Wretched Beginnings, Chapter 1 – Prior to September 1812
For six generations, the entail of Longbourn in Hertfordshire guaranteed the Bennet family would continue as respected landowners and minor gentry. Andrew Nathaniel Bennet, the current heir, did his duty. Marrying Elizabeth, and the birth of their heir, Nathaniel, and a spare, Thomas, were the happiest days of his life. The Bennet boys were good brothers and good friends to one another. Thomas, as the second son, never felt jealous because Nathaniel would inherit Longbourn, its holdings and its funds.
Nathaniel learned the lessons of the land he would inherit. Thomas finished his education at Cambridge. As Thomas always enjoyed a lively debate, his parents felt he would become a barrister. Elizabeth Matthews Bennet dreamed of Thomas arguing cases before the Crown Court and owning a townhouse in the smart part of London. She daydreamed he might someday become an influential judge who advised the House of Lords by interpreting the law.
The future of Longbourn appeared secure until Nathaniel died from an infectious fever which he caught from one of the tenant families. As Nathaniel had no heir – Andrew's second son, Thomas, moved from spare to heir. Thomas finished his final year at Cambridge, forewent his Grand Tour, and returned to Longbourn. He felt it was a wretched beginning of a new life…one he had not planned for himself. Thomas began his training as the future owner of Longbourn. Thomas did everything his father requested. He learned about growing crops, birthing livestock, appraising horseflesh, and community responsibilities. Yet, his heart longed for the future which Cambridge promised him. He preferred his books and the lively debates between his classmates to the demands of Longbourn. When he met Patrick Phillips, law clerk to John Gardiner, Meryton's solicitor, he delighted at John Gardiner's dinner invitation. Thomas anticipated many fine dinners at the Gardiners, keeping his debate wits sharp.
Thomas enjoyed the port after dinner with John and Edward Gardiner and Patrick Phillips. They discussed the current court cases which were reported daily in the newspaper. They discussed simple cases (contracts, marriage settlements, property transfers and wills) which constituted the bulk of the work at the John Gardiner Law Office. Additionally, John Gardiner clerked for any hearings of the local magistrate.
On a warm Midsummer's evening, Thomas Bennet attended a private ball at Netherfield Park. Miss Frances Gardiner, gracefully attired in a silk, summer blue gown, danced the supper set with Thomas Bennet. They sat with her family and Patrick Phillips. Frances Gardiner, her sister and her mother, barely spoke while Gardiner, Phillips and Bennet discussed the law. Mayhap unseemly, Bennet fantasized about a life with the amiable Miss Frances Gardiner. Bennet anticipated nights where he discussed books with Frances and law with her father and his clerk. Without weighing the pros and cons of the marriage, Thomas asked for the last dance set with Miss Frances Gardiner.
In future years, Thomas would realize he might be sated with good food and wine served by a pretty hostess…but his soul yearned for intelligence, books and good conversation.
March 1, 1794 – Mary, age 1 month
Thirty years ago, Andrew's uncle married a tradesman's daughter and changed his surname for £10,000. William John Bennet changed his name to William John Collins, moved to London and worked in the Collins' family business. Selling his name and heritage caused a breach in the family which never healed. Andrew's grandparents and parents did not claim William John Collins as a connection.
As in many things in life…the Longbourn entail was in peril. Andrew Bennet worried. Under the current entail, if Thomas Nathaniel Bennet did not have a son, the property would follow the male descendants from William John (Bennet) Collins to George Henry Collins and eventually to his son, William Nathaniel Collins.
If Thomas had no son, Andrew believed the estate had to be protected from his crude and ignorant uncle, William Collins. Andrew believed Thomas would have grandsons. He contacted three gentlemen who attended Cambridge with him. Andrew explained the situation and included a copy of the entail to his friends: two London barristers and one current landowner of a large estate in Kent.
Andrew's three colleagues agreed a grandson moved ahead of a twice-removed cousin in the order of succession. All three recommended the entail be changed by Andrew and Thomas, as the current estate holder and heir apparent. The revised entail should specify the order of succession – a son first, followed by grandson. If Thomas had no son, or grandson before his death, his cousin, George Collins, or his son, William Collins, would inherit Longbourn. Andrew's correspondents advised he keep their letters of recommendation with the previous entail paperwork and the newly drawn entail paperwork. They also recommended filing the new entail paperwork with the Crown Court. New wills needed to be written and filed. The only blessing in the situation – Longbourn was not encumbered by debt. Longbourn had an untouchable legacy which provided funds via the percents. Andrew worried the small reserve the family managed to save over the decades would be needed for legal fees to change the entail.
June 1, 1794
"Let me hold my little love," Andrew reached for Lizzy. He talked to Lizzy, observing her bright chocolate brown button eyes as she watched his face. "Elizabeth Emily…Grandpa Andrew loves you…" he watched her smile and listened to her babble.
"Jane could not come because Mary is only four months old," Thomas informed his Father. "Franny wanted Jane to stay with them because she calms Mary by singing to her."
"Lizzy, are you too curious and lively for your mother's nerves?" Andrew laid a series of kisses on Lizzy's face and laughed when she grabbed handfuls of his beard. "I have better things for you to hold." He set Lizzy on the floor with a picture book of animals and a carved cow and sheep. She solemnly set the animals beside her and opened the book. She babbled noises which resembled the sounds of the farm animals.
"I have an unusual Midsummer gift for you and your family," Andrew informed Thomas. "I consulted two men who are barristers in London and a landowner who is a friend. We can change the entail, you and me, to protect you and your family." He smiled down at Elizabeth. "However, you cannot discuss our change with your wife, or her sister. I do not wish the gossip regarding our change to reach Collins. As I am the property holder and you are the heir apparent, Collins cannot challenge our changes to the entail. When I pass, Collins or his heirs will be notified of the change to the entail by my solicitor."
