Chapter 3

As the day of the wedding drew to a close, Thomas Bennet ensured his wife understood the cruel sort of man his father was. He offered the little protection he would have upon their upcoming nuptials, but feared his father's wrath upon discovering that the dowry would not be his to gamble away. Thomas was left to hope for the best outcome.

A week after the wedding, Thomas got word that the parcels of land were purchased. One item of business was out of the way. At this point only a few minor improvements could be made as nearly all the dowry had been spent acquiring as much land as possible. The land that was purchased was not the land he had initially recommended but after discussing the arrangements with his bride and future brother, they had opted to purchase the larger tracts of land that had suffered from severe mismanagement and were left almost entirely unoccupied. If they were given returns similar to last year, they could expect around 200 pounds which would all be immediately put into improving the currently occupied cottages and fields. If they were lucky, there would be some money left over to fix up maybe another cottage and fields to start looking for another tenant. But Thomas didn't hold out hope that there would be funds left over. His worst case plan was that there wouldn't be enough money to correct both the lands and the fields of all the currently occupied cottages, few though they were.

Fanny Gardiner was thrilled to find out she was officially a landowner. It gave her a sense of independence she had never before felt. It was a gift, a gift she would never let go of. She was unsure of her feelings to Thomas, but she had certainly come to respect him and no longer dreaded her future. He had made it clear to her that he would consider her his equal and he would not force himself upon her. He wished not to disgrace his sister's memory. For that was all she could be, Elizabeth Collins' husband sounded like a vulgar and rotten man, much like Fanny's soon to be father, to refuse allowing her to correspond with a beloved sibling. Fanny would try to honor the memory of Elizabeth and run the estate with the love and affection that the staff of Longbourn had described its previous mistress of displaying.

The day of the wedding arrived too soon for the betrothed couple. Vows were exchanged and a breakfast was served at the Phillips'. Mrs. Phillips was gushing over getting to plan her younger sister's wedding and breakfast to one of the largest landholders in the area (though she had no idea that her sister had recently joined such ranks).

Upon returning to Longbourn, a more formal tour and introductions were given. A light repast was provided for the afternoon before the two went to the adjoining suites that they would now occupy. There was to be no honeymoon trip, as Mr. Bennet had declared such an extravagance an unnecessary fop for society's fools who felt the ridiculous need to woo a wife into bed. A wife didn't need to be wooed, if she was unwilling then so be it, the ungrateful harlot would be tied to the bedpost until the master was satisfied. At such point she would be untied and thrown from the room. None of the pandering to the whore. No women needed to understand their place.

That evening as the newlyweds sat in Thomas' room talking, Fanny approached the topic of consummating the marriage with scarlet cheeks and a stutter.

"My dear Fanny, I shall not have you in my bed until you are willing to be there."

"Truly? But isn't it a wifely duty?"

"I dislike the idea of forcing you to do anything. I find it would be a great deal of effort to be spent in a task that would ultimately make both of us miserable. When you are ready, I shall come to you so that we may both find the experience more enjoyable."

Fanny was relieved that she did not have to worry for such a thing tonight. She felt far too overwhelmed to process such things. The two bid each other good night, with Thomas provided a quick kiss to the back of her hand before bidding her good night. Fanny blushed and stammered out a thank you before rushing into the next room.

As daylight broke, the two journeyed down to the parlor to break their fast and start introducing the new mistress to her many duties at Longbourn. By having an early start to the day they hoped to miss the Master of the house. Mrs. Hill and Fanny got along superbly as they began discussing the needs of the kitchen and going through the stock room together. Thomas began his review of the estate books before asking his bride to take a tour of the grounds with him so he may introduce her to the tenants. When the two returned for dinner that evening, Mr. Bennet had left for the card tables. The first day as man and wife had gone smoothly.

It would be two days later as Fanny was working with Mrs. Hill to discuss cleaning up the old stillroom, so they may start putting it to use again, that Mr. Bennet would show his true colors. Thomas was in his study going through estate accounts when the door opening drew his attention up. Mr. Bennet strode through.

"Boy, you blocked me from taking funds out of the bank."

"Father, you have had the same restrictions placed on you withdrawing money for quite some time, I see no reason that the continued restriction would make you any more angry."

"Except that I had you marry that chit so that I may increase my table money."

"No such plan was made evident to me."

"You knew such a plan existed. Now allow me access to my money."

"I am afraid, Father, that such a thing will be impossible."

"Impossible? Boy all the money on this estate and this estate itself are mine. I don't know how you initially managed to limit my funds at the bank and convinced my fellow card players to stop lending to me, but I thought we had worked to a truce. Now I demand what is owed to me."

