Note: While thi story is stand-alone, I revived my favorite character from the first chapter, Alice Hill. Sooner rather than later is becoming a series within a series, at least in my mind. The question: how would early intervention have made a difference? In this case, Mrs. Hill sees the direction that her master and mistress are trending and steps in to try and stop the disaster before it becomes unstoppable.
Note: To those reviewers who have suggested that I turn my thoughts back to Netherfield, I am writing a Caroline chapter, but am still struggling to flesh it out.
Chapter Twelve – Sooner rather than later deux or Alice takes Thomas out to the woodshed
A little love... and respect... can make all of the difference
Alice Hill was the only one who saw the hurt in Frances Bennet's eyes when Mr. Bennet ended their conversation dismissively, pushed back from the table, and walked off to his book room. The young mistress of the Longbourn almost flinched when he shut the door, leaving her alone.
When Alice moved in such a way as to make her presence known, Fanny quickly wiped at her eyes with a lace handkerchief and presented her housekeeper with her best serene expression. Alice had only intended to ask the lady of the house a single question. Instead she engaged the beautiful young woman in list of topics from menus, to the seeding of the home-plot, and even to a possible renovation of a servant's cottage before another servant was hired. The respect that Alice offered in her questions seemed to restore her mistress somewhat, so it was worth her efforts.
More than once Alice saw Fanny glance at the door of her husband's study and then turn quickly away. Though the woman hid her pain with a serene expression, it was clear to Alice that Thomas Bennet was hurting his wife with his dismissive attitudes. It made Alice feel angry. Yes, it was true that Mrs. Bennet was not the brightest young woman, but he chose her and now, after having his eyes opened, he was causing injury by his deliberate indifference.
Alice discussed most of her thoughts with her husband each evening as they strolled under starlight or lay together in bed, but she withheld this issue. She had mentioned it to him before and Caleb had counseled her to stay out of the matter, "Let the higher folks sort themselves out, Alice. No good ever comes from messin' in affairs that aren't our own." As much as Alice loved and respected her husband, she did not agree.
She kept her tongue and her opinion to herself for another month, until the day she heard Mr. Bennet describe his wife as "silly" in front of guests. His guests were uncomfortable. Frances Bennet was hurt. Alice was livid. She determined then and there that she would do something about it.
Her chance came only three days later, when Mr. Bennet finally stepped out to look over the second servant's cottage as Alice had requested. Caleb Hill was out for most of the day on an errand for his master, so it fell to Alice to escort Thomas Bennet to the cottage and address the various issues.
After pointing out the various issues, Alice took her moment: "Mr. Bennet, have I ever told you about my parents?"
Thomas, who was already anticipating a return to to his port and the little translation of Aristotle that he had finally found and purchased on his last jaunt to London, looked for an escape, but his housekeeper was a substantial woman and she was in between him and the front door of the cottage. "If I remember, your mother was a governess and you father was a farmer?"
"Yes. You see, my mother had been a governess for a rather wild young girl who taxed even my mother's patience. But Mama persevered, the girl settled, and she married quite well. Of course the reward for a job well done for a governess is the need to find a new position. Mama was tired, so she decided to take a holiday and visit her only sister first."
Alice Hill was a gifted story teller who knew just how to inflect and emphasize so that her listeners always wanted to hear more. For the moment, metaphysics and Aristotle were forgotten in favor of her tale. Mr. Bennet nodded for her to go on.
"Mama met Papa at an assembly. He was a big, strapping man with a kind face and a handsome smile. Mama wasn't the prettiest woman, but her goodness and kindness shone through her eyes." Mr. Bennet mused that Mrs. Hill matched that description. Hers was the type of face which made people feel comfortable and welcome. She was not pretty, but her character drew people to her. Alice continued, "They got on so well that Mama never looked for another position. Four months after they met, they were married.
"There was a problem though. Mama was highly educated and very well-spoken. Papa was no dullard, but he had never gone to school. He couldn't even read. All people have pride, Mr. Bennet, and the disparity between them began to eat at my Papa. It caused him to pull back at times.