Andrew Bennet laid out his proposal. "Thomas, entails are feudal in origin and designed to keep large estates from being dissolved through multiple inheritors or by lack of male issue. Entails guaranteed the property and the title would revert to the Crown if a peer died without issue. The Crown could then assign the title and property to a new construct."
"Many peers have little affection for the American colonies. Before the American Revolutionary War, the Crown established large, entailed estates in the Colonies. However, I am grateful for Thomas Jefferson's statute of 1776 which abolished entail law in Virginia. Land won by the American Revolutionary War does not revert to the Crown. In addition, the death of so many young British men in the First Anglo-Maratha War and the American Revolutionary War reduced the number of second and third sons of England. Landowners worry about providing an heir and a spare…especially now with rumors of a French Revolutionary War. My friends and colleagues opined a grandson should inherit before an estranged cousin. They cited numerous Crown Court actions lately which evidenced landowners breaking entails in favor of straight succession wills which leave properties and funds, en toto, to grandsons or great-grandsons of the bloodline."
"We cannot wait, hoping you will have a son. Purchasing the entail from George Collins or William Collins could cost as much as the original valuation for the land. We simply do not have a spare £20,000 residing in a bank. We have a legacy of £50,000 which guarantees a living of £1500 in the three percents. The rents support the manor house, farms and upkeep, and provides necessary staff, but does not enlarge the holdings. Additionally, I feel a man who sells his Bennet surname for £10,000 does not deserve a quarter farthing from Longbourn."
Edward Gardiner and Patrick Phillips would be the Longbourn trustees if Thomas passed before a grandson attained maturity. They would hold the property and legacy from Longbourn for the first grandson, until he became of age. The paperwork strongly suggested the grandson change his last name to Bennet to ensure continuation of the Bennets at Longbourn. The future master of Longbourn would be a great-grandson of the current holder, instead of a twice-removed cousin. The change of entail might thwart a Collins' succession to Longbourn.
~X~
When Andrew passed, the Collinses did not attend the funeral. Thomas Bennet asked Patrick Phillips to notify William John Collins of the change of entail. Collins received the letter, laughing because his trade living equaled Longbourn's annual profit. He believed his tradesman position embarrassed his overly educated, soft living, gentleman farmer great nephew, Thomas Bennet. Collins kept the solicitor's card, but burned the letter, never gave the notice another thought. William John Collins wished Thomas Bennet good luck at begetting a son. He had a son and anticipated his son would beget a son or two. He would inherit a share of the Collins' Warehouses if the youngest Collins brother followed his older brother into the hereafter. His portion in such a situation would be thrice the portion of his great nephew Bennet.
~X~
When his father died, Thomas Bennet planned and created his own private sanctuary…a study with a well-stocked library. He took his father's good-sized study on the east side of the house. He paid to recreate the east window as a set of doors leading out to the garden. He left the north window and window seat intact. His south wall shared a fireplace with the east music room which shared a wall with the east drawing room. With appropriate drapes, and little sunshine from the east and north, his books would not fade from excessive sunshine. The south wall, lined with floor to ceiling bookcases, helped mute the sounds of the house.
Mr. Bennet had a small library in the study of the Steward's House at Longbourn. A full three-quarters of his books were boxed, waiting for a permanent place in his life. He arranged the bookcases in his new study by genre – agriculture, classic literature, histories, law books, natural history, philosophies, sciences, novels and poetry. He had first editions, new books, second-hand books, favorites from his ancestors, children's primers and a few medical books. The maid could only clean the room when Mr. Bennet ate or slept. Staff laid and lit the fire in the study first thing in the morning, and banked the fire late at night.
A large desk sat in one corner of the room, with two leather and wood chairs for visitors. The low set of bookcases behind the desk held his ledgers and several of his newest books waiting to be read. The top of the low bookcases held the tantalizer and cigar humidor which belonged to his grandfather. Between them stood Mr. Bennet's pride and joy, a Cary table globe with a fine mahogany stand. The desk looked out over the east gardens. Two leather wingback chairs were placed by the fire, with a small, well-polished mahogany table between them. He moved the large hunting picture from the study to his bedroom and hung a large wood frame mirror in its place. The family safe hid behind the door leading into the room. Mr. Bennet had his study, and he was content.
The Bennets – after the birth of Lydia, June 1798
"This is not a debate, Mrs. Bennet. I provided lessons to Jane and Lizzy since they were five. Mary is five now and will sit lessons with her older sisters. She is not a nursery maid to entertain her baby sisters. Kitty and Lydia will join the older girls in lessons when they turn five." Mr. Bennet addressed his wife while she nursed their fifth daughter. "The girls will have mornings free before breakfast, which is when they will dress for the day, clean their rooms, take their laundry to the washing room, and help with household tasks. However, they will receive lessons from me from after breakfast to midday meal. From midday meal to dusk, the girls will learn home arts from you. I am determined and will not be dissuaded. Our daughters will be educated and accomplished to fulfill their roles as wives of gentlemen."
Mr. Bennet retreated to his study and examined his accounts. Economy and thrift experienced by the five generations before him provided Longbourn's fund. He knew he could not touch the Longbourn legacy. His personal legacy from his grandfather paid for his Cambridge education, settled £5,000 on Mrs. Bennet in their marriage articles, and allowed for a wedding tour to London. He spent the last of his legacy installing comfortable furniture and shelves of books in the corner room of the house. His study would be his sanctuary to balance his ledgers, read his books, and avoid his silly wife and her ever-present nerves.