"I convinced the bank to limit your funds in exchange for paying back the rather large mortgage you have taken on the property to fund your gambling. Such payments are only made if your lines of credit are limited. The bank of course, does like loans to be repaid and was happy to agree to my conditions. While I have been regularly paying off the mortgage, I doubt the condition of your accessing fund will be changing in the near future as you were poor at making payments previously. As to your friends, you racked up quite a debt there and the same agreement was reached. As to what you are owed, you are owed nothing sir. If you bothered to read the marriage settlement you would see that none of the money goes to the estate. A common practice I am told."

"You bastard—"

"I would not throw such an insult at me, as I am sure that my mother was quite unfortunately married to you at the time of my conception."

"You ungrateful brat, after all I have done—"

"All you have done? You mean drowning the estate into debt in the scant five years you managed it. Even I was impressed how you drained the well built up coffers and more in five short years. Or maybe you mean forcing a young woman to marry me so that you may have more funds to gamble away. Your gambling has ruined the estate and made others very prosperous, even with their poor estate and money management. I handle all your work. I run the estate so don't you dare talk to me as if I owe you anything."

Several moments of silence enveloped the room as Mr. Bennet spluttered for another insult. He was a man of little intelligence and even less kindness. So, when a knock sounded on the door and Fanny Bennet stepped in, he attacked, spewing hateful words. Thomas and Mrs. Hill immediately rushed to pull Mr. Bennet from the frightened young woman.

"Mr. Bennet, let me make this much clear. While I run the estate, if you so much as lay a hand on my wife in the future, that agreement I have with the bank will tighten your access to funds."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. And I suggest you remember that. My wife is to be respected. I will not force you to like her, but you will not spew hateful vitriol or lay a hand upon her or you will feel my wrath. I cannot kick you from this estate, but so long as I control the purse strings, I will demand basic civility."

Fanny was in tears at this point as Mr. Bennet stormed from the room shouting at all in his way.

"Mrs. Hill, would you mind getting a compress for Mrs. Bennet along with a cup of tea and bring it to her room."

"Yes sir."

"My dear Fanny, are you okay? I am so sorry you had to experience that."

Unable to answer she shook her head. Hiccups and sobs drowned out any chances of words.

"Why don't we take you upstairs for a lie down?"

A nod was given as form of acceptance. Thomas, being a young, somewhat athletic man, managed to carry his wife up the stairs to her chamber. And place her on her bed. Her sobs had subsided a little as she was back in the confined of her room. Mrs. Hill quickly delivered the requested items placing the compress on the reddened cheek that was sure to swell and darken over the next few days.

"Mrs. Hill thank you for helping me pull my father off."

"It was my pleasure. Excuse me for saying so, but I never did have much respect for the man."

"Nor have I. But he is master of the estate."

"And not one tenant or servant thinks of him as such."

"Do not let him hear you say so. You are too good a housekeeper to lose to his temper."

"I stay because your sister asked me to care for you when she left. I intend to keep that promise."

"Thank you Mrs. Hill."

"I best be returning to work now sir."

With that Mrs. Hill left the room to quell the chattering servants. After several minutes, Fanny began to calm down and started to drift into an emotionally exhausted nap. As Thomas stood up to leave, she gripped his sleeve, wide awake.

"Please do not leave me alone, what if he comes up here while you are away."

"I shall ask a stable hand to watch over these rooms while I attend to business downstairs. I will also look into hiring a footman to follow you around so you won't have to worry about being left alone. Will that be acceptable?"

"The footman, yes. May I still have a few more minutes with you?"

With a vulnerable look in her eyes, Thomas was compelled to say yes.

"That is why you have left me constantly with Hill, had us up early in the morning, and taken us out all afternoon to return late. To avoid him, correct?"

"Yes. I knew eventually such a confrontation would happen but I had hoped to plan it such that you would be at your sister's or in town so that his anger would dissipate before you came home."

"I should have listened all those times when you said he was a horrid person. But I thought he would be no worse than my father."

"I had wondered about that. It is difficult to imagine as terrible a person until you see his true colors."

"Indeed it is. I now wonder if I truly know anyone."

"Not all men are my father."

"The world would be a dark place indeed if that were true. You are not your father. Is Mr. Collins like your father?"

"Yes."

"Then I weep for what your sister must be experiencing and I weep for your mother for the time she had to spend here. But I cannot help rejoice that you are you."

Through this discussion, Thomas has rubbed his wife's back and encouraged sips of the quickly cooling tea. Slowly Fanny settled into a slumber, her hand still tightly clutching Thomas' sleeve. Unwilling to leave her yet, Thomas thought about his plans and how best to protect his wife from further incidents. He doubted he could protect her from all of his father's viciousness. Perhaps, writing to Edward for many protracted stays in London would be for the best.