That fall of 1813 saw frequent visits from Sir Albert and it was soon apparent that he was very attentive to Mrs. Bennet and seemed to have serious intentions towards her. The girls all liked him and they easily saw that he their mother enjoyed his company and that his presence seemed to have a calming effect on her. Elizabeth wondered if his polite and considerate attention to her, which was very different from how her father had treated his wife, was the reason that she seemed to be so different from what she had been like before. No longer was she so loud or thoughtless; she also rarely complained of her nerves or palpitations of her heart. She dressed more becomingly and seemed to have become younger in appearance. However, none of the girls could understand how any man might be romantically interested in her. She was so old! She was their mother!
Elizabeth also thought that part of her mother's much calmer demeanor may have resulted from her previous concerns about what would happen to them when her father died. She had been so worried for so long about their being "thrown out into the hedgerows" by Mr. Collins with no place to live and no income. Now that Tommy was the heir, her desperate need to marry off all five of her daughters was no longer such a major concern as she had no doubt that he would never evict his sisters from the only home that they had ever known. Elizabeth began to realize just how great a worry this had been on her mother's mind. In any case, now there were only the three of them left unmarried and at home.
Elizabeth worried about what might happen if Sir Albert requested her mother's hand. From her mother's very warm reception of him, Elizabeth expected that she would accept him with no hesitation. He lived in Reading and had for many years, so that is likely where they would live. She knew that he had always lived in towns and had never had an estate, so he knew virtually nothing about managing one and appeared to be uninterested in learning about what was required to manage Longbourn. What would become of the unmarried Bennet sisters? Would they be invited to go to Reading as well? She doubted this as he did not show much interest in any of the girls or Tommy. Who would look after Tommy if his mother and her new husband did not want him to live with them? She noticed that her mother gave much less attention to Tommy whenever Sir Albert was expected or was actually visiting, so it was then Elizabeth's sole responsibility to look after him whenever this happened. This situation became more frequent as Sir Albert's visits increased in frequency and length. Elizabeth learned how to do everything for her brother, except to feed him. In fact, her mother's time with Tommy seemed to be reduced until that was almost the only time that she was with him. Tommy was now six months old, so his mother began to wean him off her breast. Lizzy thought that this was a bit early, so this added to her concerns about her mother's plans for the future.
The Gardiners came to Longbourn to celebrate Christmas with them, as they usually did. Elizabeth was very happy to see her aunt and uncle and all her cousins. She found time to voice her concerns over their future when she found an opportunity to talk to them alone. "Aunt, Uncle, I do not know what is going to happen to us. Sir Albert has been courting Mother all fall and I am sure that he will ask her to marry him. He lives in Reading where he apparently has a very nice house, so I am sure that he will want to live there after they marry. I believe that he does not really want any of us to come with them, especially a baby as young as Tommy. My greatest worry is that Mother may leave Tommy with us to raise. Uncle, you know I am managing the estate almost completely on my own. I am not sure that I can take on the additional responsibility of looking after Tommy and my two sisters at the same time. What can I do?" She looked so worried that the Gardiners thought that she might actually break down and cry. Mrs. Gardiner put her arms around her to try to comfort her.
While the Gardiners sympathized with her fears about the future, they agreed that this is likely what would happen. They had also developed the distinct impression that Mrs. Bennet did not have strong feelings for her son, especially now that there was a man in her life. They had met Sir Albert and saw how he appeared to be enamoured with her. Her Aunt Gardiner said, "Lizzy, I understand your concerns. We have talked about this and agree that this is what very well might happen. I doubt there is any way we can change her mind about anything as she is so happy; in fact, this is the happiest we have ever seen her since Jane's birth.
"We have two suggestions if this happens. First, you should hire a nurse for Tommy to take some of the load off your shoulders. You should be able to afford that if there are only you three girls left to support. Second, would it help if we invited Kitty to come to live with us in London? She is so improved over the past several years that we would be happy to have her. She could even help me with the children as they are becoming quite a handful as they grow older.
"However, we still do not even know if Sir Albert will ask your mother for her hand or if they would decide to live alone in Reading. Keep those suggestions in mind and we can talk about them later if this all comes to pass."
Lizzy was glad that they share her concerns and agreed to wait to see what would happen before they made any decisions. She was certainly finding that all of her time was busy with the estate and Tommy; now she rarely had time for long solitary walks or reading.
Their mother's situation came to a head that Christmas. Sir Albert had returned to his home in Reading for several short trips that fall, but spent most of his time in Meryton at the Longs' house. Christmas Eve, he was again at Longbourn and did not leave before the Gardiners and the girls all went up to bed and the servants had been dismissed for the night. The girls had left their mother and her suitor alone many times in the past, so that did not concern anyone. If they noticed that their mother seemed to be very bright-eyed and rosy-complexioned in the morning after having been left alone with him, they never mentioned anything to her, even though they each secretly wondered what they had been doing after everyone else went up.
Christmas morning at breakfast, their mother announced that Sir Albert had asked for her hand and that she had accepted. While all three girls were excited for her, they were worried about what would happen to them.
Mrs. Bennet said that they had decided to marry quite quickly, in early February as soon as the banns had been read. Between Christmas and the wedding, Sir Albert spent most of his time with Mrs. Bennet either at Longbourn or at his sister's house. As Mrs. Bennet had become very adept at organizing weddings, this one also went very well. Again, many people came to wish them the best in their marriage. She found that being called "Lady Elford" suited her very well; much better than just "Mrs. Bennet." Before the wedding, she said that Sir Albert had offered to take her to Bath for two months for a wedding trip before returning to Reading. Naturally, she did not indicate that Tommy would be going with them.