Mr. Bennet, an exceptionally well read and intelligent man, endeavored to be informed on the important concerns of the day. He read the London Times within a day or two of its publication. He shared the newspaper, intact and quite readable, with his daughters. Despite the expenditures of Mr. Bennet's funds for six women who needed food and board, clothes and entertainment…one could always find a few new books, decanters of excellent port and brandy, a box of quality cigars, and a comfortable fire in the study.
April 1805
"I suggest you depart Meryton tomorrow. You will not be invited to call or take tea at Longbourn before you depart. You have discomposed my lady, which discomposes my daughters and disrupts my household." Mr. Bennet advised his cousin, George Collins. "I have no issue with you burying your father in the family cemetery near our great-grandfather. However, I barely knew your father and certainly don't know you. Please consult with the stone cutter before you depart. Don't leave directions for to me to manage the situation in six months' time."
"We will leave tomorrow, since I fulfilled Father's wish to bring him home to Longbourn. Because my living situation is dependent upon the largess of the Collinses, I will not change my surname, or William's either. I suggest you hurry and beget a son. Your five daughters will not inherit Longbourn, and before you know it, William Collins will." Collins smirked.
"I suggest you invest in the boy's education. The master of Longbourn cannot be an illiterate." Mr. Bennet retorted. 'I don't believe they've read or understood the paperwork from Father's solicitor.'
Collins kept his temper in check. "Educated or not, William will inherit Longbourn through the entailment set down six generations ago. Keep Longbourn in good condition. I should hate for William to inherit a rock pile. There's no reason to spend his legacy from his grandfather to keep Longbourn's boards together. I anticipate his legacy will grow to £20,000 before you depart this veil. He can use the legacy and its interest to enlarge the holdings. With the entailment and his legacy – he will be a prize catch for a young woman whose family is in trade. They will pay handsomely to raise their family's connections." Collins grinned.
Mr. Bennet refused to let his ignorant cousin needle him. "Don't count the silver plate before you inherit," he advised. Phillips suggested Collins should be advised of the change in entail since William John (Bennet) Collins had passed. Thomas claimed William John (Bennet) Collins received notice when the entail changed. Thomas Bennet's duty was to Longbourn, not educating his cousins.
"We will not depart Meryton until I show Netherfield Park, Lucas Lodge, Haye Park and Purvis Lodge to William. He should know who his society will be when he inherits. I hope you educate your daughters well. Intelligent companions and governesses are always sought after. One of your daughters, with no surname of importance, low connections and little money, must marry well. I will advise William not to keep Mrs. Bennet or your unwed daughters at Longbourn after he inherits." Collins set his port glass down. "Wonderful room, I recommend you pass your time in it. I would not wish you inadvertently killed while riding or hunting while I'm still alive. I like my life in London. My Collins cousins are more amiable than my Bennet ones."
The Bennets – June 1803 to Summer 1812
Sunday afternoon, Mr. Bennet addressed his good lady. "Lydia turns five this week. I devised a new schedule for our girls. They must be educated and accomplished to find husbands capable of caring for them and for you. If our daughters are not wed well or have a situation where they can care for you, you will be at the mercy of Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Phillips. You knew this when we wed; things have not changed because you wish them so. I will not rest comfortably in the beyond if our daughters are begging on the streets."
Mrs. Bennet taught her daughters how to manage a household and its ledgers, care for tenants, needlework and sewing, music, playing cards and the art of being a hostess. Jane, Lizzy and Mary were competent seamstresses. They finished their first samplers before their eighth birthdays. Kitty finished her sampler before her ninth birthday. Lydia lingered over hers. Eventually, when Mr. Bennet felt quite strict, Lydia sat quietly in his study and embroidered her sampler. She eventually finished before her tenth birthday, although the sampler looked as if she created it when she turned six.
Jane and Mary were the best embroiders of the girls. Their quiet constitutions enabled them to spend hours at their craft. Both mastered intricate stitches easily. Jane owned a collection of elaborate stitch patterns. Mary owned a collection of free-form botanical patterns of vines, leaves or flowers. Lizzy mastered simple stitches; but intricate needlework bored her. She daydreamed of walks or read aloud to her sisters to pass the time. By the time Kitty and Lydia were old enough to learn needlework, Mrs. Bennet declared them too lively to sit quietly and embroider. They spent their time remaking bonnets and fighting over who owned the best bonnet, lace or ribbon.
Jane and Mary had two workbaskets – one held regular sewing items and projects. One held fine silver sewing items like small scissors, needle holder and thimble along with items embroidered during calling hours. Visitors did not need to see Jane mending Lizzy's torn petticoats or Mary sewing muslin bags for herbs when they could view Jane and Mary turning a fine seam or embroidering advanced stitches.
Twice a year in the spring and fall, Mrs. Bennet purchased material from her brother, Edward Gardiner. His large warehouse consisted of two sections. The draper shop side held fabrics, buttons, threads, ribbons, laces and trimmings for clothes. Sewing items, like needles and thread spinners, along with embroidery, knitting and lacemaking items could be purchased along with various sized workboxes. The milliner side held plain reticules, gloves and mitts, bonnets, fans and shawls for embroidering or trimming to each lady's satisfaction. Gardiner owned a limited partnership in a sailing company which imported items. Gardiner imported fabrics like China silks, Italian cottons, and Indian muslins. He procured lace from Belgium, Ireland and Italy. He possessed a limited partnership with a cobbler, haberdasher and with two modistes. He had business interests in a bookstore, a wine shop, and a woolen material manufacturing company in Leeds.
