April 1808

For Elizabeth, the death of her father was an even harder blow than the death of her mother. For the first time in her life, she felt completely disoriented and helpless and felt that she had the weight of the world on her young and small shoulders. Miss Taylor, who in addition to being her governess, loved her as if she were her niece, immediately organized everything that needed to be done, among other things, she wrote and sent the corresponding express to the Bennets, Gardiners, and the Thompsons. Later she spoke with the priest and made the arrangements for the funeral, and ordered to buy black ink to dye some gowns, and black cloths.

As soon as they received the sad news, Thomas Bennet and Mr. Gardiner traveled to Sandstone, and they arrived only one week after John's death. Frank Thompson had to stay in London as his wife was due to have their third child at any moment and he didn't want to leave her alone. Unfortunately, Mrs. Gardiner was also unable to go to Sandstone as she had to stay in London to look after her children because the governess was visiting her mother in Liverpool.

The day after they arrived, the funeral and the burial took place in the small cemetery in Sandstone. Although women didn't attend to funerals, Elizabeth wanted to attend her father's, and Ms. Taylor accompanied her. After that, Mr. Thompson's solicitor read the will, and unsurprisingly Sandstone was to be inherited by John Thompson when he came of age, and to everyone's astonishment – including Elizabeth - Elizabeth's dowry was over £50,000.

Since Elizabeth had been born, her father had invested Maria's dowry, and the one he had inherited from his mother to be Elizabeth's dowry. In addition, every year he had added about £1,000 to an account in her name.

The will also named Thomas Bennet and Edward Gardiner as Elizabeth and John's guardians. As long as John did not come of age, all decisions regarding Sandstone would be made exclusively by the two guardians. It was further stipulated that, for the economic support of Elizabeth and John, the guardians would use the income of Sandstone and what was left over would remain in John's account.

It was clearly stated that Elizabeth's dowry could not be used by her guardians, and would remain invested as it was at the moment of Mr. Thompson's death until Elizabeth came of age, or until she married, as long as both Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet approved Elizabeth's choice of husband. In the event that Elizabeth died before reaching twenty-one, her money would be inherited by John.

Three days after John's burial, Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet called Elizabeth to her father's office to tell her about the decisions they had made that they believe were the best solutions for her and John's future...

After Elizabeth sat down to listen attentively, Mr. Gardiner was the first to speak and said seriously, "Elizabeth, we know you want to stay and live in Sandstone, but unfortunately, that is not going to be possible. If I had no children, your Aunt Madeline and I would gladly come and live here with you and little John. But you know that I have a prosperous business in London, and it is the inheritance I am going to leave to my children. That's why you have to understand that I can't neglect it and live here."

Elizabeth nodded as she was sure her uncle wasn't planning on moving from London to Sandstone, and she didn't expect him to do it either.

Mr. Bennet added, "My situation is similar, you know I am Longbourn's owner, and the estate has been the Bennet home for several generations and is where I have lived all my life with my family. My main responsibility is Longbourn, and besides, your brother is going to inherit it one day. The steward of Sandstone is an honest man who has been working on the estate for several years and your father thrust him; So, Mr. Gardiner and I believe that he can continue working as usual and perhaps once a year one of us could come to Sandstone, or at least check the ledgers to see that everything is going smoothly. Also, if for some reason we cannot come, several landowners communicate with their steward by letter."

"I understand that you have other responsibilities and that neither of you can move to Sandstone. But I thought I could stay in Sandstone with Miss Taylor as my companion and with my brother. As you have well said, Sandstone's steward, Mr. Shaw, is a very honest man, I have known him for years and he can also look after my well-being and that of my brother as well."

Mr. Gardiner shook his head, "No Elizabeth, that solution is not possible. As your guardian, at least until you are twenty-one, and little John's, we cannot under any circumstances leave you here living with a companion, no matter how efficient Miss Taylor is, and supervised only by servants. If you want you can live with us in London, with your uncle Bennet in Longbourn, or half the time in each place."

Mr. Bennett added, "However, we think it is preferable for John to live in Longbourn as one day he will be inherited it and he should grow up on an estate and learns the role of an estate owner from a young age. Also, as we told you, probably once a year I will travel to Sandstone to verify that everything is fine and, in some years, John would come with me."

With tears in her eyes, Elizabeth nodded.

Then, at the end of April, with sadness, Elizabeth left Sandstone and she wouldn't return to Derbyshire for several years.

Although Miss Taylor loved Elizabeth as if she were her niece, decided to stay in Lambton with the pension that Mr. Thompson had generously left her in his will. Her mother was very old and she didn't want to leave her alone in Lambton. The distance from London or Longbourn to Derbyshire was more than three days and the costs of traveling were very high. With great sadness, she said goodbye to her dear 'girl' but promised to write to her very often.