A two days visit turned into an eight days visit, but by the end of it all, they had a better understanding of the Longbourn accounts.

It helped that Elizabeth already knew everything there was to know on what the money was spent in the household.

The new partitioning was as follows: Mr. Bennet would draw two hundred for his personal expenses; Jane and Lydia would receive one hundred each, since they were in London and had to complete their education and participate in society so that Jane could also find a husband; Mrs. Bennet and the girls left at home would get two hundred for the four of them plus eighty pounds to pay the wages of a governess or companion and whatever supplies were needed for her work; and another nine hundred was needed for the running of Longbourn. The rest of six hundred was going to be invested by Mr. Gardiner.

Mr. Gardiner thought that another three hundred could have been easily spared, but he had to be content with what he had obtained for his nieces.

Mr. Bennet did try to steer the saving and investing towards the funds, as he was loathe to hand over so much money to the Gardiners to be used for trade, but Mrs. Bennet had been adamant: since her brother would be the one to support them after her husband's demise, who else could be trusted to make the money grow if not him. It was in his interest too and she trusted him.

As she put it "Oh, Mr. Bennet, if only you would have found such a good scheme earlier!"

Mr. Gardiner also extracted a promise from his brother that each of his daughters would receive, upon her marriage, one hundred pounds per annum for as long as he lived.

When Kitty asked to be shown how Mr. Gardiner calculated the interest and then what compound interest meant, it was only a matter of minutes until she figured how much in the way of dowries they all would have had, if only their parents would have started twenty years ago.

She cried and was disconsolate for days and days.

Out of all of their children, Kitty proved the most intractable. She became much closer to her older sisters, especially to Mary, but almost never talked to her parents again, unless it was to remind them of how much money they had cheated her.

-`o´-

Once Lydia's future was settled and proved to be much better than anyone had dared to hope just days before, Mrs. Gardiner took her out of the kitchen and started her on French, history, geography, and household management.

The piano master recommended that Miss Lydia try voice lessons, as she had no inclination and no patience for the instrument. Miss Jane had no talent either, but she put in the work and he was sure he was going to have her play tolerably well in a year or two. The young Miss Gardiner was truly gifted and a pleasure to teach, so it was not all bad and he looked forward to working with them.

Mrs. Gardiner thought about it, then asked Lydia what she wanted. "Am I allowed to not sing, aunt? Or play piano?"

Mrs. Gardiner knew she should insist that Lydia do one or the other, but felt it would not be the best way to go about it. For once Lydia asked for something instead of loudly demanding and it seemed she was prepared to do as she was told, no matter if she liked it or not. Such improved manners should be encouraged and her comportement rewarded.

"I understand you have no musical inclination, Lydia, but is it anything else you would like to try?"

There was not. Lydia did not like to learn music, although she loved dancing - but one could not dance and play the piano at the same time; and she did not care for drawing or painting.

"I can embroider, aunt."

That was the best they could do, Mrs. Gardiner decided. "Our neighbour Mrs. Vault is well known for her tapestry and embroidery skills. Maybe you will join her for a few hours every now and then so you can further enhance your skills."

Mr. Denny wanted to marry Lydia not only because he liked her above all other women he met, which spoke well for his appreciation for her niece and perhaps less well for his sense, but also because he wanted a gentlewoman as the future mother of his children. Which meant he expected her to have a thorough knowledge of all the common subjects and be able to educate her children in turn.

Mrs. Gardiner tasked her to write to her sisters and her mother at least once a week as a way for Lydia to see for herself how far she had progressed.

A few days after Mr. Gardiner's return to London the family received their first letters from Lydia.

-`o´-

Mrs. Bennet was all aflutter with her letter and insisted on reading it to all of them, Mr. Bennet included. In truth he was rather curious what his youngest would write about.

He needn't have bothered, the letter was short and contained nothing for him: Lydia took lessons of French, history, geography, and household management. Mrs. Gardiner was very pleased with her progress in French, but Lydia found history dull. Geography was more interesting to her - she had learned that Marseille was a town in the South of France, where before she thought it was in Africa. The Gardiners had a book of maps and she found it fascinating. She had a new day dress and longed for warmer weather and less rain.

Lastly she hoped Mr. Denny would complete his move to London soon, so they could see each other more.

He listened to it and went back to his bookroom without as much as a word.

The letter she sent to her sisters was longer and some of what she said was much discussed between the three of them.

"... Our aunt is busy all day. I do not know if I want to be married and be as busy as she is. She has a cook and the cook's help in the kitchen, a maid and the housekeeper, a nurse and now a governess for me and Sarah and still she is on her feet all day. I do not know how mama can have so much time to rest!