A large bolt of fine white cotton or white flannel furnished the Bennet women with chemises, nightrails and petticoats. A large bolt of cream or white cotton provided a day dress for each of the five Bennet girls in the spring or summer. A large bolt of dark cream wool or kerseymere provided a day dress for each of the five Bennet girls in the fall and winter. Spring and summer weight linen created pelisses and spencers; wool materials provided winter redingotes or cloaks. Jane and Kitty shared blue materials, trims and ribbons. Lizzy and Mary shared brown or green materials, trims and ribbons. Lydia shared wine or red materials, trims and ribbons with Mrs. Bennet since they were similar in coloring and taste.
The modiste in Meryton set aside two weeks after Lady Day and after Michaelmas to clothe the Bennet ladies and Mrs. Phillips. She appreciated Jane, Lizzy and Mary's abilities to sew even, straight, sturdy seams. As the modiste's reputation created her livelihood, she only allowed Kitty and Lydia to hem petticoats and night clothes. Mrs. Bennet spent more time gossiping with her sister than sewing during the visits. Only Jane matched modiste's talent at setting lace. Her ability helped her mother and sisters when preparing for assemblies. Lydia and Kitty offered to complete Jane's household tasks for two weeks if she refreshed the laces on their ballgowns.
Mrs. Gardiner appeared with a carriage full of materials, ribbons, trims, buttons, and accessories. When Mrs. Gardiner departed, the Bennets and Mrs. Phillips had undergarments and nightwear, gowns, and outer wear. She brought shoes, slippers, half boots, and walking boots made to the Bennet women's specifications. She brought trunks of new accessories and bandboxes of bonnets. She brought new fashion plates from the modistes which she patronized. When Mrs. Gardiner departed, Mr. Bennet filled her carriage with hams, smoked turkeys, cheese wheels, a crate of nuts, and crates of orchard and garden stuff. He consulted with Mary before providing wines and honey.
Mrs. Gardiner brought Mary a large basket of dried white lilac flowers and petals during the visit after Michaelmas. Mary sent her Aunt Gardiner home with white lilac infused water, soaps, sachets and a scented candle or two when she visited Longbourn each spring after Lady Day. She brought Mary the scrap bin from Gardiner's Emporium. Mary created sachets for her aunts, mother and sisters. She created small alms bags for Papa to use at the church during Easter and Christmas. She created herb bags for the stillroom or pen wipers. She created bookmarks for uncles, Papa and Lizzy from ribbon scraps.
Jane possessed a sweet and gentle temperament. Elizabeth exhibited a strong intellect and inquisitive mind. Mary demonstrated a keen sense of duty to her family, and a well-defined spatial ability. Amiable Catherine (Kitty) easily made friends. Lydia's easy laugh brought a smile to the dourest face. They might not have excessive dowries, but Mr. Bennet insisted they be educated and accomplished.
Mrs. Bennet, a beauty when young and still handsome, proved silly with no aptitude for education or understanding. She married to improve her social position, with no intention of improving her mind nor her person. She felt a desperate need to marry her daughters off as advantageously as possible. She knew a comfortable situation in her dotage depended on the quality of men who married her daughters. She believed an early coming out would give her pretty daughters an advantage over the other girls of Hertfordshire. Jane and Lizzy came out six months before other girls their age. Mary refused to come out until her eight and tenth birthday.
Mrs. Bennet capitalized on Mary's stubbornness. She used a great deal of Mary's coming out funds for silk gowns, new laces and ribbons for Jane and Lizzy. Mary did not care. As long as she had several good day dresses in browns and greens for working in the gardens and orchards, an appropriate day gown for church, and a few gowns for dinners and events she was forced to attend – Mary was happy. Kitty looked forward to coming out in April on her seven and ten birthday. Mrs. Bennet delayed her coming out until Lydia turned five and ten in June. Kitty battled for an equal share of coming out funds. She might not receive as much attention as Lydia, but she would not give way on the funds. She already gave way on when she would come out.
Because Lydia came out on her five and ten birthday, she felt believed she deserved the best of everything in the house…gowns, materials, laces, ribbons, shawls, fans, stockings, bonnets, etc. She also believed available funds should be spent for her or by her. Mr. Bennet asked Jane to help Kitty, to ensure she received her fair share. Mrs. Bennet proclaimed she felt no hardship having five daughters out at once. Why should Lydia suffer solitude at home when the other four Bennet girls were not as excited about assemblies, card parties and private dinners as Lydia?
All five girls could create menus, set tables, arrange flowers and serve tea. Jane's jams were the best; Lizzy's pound cakes were enjoyed. Mary's herb and cheese scones were a delight at tea time as were her honey biscuits. Kitty and Lydia gossiped with servants rather than properly read and measure for recipes, or properly time things in the oven. Mrs. Hill felt they would never be able to do anything in the kitchen but boil water for tea and set a pretty tea tray. Mama declared Mary too serious and the least beautiful of all the Bennet girls.
Mary felt she would be a spinster, and therefore, needed to know how to perform all the domestic tasks which kept a house functional. Mary learned to clean, cook, sew, garden, and wash clothes. She learned how to inventory the gardens and cellars and how to use garden and orchard stuff to feed the family. She learned to make herb tea if there was no good brown tea available. She could turn gowns to use in her gardens. She learned to dry tea leaves and stretch tea leaves for a fourth pouring with her herbs. She learned how to create items needed in the stillroom by the family, friends and tenants. She learned how to make soaps to clean rugs, floors, and clothes. She could build a fire to keep warm, and could split and gather wood as necessary.
Mr. Hill taught the young Bennet ladies small animal husbandry. The Bennet girls knew how to spoil the piggy sows and care for new farrows. They learned how to wean the farrows, and help them grow into hogs to feed the family. They knew how to milk a cow, but the dairy maids on the main farm delivered milk to the manor daily. Mrs. Hill sent Jane, Lizzy or Mary to help the dairy maids make butter and cheese. Kitty and Lydia were useless to follow intricate process. They weren't even useful to fetch and carry during the process because they daydreamed and practiced their dancing steps.
