And not a one like the others...

Although it was widely acknowledged that four of the five Bennet girls were the most beautiful girls in the county, people could not help but notice that not one of them looked like the others. Of course, it seemed only fitting since their personalities were all different as well...

Author's Note 1: Many of you recognize this tale as the one I posted and then removed. I feel that it will fit better with this collection.

Author's Note 2: I came home last night after a very long day on the road and read a review/challenge from DarkLordTom. I went to sleep with the idea bouncing around in my rather empty head and woke with this. Rather than explain the challenge, I will let the story provide the details.

Author's Note 3: One of my favorite author's on this site is prhood. Whenever I am having a really bad day I read "The power of the sword" and then I feel better. One of the stories in that writer's collection is "A fault in their characters." I do not wish to copy this wonderful author, but I did include a tongue-in-cheek reference in this story.

And not a one like the others...

Longbourn, 1788

"You want me to do what...?!" Young Thomas Bennet pushed back from the chess board and glared at his friend and solicitor, Mr. Patrick Gardiner. "Patrick, of all the... You know why I have not married. You are the only one in this entire area who does know. I thought... I had hoped that you were being honest when you said that you did not judge me? And now you want me to marry your seventeen year old daughter? Why?"

The older man slowly waved his hand up and down, palm down, in a gesture for the younger man to sit and relax, "Please calm down, Thomas. Yes, I am perfectly aware that your interest lie... elsewhere. And I was telling the truth when I said that I do not judge you. But you are forgetting one very important issue: Longbourn is entailed. If you do not produce an heir, then Collins will inherit Longbourn. Do not forget that I have dealt with your cousin. I do not wish for him to return to this community, much less come back as a prominent landholder."

"Then why... Look, Patrick, Fanny is undeniably a beautiful girl. I will even go so far as to admit that she is by far the most beautiful girl for many miles around... though the Almighty might have invested a little less on her appearance and a little more on her mind... But she holds absolutely no attractions which would tempt me."

"Once again, I know that. But that is actually the reason that I am asking you to marry her."

"...," Thomas stared at the man, but even his keen mind seemed to be missing the point, "You have me baffled, Patrick. Please just get to the point."

"Fanny is pregnant."

"Oh!" Thomas got the point, but then asked, "And why wouldn't she just marry that bloke?"

"Because he has already left the area. Do you remember the portrait artist who was here painting the Long family?"

"Oh... yes..." Thomas had noticed the man; a very handsome man indeed. But sadly, very popular with the ladies. "And he is the father?"

"Yes. But Fanny was discreet and nobody even suspects. "

Thomas pondered the matter, but then he said, "I can see the value of your idea, but Fanny may very well produce a girl-child instead of a male. That will leave me no better off than before. And since I will not be getting her pregnant a second time, my problem remains."

"Third time."

"What?"

"If Fanny were to get pregnant again after this, it would be the third time. When she was fifteen we had to send her to Scotland to give birth."

"Oh... and what of the first child?"

"A fine, strapping boy. He was adopted by a farmer up north and I hear that he is doing quite well. So the chances are that this second will be a boy as well."

Thomas laughed, "Patrick, you and I are men of logic. You know perfectly well that the odds do not change just because her first was a boy. So back to my question: what if I marry her and she produces a girl?"

Patrick hung his head and colored, "Then you may almost count on her falling with child again, with or without your input. Fanny is a good girl, but when she notices a certain feature on a man, it seems that she can't control herself."

"You mean..." Thomas looked down at his own lap.

"No! I did not mean that! Sideburns, you cad! Sideburns!"

Thomas roared in laughter, "Sideburns? Those are coming into fashion, Patrick! Every other man in England will be sporting sideburns soon. Can't abide the things myself."

Patrick, still flushed with embarrassment about his youngest daughter's proclivities, sighed, "And because they are coming into fashion, I think that you can count on having more children... especially since you will not be providing... sideburns... at home."

