withstand her mother's continuing glare.

Simon hid himself away in the study to write a letter. He desired Marina to be his, and he knew that Mrs. Bennet would stop him from pursuing Miss Rowley any way she could. Alerting Mr. Rowley of his intent before his actual arrival set the right start. Jane and Lizzy would aid him, while Catherine and Mary could run interference with Lydia when he departed tomorrow. He slipped out of the house to deliver the letter to the receiving house in Meryton to escape his mother and his own wild thoughts.

Lydia tried to take a walk, prevented from leaving the house by her father. " You have proven to be a risk we can not let loose, Lydia. Simon is not here to escort you, and I do not trust you to not try to run or hide from your sisters. Too many officers-"

" Mr. Bennet!" Emma paled. " How can you think that-"

" Your brother-in-law said that Lydia only has eyes for sixpence poor officers," Mr. Bennet declared adamantly. He gave up on his newspaper. His eyes were failing him anyway, and he was fighting a headache. " I will not have her embarrassing this family anymore than she already had," The betrayal of brother to sister stunned Mrs. Bennet. Lydia started to cry. She moved to her mother, stopped by her father's raised cane blocking her path. " Go to your room and think hard about why you are in your brother's care. When you think you know why, talk to me, and we will possibly discuss new privileges,"

Emma rose to her feet. " Come with me, Lydie. Your father is being insensitive and controlling,"

" Better now than when the Bennet name is too ruined for redemption," He wished for Simon to inherit the name without needing to prove to the world that he is not incapable or irresponsible. " Mrs. Bennet!" The lady retraced her steps back to the drawing room while Lydia fled to her shared bedroom with Mary. Mr. Bennet motioned her forward. She advanced cautiously, not wishing to suffer this wrath that was a long time coming. " Consider your milliner budget non-existent. I am no longer willing to let you devolve into your sister,"

She opened her mouth and then closed it. " You do not love me," Tears threatened to spill.

" I never loved you, Emma. You simply inherited 5,000 pounds," Loftus told her the truth. " You have ruined our daughters, and now Lydia is ruined. No one in Hertfordshire will think well of her. Even if she marries respectably. Catherine is redeemed, but for how long? Once Jane and Lizzy marry, who will influence her? Mary, who hides in the bible to avoid you?"

Emma started to cry, the anger and grief mixing into a volatile poison to the reality she helped create. Her failure presented itself so clearly and yet she ignored it for so long. " I am sorry,"

Mr. Bennet started to wheeze. " Tell that to Jane, who you pressure to marry well because your lack of tact and mercenary ways isolated the girls from any prospects of marriage. Tell that to Lizzy who you bully because you dislike she's more intelligent and witty than her sisters. Tell that Catherine who has been ignored entirely, along with Mary. Tell that to Lydia, who thinks we are being unfair and that Simon is the enemy," Loftus struggled to breathe, attributing to the culmination of the stress his wife inspired .

Turning on her heel, Emma made to leave the room. Seeing his point been made, Mr. Bennet decided to have a drink in his study. He used the cane to stand when the sudden pain in his chest hit. All his weight rested on the cane, and then he keeled over to the floor gasping for air. At the sound of Mr. Bennet falling, Emma turned. " Mr. Bennet?" She whispered in shock. Tiptoeing closer, she watched him gasp for air, turning red. Gradually he stopping breathing and his body stilled. Emma lowered herself to the floor, sobbing till it hurt to breathe.

Mrs. Hill found her in the doorway, prepared to fetch the smelling salts. " Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Hill," Emma choked out pointing at her dead husband. " He-just-dropped…"

" It is time you rest in your room, Mrs. Bennet," Mrs. Hill said, helping the lady up the stairs. " John, fetch Mr. Phillips in Meryton now. Lucy, find Mr. Bennet and have him write a letter to his uncle in London. Mr. Loftus Bennet is dead in the drawing room," She didn't believe herself as she said the words, relief washing over her as she realized what it meant.

Simon Bennet now inherited Longbourn. Praise the Good Lord for giving them a more sensible leader.

Longbourn's chaos reduced to nothing. At first Simon thought he'd been lied to as part of a joke. A sad, gallow type of humor, but a joke nonetheless. Mrs. Hill escorted him to the drawing room where his father's body had been covered with a sheet. It settled on him like a mountain, crushing any jitters he had about traveling to Derbyshire and officially applying for permission to court a lady. " Mr. Bennet," The magistrate showed with Dr. Jones a half hour later. Simon studied the bottle of Madeira, untouched and afraid to blink, let alone think.

He looked up from the bottle's reflective surface. " Mr. Booth,"

" Your father just collapsed?"

" Yes,"

" The only witness was your stepmother?"

" Yes,"

" My sympathies for your loss, Mr. Bennet," Mr. Cyril Booth, the magistrate of the neighboring village stated. " We will need to speak with your stepmother-"

Simon inhaled sharply. " She is unable to speak coherently currently. I will send for you when she is more recovered," He poured himself a glass of Madeira. Toasting to his father's final reward, Simon sunk into the chair and closed his eyes. The pain just started to overwhelm him. Mrs. Hill closed the door to the study for him. He didn't retire to bed immediately. For over an hour he sat in the darkness waiting for the moment it all ceased to be real.

When he woke with a stiff neck, slouching in the chair, reality firmed beneath him and swallowed him whole once more. While the ladies died their clothes and helped their mother understand exactly what passed, Simon traveled to his uncle's law firm to review the will. As the executor of the will, Mr. Phillips informed Simon he inherited Longbourn. Mrs. Bennet was due 200 pounds per annum per the jointure Loftus Bennet established, reducing the total income he expected to earn from 2,000 to 1,800. Mr. Bennet's investment with Mr. Gardiner earned interest that needed addressed. Simon kept the money and the interest invested in his uncle's textile business as a buffer income that he could draw upon if he needed to.

" Since you've been managing Longbourn from the age of one and twenty, you already know what the state of the estate is. I wish you luck," Robert Phillips pitied the young man. He needed to rebuild what should've been well maintained and deal with a suffering stepmother as well.

This is a Final Edit*