All five girls knew how to set hens and gather eggs. Thanks to Mary's hard work for a fortnight one spring, the poultry houses and runs were enlarged, with an enlarged poultry herd of turkeys, geese, ducks and chickens. Eggs not used by the Bennet family were bartered for other products the family needed. Weekly the poultry coops were mucked out. Mr. Hill buried the muck in deep ditches established between trees in the orchards.
Mary and the farmers harvested goose feathers from the Longbourn geese on Lady Day. Each goose could supply ten or more quality quills. After washing goose feathers, Mary set them to dry in the distillery until Michaelmas. She provided quills for her father, both her uncles, and for her sisters. Each April, after gathering rainwater, she cured ink for three to four weeks. Mary created ink for Longbourn, with additional supplies for Uncle Phillips who taught her Latin lessons.
Mr. Hill taught the girls to compost the orchard leaves and the copse leaves for nourishing the garden soil. In the fall, the vegetation from the harvested gardens fed the compost pile. The main farm used the compost heap to amend the soils in the kitchen and herb gardens. Mary worked with Mr. Hill and farm laborers to turn the garden soil, add compost and bed the gardens over winter. Herbs which lost their potency were added to the compost pile.
Straw beds from the animals at the main farm and on tenant farms were composted also. Compost piles occupied scraps of land which did not grow anything. Those piles cured for a year before the compost amended farm soils in the early spring. The tenant fields were well-tended. Longbourn followed the Norfolk four-course rotation system. Crops of clover and turnips alternated with wheat and barley to help the fields avoid soil depletion.
Jane and Lizzy excelled at planting and nurturing flowerbeds, and keeping the walking path through the flower gardens spotless. Every one of the girls could arrange flowers, but either Jane or Lizzy accompanied Kitty and Lydia to gather flowers. Both of them were apt to practice their dance moves in the garden. They would strip one bush or section bare of flowers instead of clipping judiciously to keep the gardens beautiful and even. Jane and Lizzy dried lovely bouquets of flowers to provide color in the house during winter months. Kitty and Lydia helped clean the small copse which separated the house and park from the main farm. They cleaned walking paths and sitting areas which provided a cool, calming refuge for the family.
The Bennet girls could plant, maintain and harvest the kitchen garden at the main farm. Mr. Hill privately cheered when Mary assumed leadership of the gardens and the orchards. Mary was the most interested and adept at gardening. Currently, the kitchen garden fed four and twenty people. During the spring, summer and fall, Mary worked in the kitchen and herb gardens at the main farm from sunrise to breakfast. She utilized the freshest of the garden and orchard stuff for feeding the family. Mr. Bennet enjoyed creamed peas and new potatoes with rosemary roasted chicken for Sunday dinner in the spring. In the fall, he enjoyed baked pears with walnuts and honey. Mary planted in the fall to harvest in early spring – onions, shallots, garlic, turnips, carrots and asparagus.
Mrs. Hill taught beekeeping, but Mary exhibited interest in the lessons. Eventually Mary maintained three hives at Longbourn. She traded two sow babies from her piggy sow for two hives. Both were located at different ends of the orchard. The Longbourn hive sat near the kitchen and herb garden. Mary gathered the honey during spring planting, and during fall harvesting. She never drained the hives dry of honey, especially over the winter.
Mary bartered honey with Mr. Gardiner for tight-fitting lidded crocks to hold her honey. The smallest ones, which held two cups of honey, were the most valuable to her. She kept most of her honey for her family, but she bartered for books and music, for art supplies, for herb cuttings and seeds, and for garden hats, gloves, boots and tools. She bartered for bottles and corks for decanting wines and mead. Mary bartered for end pieces of linen, cotton and muslin bolts to make seed or herb storage sacks or garden aprons. She needed honey for herbal remedies.
Each fall Mary helped Mr. Hill decant mead which cured for a year. The mead created gifts for Papa's tenants, family and friends. He opined there was nothing finer than a bottle of Mary's well-cured mead at Christmas. She and Mr. Hill brewed new casks of mead from her recent honey harvest. They brewed apple cider, apple wine, and vinegar. They created berry wines. When the red currant bushes were verdant, Mary helped Mr. Hill brew red currant wine. She helped him turn grains into ale, then beer, followed by feeding the remaining brew grains to the pigs, fattening them for slaughter. Each January Mrs. Hill purchased cases of Seville oranges which they used to make orange marmalade and two and ten bottles of orange wine. Mary and Mr. Hill decanted orange wine for Christmas celebrations.
After a spring rain turned to sunshine, Mary could be found in the forest between the main farm and the tenant farms, gathering cone mushrooms. Mrs. Hill taught her to soak the cone mushrooms in cold water overnight to remove anything caught in the open pores. She taught Mary to quarter the mushrooms and toss them with butter and spring ramps for roasting. They were a delicious side dish for roasted meats. Mary found the freshest ramps in spring, the fattest fish in the summer and patches of wild, red-veined sorrel leaves in the fall. Mary learned to gather elderberries from bushes which grew wild. She had Mr. Hill transplant the bushes in the fall at Longbourn's main farm.
Mr. Hill taught the Bennet girls to care for nut trees and how to harvest nuts. Mr. Hill taught the girls to plant garlic under the newest apple seedlings to help the tree grow. He taught them to care for fruit trees and how to store apples to last through winter. Fallen apples, which could not be salvaged to feed the family, were fed to the pigs. Apples were stored on ten-drawer wooden apple racks in the attic to keep them cool and useable for several months. What didn't fit on the racks occupied sailcloth in unused corners of the attic. Additionally, Mary dried and stored apple slices in muslin bags in the pantry to use for the family during winter months.