Thomas picked up one of his opponent's knights that he had taken and pondered for a few minutes. Then he looked at his friend and solicitor, "You have a very valid point, Patrick. I will marry Fanny. But you have to emphasize that discretion is imperative."

That Sunday the bans were read, and then twice more. Thomas and Fanny were married that winter and she gave birth seven and a half months later. Folks laughed behind their hands, but it was not uncommon for young people to anticipate their wedding night. Of course Thomas was already thirty, but that just meant that he would have been that much more anxious. A few of the townsfolk had thought Thomas was... but no, now it seemed obvious that he was waiting for the very beautiful Miss Gardiner to come of age.

Longbourn, 1789

"Well, Patrick, congratulate me... I have a daughter."

"Do not distress yourself. Jane is at least a beautiful baby," the grandfather took a drink of his scotch and met his son-in-law's eyes, "Did you hear that Old Lady Jamison has decided to deed Netherfield Park to her nephew?"

"Oh? What is he like?"

"Quite the rake, I hear. Had to leave Oxford after he got caught in a dalliance with the dean's wife."

"Oh... a lady's man. What of it?"

"He has sideburns."

Longbourn, 1791

Thomas sat with the infant Elizabeth against his shoulder, "Well, Patrick... I cannot complain, but it seems that I am still without an heir. Collins is most likely laughing into his beer."

"I glad to see that you are at least taking pleasure in being a father... Are you at least content with this?"

Thomas gently patted the sleeping child, "I cannot repine a child with such intelligent eyes... she has Jake's eyes."

Patrick Gardiner tugged at his cravat. He had known about the younger man's... leanings... since the man's youth. He had even accepted them and maintained a friendship. What he had not anticipated was that both his daughter and his son-in-law would have separate and secret affairs with the same man. It was a recipe for disaster! Thankfully the man's past caught up with him and he had to flee the country.

"I am glad that you are content... but you are still left without an heir."

"Oh, I think that I might have an idea."

"What, if I might ask?"

"William Lucas cannot seem to keep his eyes off of Fanny. As you know, he and his wife had a big spat and she has removed herself and her eldest three to her parent's home in the north."

"What of it?"

Thomas grinned, "I have been telling William that he might look good with sideburns."

Longbourn, 1793

"Well... this one certainly does not look like her sisters," Patrick Gardiner, who was usually good with words, was at a loss for the moment.

"Yes..." Thomas agreed. "She certainly has her father's features... Let us hope that she grows into them... or preferably out of them."

"A girl." Patrick said. He did not need to say any more.

"There is still hope."

"There is?"

"Yes. I hear that the militia will be encamped nearby for the next several years."

Longbourn, 1811

Thomas lifted his glass in memory to his dear friend and father-in-law, Patrick Gardiner. "You had the best of intentions, old man, but it did not play out."

He sipped his drink and closed his eyes as he heard the cacophony of six females preparing for tonight's assembly. Usually, when it got too loud, his second and dearest daughter, Lizzy, would sneak in and take refuge with him here in his study, but not this night. She would be there, upstairs with the rest, getting ready to attract young men and hopefully dance the night away.

Thomas and Fanny had five daughters and no sons. He was aware that his wife still dallied with other men, but it seems that six births was enough for her body. The only good news was that his cousin, Zedekiah Collins, had passed away three years ago. His son, from all reports, was not the brightest sheep in the pasture, but at least he was not a man like his father.

There was hope, however. Thomas knew just how much his wife of twenty-three years loved a man in uniform. Thomas had happened to be in his brother, Mr. Phillips' office when the commander of the _shire Militia paid a visit. He and his men would be wintering in Meryton...

… and the man had sideburns.

AN: I hope you enjoyed and were able to take this story in the manner it was intended.

AN2: Because several people are asking, I am currently re-reading Grandma Bennet in the hopes of kick-starting myself again. These stories here, with the exception of chapter 2, are stories in my archives which didn't seem to fit with my other collections.