… I like Denny, but if we marry we will live like our aunt and uncle, only with even less money and less servants.

… Jane plays as poorly as ever, but she tries every day. She wastes her time, I daresay, but she won't listen to me."

-`o´-

"It was very good of you, Mr. Darcy, to help us remove our brother from the influence of Jane Bennet," Caroline said softly from behind her fan. They were all at a dinner party and being seen conversing so intimately with Mr. Darcy was one of the things she wanted to accomplish that evening.

He bowed his head slightly, but made no answer. She knew he spoke but rarely in company, but still, the man could have made an effort!

"I couldn't believe she followed us to London! She already sent by two notes. Apparently she's lodging with her relatives in Cheapside."

This information seemed to spark an interest in her companion, so she continued.

"I cannot imagine why she would presume so much on our slight acquaintance! It is clear the only thing she's looking for is to ensnare our brother and I am afraid that without your assurances about her lack of proper feelings for him he would have made a grave mistake."

"I gave him my honest opinion, Miss Bingley, his decision was entirely his to make," Darcy said and then moved away to speak with some of his friends.

-`o´-

About a week after her own arrival in London, Jane sent a note to Caroline to appraise the latter of that fact. She had no real hopes, she explained to her aunt Gardiner, that Caroline and Louisa would help further any relationship between their brother and herself.

She simply wanted to retain the friendship of two women who had shown her kindness and from whom Jane was hoping she could learn how to behave with rather more poise than was her wont.

When a week passed without any reply and then another week, Jane felt it was very likely Caroline did not wish for the connection and her aunt agreed. Being as kind as she was and as inclined as she was to see the good side to any action, Jane thought there was a small possibility she was unfairly judging Caroline. Maybe the note was lost? She decided to send another. No answer came this time either.

At the end of January Jane felt like she should try one more time and then her conscience would be appeased and she would let the matter rest. To this end she petitioned her aunt to allow her to make a visit to Caroline at her brother Hurst's house.

Since Mrs. Gardiner saw no real evil in paying a call and leaving their cards if the family was from home, to the Hursts' townhouse they went one February morning, about a week after Mr. Gardiner's return from Longbourn. They were to do some shopping too, as Jane especially needed more warmer clothes.

As it happened they saw Louisa and Caroline just as they were waiting outside for their carriage to be brought around and they approached them. So frosty were their greetings and so openly disdainful their manners, that even Jane could not fool herself anymore.

"Well, then."

"I am sorry, aunt. Lizzy was right in her estimation of them, but then she usually is right about people."

"Shall we go back to Gracechurch Street, Jane? I find today is a bit chill to continue on with our shopping. Then I shall tell you why you should never think so about your powers of observation, or your sister's, for that matter."

"I would like to go back home," Jane added and threw a last melancholy look after Caroline and Louisa's carriage. She really thought of them as friends and mourned the lack of such in London.

-`o´-

Charles Bingley could not believe his eyes when he saw his angel in front of Hurst's house accompanied by an older, respectable looking woman. His first impulse was to bound forward and greet her and renew his acquaintance with her.

He did not, though he was not sure what held him back. He was too far to hear what was said, but he had an excellent view of everybody's visage and he winced when Caroline's supercilious sneer made a swift appearance.

He wanted to approach Miss Bennet, certainly, but what could he have said? Was she in London because she wanted to see him or on her mother's orders? He had been fairly convinced by Darcy's opinion that Jane had not shown any particular symptom of regard and Caroline and Louisa concurred. Then it was the matter of Jane's family. Her youngest sisters were rather silly, to be sure.

What decided him to press on was the expression on Miss Bennet's beautiful blue eyes as she watched Caroline's and Louisa's carriage departing. She was mourning a friend, he could see it plainly. It had always been so, he now understood, he could read Miss Bennet's expressions at every turn. Why then had he let himself be persuaded by Darcy, when the man had barely talked or even looked at his Jane in the weeks they were all at Netherfield?

He caught them just as they were about to board their hackney.

"Miss Bennet! Wait, Miss Bennet!" he called after her, grinning like a fool. Oh, how he had missed her!

"Mr. Bingley!"

-`o´-

Author note:

Thank you for your reviews, they are wonderful!

Lydia will go into the perfume business, probably not right away, but she will grab the perfumes with both hands so to speak - only those that don't trigger Denny's allergies :)

Guest who said there's no reason Mr. Bennet would be angry at his favourite daughter:

Life at Longbourn is not good anymore. His wife wants things from him (money for Lydia to be married) and since the wife is silly and never ever asked for it before, then somebody must have put ideas in her head.