Mr. Hill taught the girls to tie muslin bits or old, frayed ribbons on branches which did not produce. In the fall, after harvesting and after the first hard frost, Mr. Hill and farm laborers cut the non-producing branches off the trees and bound the fresh cuts to keep the winter winds and moisture from ruining the tree. The wood dried for a year before helping heat Longbourn and stretch their coal supply. They sent downed branches and twigs to the main farm to be dried as firewood and kindling. Each fall, branches from a patch of white birch trees in the copse were harvested for bark. Mary let the bark dry for a year before she powdered the willow bark for headaches or boiled shards in white wine to create headache draughts.
On her second and tenth birthday, Mary begged Papa for a piece of land near the kitchen garden to grow herbs. Mary, under Mrs. Hill's tutelage, created an herb garden which enlarged every year until Mary's eighth and tenth birthday. The herb garden at the main farm produced enough tea herbs, cooking herbs, and medicinal herbs for four and twenty people. Mary tended a large bed of lavender about the size of the east parlor at Longbourn. She enlarged the rose and flower gardens of Longbourn. She allowed Jane and Lizzy to use fresh clippings for bouquets, but they knew to hang the old bouquets in Mary's stillroom.
Papa agreed to let Mary assume the stillroom duties of Longbourn. Mary harvested and preserved seeds. She grew and dried flowers and herbs. Ashes from fires were saved from Michaelmas until Lady Day, when Mary worked with Sarah in the distillery for days to create candles and soaps which hardened all summer and were available after Michaelmas. They made cinnamon or bay scented candles for Christmas. They made beeswax candles to use for family dinners when they were low on four or six hour candles. Mary and Sarah distilled floral waters and perfume in small casks which were stored in her stillroom. She filled stoppered bottles of floral waters and perfume for her sisters and Mother. She experimented with making floral soaps for her sisters, Mother and Aunt Phillips. She sewed floral sachets for tucking into drawers, armoires and closets. She used dried lavender or rose petals to make soap or scented candles. Mary created bay and bergamot water and soaps for Papa and Uncle Phillips. She created lemon and ginger soaps and herbal cleansing vinegar which she insisted the surgeon and apothecary use before treating anyone (family, staff or tenants) at Longbourn. Ashes, not used to make candles and soaps, fed the compost pile.
Mary purchased a few tightly woven baskets from Mrs. Gardiner's favorite seed and plant warehouse in London. She gathered flowers using the flat baskets. She wrote to Mr. Gardiner in London to secure herb seeds and small garden hand tools, small casks, and other garden and stillroom needs. Twice a year, she purchased a crate of good sherry and a crate of brandy which she used for medicines. Mr. Gardiner procured and shipped goods to Mary. She sent payment immediately, ensuring she entered the purchases in her stillroom ledger. Mary reused shipping crates in the cellar to hold garden stuff or nuts.
Before Mary reached her fifth and tenth birthday, Mr. Locke, the local apothecary, lauded Mary's stillroom skills. Mary's stillroom abilities kept the family and tenants from depending upon Mr. Locke. Mary traded herbs and lavender to Mr. Locke in exchange for lessons. He taught her to make medicinal sherry using good sherry, laudanum and chamomile syrup. He taught her how to plant, harvest, dry herbs and preserve her herbs. He taught her to make comfrey tea to boost the effectiveness of growing her kitchen and herb gardens. He taught her to put the used comfrey leaves in the compost pile.
Mary used the kitchen, when she would not be in Mrs. Hill's way, for cooking herbal syrups and tisanes. She learned to make broths, tonics and herbal medicines to calm Mother's nerves and keep her worst headaches at bay. Mary's spiced honey in hot water soothed the sorest of throats. Tissanes of feverfew and lemon balm with white willow bark powder relieved a headache. Chamomile tea eased sore muscles and minor aches. Mr. Bennet paid Mary £3 quarterly for eggs, honey, herbs, garden and orchard management and stillroom skills. She kept a stillroom ledger to note costs and profits for sherry, brandy, seeds, and supplies. A competent stillroom maid would cost £15 per year plus room and board.
When Mary harvested herbs in the fall, she transferred herb cuttings to the Longbourn conservatory. Cuttings provided fresh herbs for cooking and medicine during the winter. She needed herb cuttings for transplanting in the spring. She harvested seeds and took great pains to harvest and dry herbs.
Mary worked year round, even in winter. If winter proved cold enough, she could harvest ice. While not overly large, the Longbourn ice house held ice blocks carved from streams and rivers in the winter. The icehouse cooled apple cider for hot summer days. The icehouse also kept produce cool in the summer until preserved or used.
~X~
Once Mrs. Bennet taught the girls to play cards, she passed merry evenings with them. Lydia usually won at Vingt-un, because she could calculate the possibilities of reaching one and twenty faster than her sisters. Lizzy and Jane were the best at whist because they both played steadily and didn't out trump one another. Mr. Bennet taught the girls Commerce, Quadrille or Loo. He enjoyed playing cribbage with Jane and Mary because they were good at calculating points and pegging. Kitty and Lydia chatted a great deal too much while playing cards when they didn't play for money. Mary refused to gamble her pocket money when playing cards which vexed Lydia who reveled in wresting a quarter farthing or two from her sisters.
Mr. Bennet escaped to his study each night when the girls were learning to play pianoforte. Once Jane turned ten, and Lizzy turned eight, their skills improved. Mary preferred to practice the pianoforte between breakfast and midday meal. She could sight play most music but preferred to practice new pieces. Vicar Nelson's wife taught her how to copy music. Mary had the largest collection of music sheets of any young woman in Hertfordshire.