"Mama truly did not care that he was not educated, but she also couldn't hide her intelligence. Papa had always been a confident man. Now he was looking down on himself and resenting Mama. It was causing a rift that might have destroyed their happy marriage."
Thomas Bennet was not a stupid man by any stretch of the imagination. He knew at this point in her story that his housekeeper was not just talking about her own parents. It was an unpleasant thing to be taken to task by his servant, but the issue of Fanny's lack of intellect had been oft on his mind of late. He nodded for her to continue.
"Mama cared too much about Papa to just let it be. She gently pried and prodded until she got her husband to admit his embarrassment at not being able to read, at how much smarter she was, and how he felt as if others were laughing at him. So Mama taught Papa to read, talked to him about local issues and did everything she could to make Papa feel like a man worth listening to. It helped. My Father never cared a mite for what was happening outside of England, but he knew about local issues and he could converse intelligently with other educated men. I never saw him read anything more complex than his newspaper or the farmer's journal, but he read that newspaper proudly each evening.
"He knew that Mama was miles ahead of him in education and understanding, Mr. Bennet, but she never treated him that way," then the housekeeper's voice took on a hard edge, "And she never called him silly or embarrassed him in front of guests in his own home."
Thomas flinched under Alice's steel hard gaze. He felt ashamed as he saw his own actions from another person's point of view. "I... I shall apologize to her."
"No, Mr. Bennet, you have to do more than that."
"And what is it that you suggest?"
"You have to make that dear woman you married know that you value her. Not just once, but every day. Maybe she is not the most clever of women, but she has her own moments of brilliance. Look at your garden. I have never seen it look so beautiful of productive. Or look around your home. Has it ever seemed so comfortable or well-decorated? Begin with seeing the value that she already brings to your marriage. Then put some effort into helping her to grow... But Mr. Bennet, never make her feel small again."
The distinguished landowner felt quite tiny under his housekeeper's stern gaze. He gulped and expelled a breath. Then he declared, "It shall be as you say. I will attempt to be a better husband."
"That is all I ask, and what your wife deserves," Mrs. Hill noddded, choosing not to belabor the her point any further. At the door of the cottage she paused, however, and added one more thought, "Remember, Mr. Bennet, that marriage is for a lifetime. The seeds you plant in the spring determine the crop you harvest in the fall."
True to his word, Mr. Bennet immediately went about seeking ways to make up for his crime. He began by stealing a kiss now and then when his beautiful wife happened by. He took note of all of the little improvements in his home that he had overlooked and he complimented her. He even began to seek her opinion on issues that he had always treated as his sole responsibility. Their relationship improved, but he sensed a pensiveness in Fanny.
One day he came home from dealing with an issue to find his dear, beautiful wife in tears. Holding her close, he begged, "Please, Dear, tell me what's wrong?"
"You married a stupid woman, Thomas!" she cried, "I have tried, but I'll never be what you need. I cannot understand a word of it!"
"Of what, Love? I do not understand."
His eyes opened wide as his wife pulled out a book from under a seat cushion. It was the Aristotle translation he had been enjoying so thoroughly. In almost a wail, Mrs. Bennet cried, "I know you wish you had married someone clever, so I tried to read this so that we could talk together, but I don't understand it at all!"
With tears in his own eyes, a deeply mortified Mr. Bennet gathered his wife into his lap, "Oh my dear, I have been such a fool. I made you feel small because of my own arrogance." He saw himself and his attitudes for what they were fully for the first time. He had always been so proud of his own intelligence and he had always looked down on those who could not match him. How many people... friends and family... have I made to feel small just to make myself feel big?
"Fanny, almost nobody I've ever met likes the books I enjoy. There are a select few, but most people just don't see any worth in such material. I should not and I do not expect you to love my books. I only need you to love me and make a good home with me."
A little more calmly, Fanny complained, "But I do not even have a gentle woman's education, Thomas. I know how some of the other land owner's wives look at me. I am the daughter of a poor tradesman. I cannot play an instrument. I do not know any languages. I cannot speak on the issues that they do."
"Would you like to learn those things, My Love?"