He only has one daughter that is not as silly as the rest, so she must be the culprit.

Guest who said the idea is brilliant:

Thank you, you are very kind! It's not apologizing - my grammar is not good, though I try my best, and I'm not a professional writer, so I don't always know how to say what I mean. It's just the fact that looking back I can see all manner of flaws. And I'm kind of old enough to know when I can do better :)

I hope you will keep reading and I hope you'll like how it all comes together in the end.

Guest who said Mrs. Bennet should think of all the girls, not just Lydia:

She'll get there. She has five daughters to remind her of the pertinent facts :)

Guest who said Mr. Bennet should have abstained from having children if he didn't want to care for them:

Yes, I agree. It boggles the mind that Mr. Bennet was so darn rich, the Bennets were in the upper 5% of their time by income if I remember well, but the girls were to be left with nothing at all once he died. And yet he's not at all disturbed by the possible fate of his own children.

Guest Colleen S:

Yes, Mr. Bennet is a bad parent. Lady Catherine was kind of right, wasn't she, when she said that girls are never of much consequence to a father :/

Guest who said the intrigue grows:

Thank you for leaving a review! There are plenty of things that haven't happened yet, so be sure to read on :)

Guest who said the story is making them smile:

I'm very glad it is so. I don't know if it could really be slotted in the Humor category, though. Humor is hard. Like really, really hard.

I don't know how the categories work, I'll have to look, but maybe Comedy / Drama?

I need a few scenes here and there and Lydia will be all set.

Just a reminder: nobody will get married in this story unless they are at least 18 yo.

Guest Coquette:

Lydia becoming something in her own right, not just somebody's wife, would be a great story. It's not going to be this one though. She will have her own life, she will have a sort of a career, if you will, but she'll still be married.

Guest Seringat

Mrs. Bennet is described as silly (we have a bookful of examples) and stubborn, her husband can never oppose her wishes - with a caveat: he controlled the money.

So I took that and intend to give her something else to be stubborn about and also be silly about.

Caroline is the woman we all like to hate, but yes, she really drew the short straw. She was considered of a lower status than the Bennet girls simply because of who her father was. She was well educated, according to the time she lived in, she was beautiful, well dowered, and yet Lydia Bennet was of a higher status. I can imagine she must have been pretty frustrated with how things stood.

You said: "At Catherine de Bourg's questions if she and her sisters have gone to London to have masters, Lizzy's explanation was her father hated town. It shows (even if the girl does not realize it) that her father's selfish needs and desires had a negative impact, his choices are the reasons why none of the girls have a proper education."

Absolutely. When Elizabeth asks Mr. Bennet to not allow Lydia to go to Brighton he says in reply:

"Lydia will never be easy until she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances."

As little money as possible was spent on the girls.

I don't know if he really hated town or he just didn't want to do something that would lessen the funds available to him.

-`o´-

Kind of long winded thoughts concerning the issue of dowries in PP:

(be advised that none of the research I've read agrees with my take on the matter)

Mrs. Bennet had a dowry of whatever. Part of that money was settled on her, the rest went to Mr. Bennet as cash. Girls were supposed to come with cash, boys with property or a stable income.

Pretty much everybody everywhere says the amount settled on Mrs. Bennet was all the dowry she had. The historical data doesn't support this notion.

Take Louisa Hurst, who is in absolutely the same situation as Mrs. Bennet. Louisa Hurst nee Bingley had a dowry of 20K. Does anybody believe Hurst settled 20K on Louisa upon their marriage?

I don't think so. I would be surprised if more than 5K was settled on her. The rest was spent however Hurst wanted or needed to spend money: his estate, if he had one, his townhouse, which needed maintenance and maybe repairs, debts, if he had any, and lots and lots of food and drink.

Since old Mr. Gardiner was an attorney, I think it's okay for me to assume he was cunning and savvy enough to make Bennet settle a lot more money on Mrs. Bennet than what was usually expected; say over 50% of the total dowry.

So I would think Mrs. Bennet didn't have too much over the 4K settled on her (plus 1K later, if I remember well), but I'm willing to bet her dowry was more than her current settlement.

Now we come to my story:

Mrs. Bennet is silly. She never thought nor wondered about the girls' portions. That's Mr. Bennet's job to do something about dowries, just like her father did for her, right?

So when it comes to the point of finally having a daughter married and she sees that no money = no marriage, then she'll go to extreme lengths to secure her daughters' future.

I'm sure Mr. Bennet will appreciate her dedication.