Kitty and Lydia whined about playing the pianoforte on their night instead of playing cards or practicing dance steps. When Mrs. Bennet ordered Mary play in their stead, Mr. Bennet addressed the trio. "Musicians are paid to play for assemblies and balls, large dinner parties or entertaining guests. If you plan to treat Mary like a musician for hire, be prepared to pay the coin." He conferred with Mary and then announced, "One farthing, or four hours of helping Mary with gardens, stillroom, or poultry and livestock, in exchange for four hours of Mary playing pianoforte."
Kitty and Lydia refused to part with money to hire Mary. They spent their time weeding or harvesting in the garden or picking fruit in the orchard. Mary sent them to pick baskets of wild roses from the roadsides. She taught them how to identify bergamot by the purple flowers. They would take baskets into the forest, locate a bergamot plant, and strip the leaves. Mary took cuttings from the bergamot plants early in the spring to grow patches of bergamot in shade of trees and outbuildings at Longbourn manor and main farm. When dry, the bergamot would flavor third or fourth use tea leaves. When Kitty found a bay laurel bush in the forest, Mary played the pianoforte for Kitty's night for a month. Mr. Hill helped Mary transplant the bay laurel bush into the herb garden.
When Kitty or Lydia couldn't bear the thought of mucking out the poultry coops or turning the compost pile, they played for the entertainment of their family on their assigned nights. While Mary found no pleasure in playing cards or practicing her dance steps, she hated how Mother and her younger sisters devalued her company. Jane patiently taught Mary to dance or play cribbage. Lizzy taught Mary how to play chess. Jane and Lizzy stood against Mrs. Bennet when she suggested Mary give up dancing altogether and spend her time playing for her sisters to dance. Mary noticed she, Jane and Lizzy provided musical entertainment when Mother entertained the four and twenty families of their social circle.
Mr. Hill taught the young Bennet ladies horseback riding and archery. Jane and Kitty were the best horsewomen, attempting and completing jumps and displays. Lizzy, Mary and Lydia were adept enough to join a riding party. However, since the horses were needed on the farm, riding lessons were saved for Sunday afternoons. None of the Bennet girls could hunt with a bow and arrow, but they could participate in archery contests at garden parties and outings. Mr. Hill hoped Mary would polish her skills and hunt with bow and arrow. However, her work in the orchard, kitchen and herb gardens, the poultry and beekeeping seemed endless. He hoped Lizzy, with her love of walking, would go to the forests early in the morning and hone her archery skills while providing food for the family. Lizzy preferred to walk and carry home mushrooms, ramps, berries, leafy things like sorrel or curly dock, or flowers which she found on her rambles.
Mrs. Phillips, the Bennet girls' aunt, taught French and drawing. She loved teaching one girl per day during the week, after breakfast and before midday meal. Lydia excelled at portraits. Once the militia entered Meryton, she filled her sketch paper with faceless militia in their regimentals. Eventually, she traded a dress length of ribbon for a quarter-page drawing for which the man sat and then mailed home to his family. Jane, Lizzy and Kitty were capable of simple landscapes. Kitty redrew ensembles which she observed on ladies or in fashion plates. She could recreate gowns or bonnets fashion plates for her and her sisters. Mary, the best artist of the sisters, drew detailed botanicals and still life. She gave botanical drawings as presents to friends and family.
A French or drawing master would cost Papa a pound for two and ten lessons, which meant £8 for a year's lessons for one girl; £40 per year for lessons for five girls. Mary bartered for lessons for she and her sisters. She played the pianoforte for Mrs. Phillips' monthly card parties. She provided scented soaps, floral water, sachets or candles. She provided excess garden and orchard stuff, honey, eggs, and tea herbs. Mary also procured French or art lessons with a bottle of medicinal sherry, or bottles of wine or mead.
Over the years, the lessons changed. Jane, Lizzy and Mary could speak, read and write French fluently. However, Mary wanted to learn Latin. She traded a jar of honey or tea herbs for Latin lessons from the vicar, or a supply of ink and quills for Latin lessons from Uncle Phillips. Kitty and Lydia could barely converse in French, and could not read or write French with any fluency. However, they excelled in singing French ballads and love songs.
Mr. Bennet taught his daughters reading, writing, history, geography, science and mathematics. Lizzy, the best reader, enjoyed a variety of topics and discussed them with her father. All the girls read from time to time to Mrs. Bennet when she experienced one of her nervous headaches. Jane usually read poetry. Lizzy read classical literature. Mary read novels as requested, but they gave her no great pleasure. Kitty and Lydia only read from fashion magazines, society pages or chatted and gossiped with Mama.
~X~
When the girls turned two and ten, Mr. Bennet gave them a strongbox, a ledger and a small money pouch to hold coins. They were required to keep the strongbox and ledger in his study. The girls were allowed to carry a money pouch in their reticule when they went to town. However, he required the girls to ledger every expense. When the girls turned five and ten, they were given their four percent from Mrs. Bennet's marriage settlement which equaled £40 a year until Mr. Bennet passed. He dispersed the four percents in equal payments of £10 on quarter days. The girls were required to purchase clothes, shoes and accessories from quarterly pin money. They were required to purchase books, art supplies, etc. from their £1 per quarter pocket money. Upon Mrs. Bennet's death, each girl would receive £1,000 from the marriage settlement.
Monthly, Mr. Bennet reviewed the girls' ledgers. If they had not balanced their ledger, he charged a shilling against their pocket money. Lydia, the worst at her accounts, wheedled extra pocket money from Mrs. Bennet. She usually spent her pocket money the week Papa dispersed funds, and borrowed from Kitty for the remainder of the quarter. Careful inspection of Kitty's ledger caused Mr. Bennet to give Kitty half of Lydia's pocket money one quarter to balance their accounts. "Don't loan your money if you don't expect repayment." He threatened to fine Kitty a pound if she loaned Lydia any money after that. Careful inspection of Lydia's ledger caused him to charge a shilling against her pocket money, for she had not entered any of the loans carefully noted in Kitty's ledger.