Fanny nodded into her husband's chest, but then sighed, "But how can I? We cannot hire a governess for me now. People would find out and laugh at me even more!"
Thomas thought for a minute, and then he grinned into his wife's hair. She felt the change and looked up at him suspiciously, "What?"
"I believe that I have just the right solution."
For the next few years, in fact, for the remainder of their lives, the Mistress of Longbourn and Alice the housekeeper had a rather unusual but very beneficial working relationship. Whenever there was company, one was the mistress and the other the servant. In private, one was the student and the other was the teacher. Mrs. Frances Bennet learned to play the pianoforte. She learned passable French. She could speak on current issues with sense and understanding, if not brilliance. She learned to conduct herself with the decorum and grace one would expect in the finest sitting rooms of London. In short, she became a woman her husband and children could be proud of... but more importantly, she became a woman she could be proud of.
Her family benefited from these improvements. Not only was her home one of the most welcoming in the neighborhood and her table one of the most well appreciated, but the manners displayed in Longbourn became the model for the whole neighborhood. Because husband and wife spoke often and openly, they addressed the issues of income, savings, and dowries. Thomas patiently taught Fanny about compound interest and investments. She became so fascinated that she was eventually the driving force in that area. Though she was not ever a brilliant mathematician, she could count with the best of them. Watching their savings and investments grow was a great source of triumph for her. Spurred on by her own dedication, Mr. Bennet gave proper attention to his estate and managed to raise their annual income to almost four-thousand pounds per annum by the time his first child became an adult.
When Fanny was delivered of five daughters in a row and then told that she could have no more children, there was a short spell of anxiety and nerves. Her loving and devoted husband listened to her concerns and used a portion of their personal savings... which had grown rather substantially, to purchase a pretty little house and property in Meryton. He gave Fanny complete freedom to do what she wished with the property. For the first year she visited it weekly and made it into a cozy place to get away. Then she wisely began leasing the home out and adding the rent back into the family savings. Knowing that she would always have a cozy little home to go to if the worst happened and she lost her dear Thomas settled her nerves almost completely.
It is not the purpose of this story to list all of the marriages and husbands she found for her five daughters. Suffice it to say that potential suitors who visited Longbourn found nothing wanting. Even the proud Mr. Darcy became a regular visitor to the estate, for he found the Master to be intelligent and well-spoken and the Mistress to be all that was gracious and welcoming without behaving like so many of the match-making mothers of the Ton. The daughters were each different from each other and full of energy, but were all well behaved and genteel in their mannersims. Mr. Darcy still had to overcome his own poor first impression and convince Elizabeth Bennet to give him a chance, but for such a woman and such a family, it was worth his effort.
All of Fanny's daughters were happily married and well settled with children when Mr. Bennet passed away. Though it pained her to leave her beloved Longbourn, especially to Mr. Bennet's idiot cousin, she made the move with her usual calm grace. Alice Hill, who was also widowed, accompanied her to the pretty town home and together they made it into a most comfortable place to live. It had been almost four decades since Alice had confronted Mr. Bennet. Her own relationship with Mrs. Bennet had altered to the point where the ladies were more friends than servant and mistress. Neither liked to travel, so they remained comfortably in their home for many more years as their daughters brought their husbands and children to visit their favorite grandmothers. When Mrs. Bennet passed first, her daughters insisted that Alice finish out her days right where she was. Without her dearest friend, Alice quickly followed.
In later years visitor to Pemberley would ask about the portrait of a homely, smiling woman which hung alongside Mrs. Darcy's mother and father. She would smile and say, "Oh, that was our family's dearest friend, Alice Hill. She was not blood, but she was always family." Since Elizabeth never offered any further explanation, her visitors had to be content with that.
Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone for your overwhelming support. I tend to have personal features in each of my stories and this is no exception. My mother's first husband... my father... was a self-centered man who often talked down to my mother and made her feel insignificant. Her second husband cherished her, praised her in public and in private, and built her up. I was always glad that the second half of her life was so much better than the first.
Our words can build or destroy. Please choose to be a person who builds others up rather than tearing them down. Trust me, you reap the rewards for the seeds you sow.