Before the wedding, the girls had again talked among themselves about what would happen to them after their mother married. Lizzy was the bravest sister, so she asked, "Mother, what about Tommy? Obviously, you will not be taking him on your wedding trip. Were you planning to leave him here with us? He is just about weaned now, so that should not be a problem. This seems to be a lot of responsibility to give to us. He is just a baby."
"Of course he cannot come to Bath with us! Who would take a baby on their wedding trip? I was hoping that you would be willing to look after him while we are away as he is such a good baby. He reminds me of how good Jane was; she was so quiet and peaceful. I hope that you will not mind doing that for me."
Lizzy continued, "Mother, what about after you return to Reading? What will happen to Tommy? In fact, what will happen to the rest of us? Will you want us to go with you to Reading, or will we be staying here?"
"Lizzy, you know that someone has to stay here to look after the estate. You are doing such a good job! I am not sure what will happen after we go to Reading. Sir Albert says that he is too old to look after a baby. He says he values his peace and quiet at home. We can talk about that after we return from Bath. I was hoping that you and your sisters would be happy to stay here where you know everyone. Lizzy, you are of age and can rely on your Aunt and Uncle Philips if any major problems arise. You will have more money with two of you married aand my needs will be the responsibility of my husband."
Lizzy had worried that this is what would happen. She had been afraid that her mother would want a quiet life with her new husband and that total responsibility for Longbourn and her siblings would fall on her shoulders. She did not argue with her mother as she did not want to spoil her anticipation of the pleasures she would have with her husband and the delights she expected to find in Bath. She knew that she had no choice but to look after Longbourn and her siblings with little help from anyone else.
Elizabeth decided to take the recommendation of the Gardiners and hire a nurse for Tommy. She only had to tell her Aunt Philips that she was looking for one and quickly received applications from several local women. She knew each of these women and settled on a widow she knew quite well who needed a place to live and some income after having tried to live with her married son and his wife, with little success. She had raised four children herself and Elizabeth knew she was very reliable. She immediately took to Tommy and he accepted her willingly with little fuss. This provided Elizabeth with great relief as she was not so closely tied to his needs.
After the wedding, the Gardiners asked Kitty if she would like to come to London to live with them. They made it clear that they expected that Kitty would help with the children when required, but Kitty liked her cousins and did not mind that at all. She was finding life in Meryton to be dull without Lydia to provide excitement, so she was ready for a change. She hoped that she would be taken to some of the entertainments that London would provide, so she agreed to go. They only mentioned this plan in passing to Mrs. Bennet as she seemed to be so unconcerned about her daughters with her mind only on her new situation.
This meant that only Elizabeth and Mary were left at Longbourn with Tommy. As the Gardiners said that they would provide Kitty's pin money in return for her assistance with the children, this meant that Elizabeth was accumulating even more savings, which she hoarded and would not spend on anything other than improvements to the farms. These savings, augmented by the extra income from the estate, meant that her objective of providing a larger dowry for the three of them was slowly coming to fruition.
The Elfords left for Bath immediately after their wedding. Elizabeth had hoped that they would return to Longbourn directly from Bath so decisions could be made about where they would all be living. April came and their two-month wedding trip should now be over, but they did not hear from their mother. Elizabeth once again became busy with the spring planting, but she waited anxiously for word from her mother. However, the Elfords did not appear when she had expected them, and after several weeks of waiting, Elizabeth received a letter from her mother saying that they had stopped in Reading as it was closer to Bath than Meryton. The letter began with exclamations of the many entertainments they had enjoyed in Bath, the people they had met, the dinners to which they had been invited, and the assemblies they had attended.
One paragraph, in which her mother told her how much she was enjoying the charms of Sir Albert, how kind and gentle he was with her, how considerate he was of her, bothered Elizabeth very much as it seemed to be criticisms of her late father. Her mother even hinted at the physical delights she was experiencing, which upset and embarrassed Elizabeth. She certainly did not view her own mother as a passionate woman with physical and emotional needs that only a husband could provide. In fact, she was barely aware that these needs existed in women. However, upon reflection, she saw how her father had treated her mother; it was the opposite of how her new husband was treating her! Elizabeth had loved her father and still felt his loss very keenly, even after almost two years. In spite of this, she was astute enough to see that he had not treated his wife very well at all.
It was only into the second page of her mother's letter that she read, 'We had intended to stop in Reading only for a day or two before continuing on to Longbourn, but as soon as we arrived at Sir Albert's home, we were inundated with friends and relatives of my husband who wanted to meet me. We received a number of invitations for dinner, tea, card parties, and musical evenings that we just could not refuse. I have not had a chance to go to all of them as there are more still planned. Then, when my husband asked me what changes I would like to make to the house, I took advantage of his offer and have begun to change some wall coverings and furnishings. It is a fine house, well-maintained and quite large with a number of guest rooms. The staff is very competent and the cook is just as good as ours at Longbourn.' The letter went on describing what she had accomplished and what was still to be done.
It was only near the end of the letter that Elizabeth read, 'We still have not yet decided on what living arrangements would be best for all of you. Our house is so peaceful, which is what my dear husband wants at this time of life. Once I get more settled, we will talk about it.'
These sentences were what she had feared—her mother was getting settled into her new life and did not appear to miss Longbourn or the rest of her family at all. The letter was only about her new life; her former life and family appear to have been completely forgotten and put behind her. It was obviously not only her husband who was enjoying their peace and quiet; she was as well. While her mother did not say it explicitly, the thought of having her children with her in Reading would be disruptive of their new-found tranquility. After rereading this letter, Elizabeth realized that her mother had not once asked about how her children were faring. She had not mentioned Tommy even once, giving Elizabeth the impression that she did not think about him at all. All her fears about their future, and especially hers, were coming to pass.