When Lydia protested such stringent measures on her pocket money, Bennet retorted. "Governesses are paid £15-25 per year. If you continue your education, you will receive your pin money of £10 per quarter, and £1 per quarter pocket money. If you cease your education, there will be no funds. I suggest you apply yourself to your lessons." He sternly scolded Lydia. "I despair of ever teaching you to be an adequate reader, writer or make you competent with your sums. I believe you rely too much on your liveliness to ever be a serious scholar, companion or governess."
"I don't want to be a companion or governess. I will marry a fine man who will provide a great deal of society and plenty of pin money. I will have servants who do all the work. I will never muck out a poultry coop or weed a garden again in my life. I will never turn another gown, and will have a new silk gown for each ball." Lydia stubbornly asserted. "As I am the liveliest, I believe I will marry before my sisters."
"Lydia, I have a list of acceptable chores for a young lady until you learn to govern your expenditures. Helping Mary in the stillroom, preserving jams and jellies, greeting staff who deliver fresh garden stuff, fruits and milk every morning, working in our kitchen garden, working in the dairy, helping with the washing, sewing and mending." Mr. Bennet would not allow his daughters to spend foolishly. He struggled for over twenty years to make Mrs. Bennet spend responsibly.
"How can you be so mean about money?" Mrs. Bennet cried.
"Our daughters need to learn economy and thrift," Mr. Bennet drew himself up to his full height. "You and the girls, if they are unmarried, will be forced to live on a total of £200 per annum or the princely sum of £33 pounds per year each if all five live with you. If you will not teach them economy and thrift, Mrs. Bennet, I must take the odious task upon myself. You will find I am a strict taskmaster regarding their financial education."
Mrs. Bennet pressed her lips into a thin line while she fluttered her handkerchief faster than wind fills a sail. "Well, I for one, would not want a property merely entailed upon me. Entails are evil, taking your property away from your daughters in favor of an unknown male cousin!"
"As I inherited through the entail, Mrs. Bennet…mayhap you should not condemn the practice. Entails exist to ensure estates are not mortgaged, broken up and sold off, or legacy monies gambled recklessly. I am heartily sorry we are not two generations later, for then I would be allowed to bequeath my property to my first daughter or first grandson." Mr. Bennet dismissed Mrs. Bennet's flappings and flutterings. He did not discuss the change of entail when Mary was a baby.
"How can a Collins inherit a Bennet property, Father?" Kitty stammered. "I have a headache endeavoring to understand."
"My great-grandfather had two living sons, my grandfather Thomas and his brother, William, ten years his junior. William Bennet agreed to take his bride's surname, Collins, for the sum of £10,000. Margaret Collins' older brother died, and her younger brother sickened. The Collinses were well known in trade. William Bennet Collins had a son, George Collins, who had a son, William Collins. William is two years older than Jane."
"My grandfather Thomas had one son, Andrew, and a daughter who died before her tenth birthday. Your grandfather Andrew begat my older brother Nathaniel, who died when I was two and twenty. I became the heir apparent." Bennet explained to much muttering and handkerchief flapping from Mrs. Bennet. "Entailments can only change if the intended heir agrees with the current estate holder to change the entailment. Changing an entailment is a legal process which could be costly. Longbourn's entailment is specific. Upon the death of the current estate holder – the estate and its legacy goes to the first son or the nearest male Bennet blood relative. The entail allowed me to inherit Longbourn, the establishing legacy, and any holdings and investments. I inherited the family portraits, the Bennet family silver, the family cradle and christening gown, and the family Bible."
"I cannot bear to think of odious Mr. Collins sitting in my parlor, or my being forced to make way for him when you pass," Mrs. Bennet moaned. "He will turn us out of Longbourn and we will live in the hedgerows!"
"I have not lost my sense of hearing in my advanced age, Mrs. Bennet. Please cease speaking of my corpse and living in hedgerows! You knew of the entail when we married. You and I did not produce a son but produced five healthy daughters. Mayhap our daughters do not have the largest of dowries, but I have shared my greatest possessions with them…a Cambridge education and Longbourn, the home of my ancestors for six generations."
Mrs. Bennet continued to mutter, flutter and flap.
"Think charitably, Mrs. Bennet. Mayhap your nerves and vapors will make you pass before me. Mayhap I will marry a younger woman who will provide a son in my dotage. Then he will inherit the property and take care of his sisters." Bennet folded his paper, and prepared to retreat to his study.
Mrs. Bennet burst into tears and fled to her chambers with a nervous headache. Mr. Bennet smiled, knowing he could freely pursue his books at his leisure. He tired of repeatedly explaining the entail to his whinging wife. She knew the situation when he offered for her. She married him to advance her social standing. He celebrated because she did not know about the change in the entail. If she did, she would have brought all the girls out early and forced them to marry as soon as possible. He could not bear the thought of Lizzy being forced into marriage. He wanted her to marry for love. He wanted her to marry someone who would respect her and her fine mind. 'If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.'
~X~
"Mama's headache cannot be as severe as she claims. She ordered a full tea tray with a double portion of Lizzy's butter pound cake, and several of Mary's honey biscuits for Lydia and herself," Kitty commented. "She requested some of the citrus roly poly from dinner last night. She appeared vexed because Papa enjoyed the last of the roly poly with his morning coffee. Lydia reads from fashion magazines and scandal sheets to her. We are quite at our own leisure."
Mary retreated to the stillroom. Jane sewed. Kitty sketched. Lizzy and Mr. Bennet played chess. A quiet afternoon passed…and for this, the Bennet family felt grateful.