An Unconventional Education Chapter 2 - Actions, a pride and prejudice fanfic

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Wow, I did not expect this much response for this story. It seems you like Mrs M. I certainly do.

I don't want to give anything away, but as with most of my stories, it will be pretty much low angst.

Since I do not like irrational people, I like to make my main characters rational. Imperfect, but rational.

Naturally, there will be a HEA for some of my characters. Villains of course get their comeuppance. 😊

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I should warn you. The way I write my stories is to write the bulk of it and then go back and fill in some gaps where I got stuck initially. So there may be a few chapters which are a bit thin, but I need to post them to continue with the rest of the story, so that I can get all of it to you before I do the final editing and publish it. At which point I will have to remove the bulk of it.

I hope you enjoy Mrs Mortimer's actions.

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Actions

One Tuesday morning, when Mrs Mortimer was aware that Mrs Bennet had gone out visiting as she always did on that day, she presented herself at Longbourn and requested to see Mr Bennet.

Mrs Hill, the housekeeper knew of Mrs Mortimer through the servants' grapevine, and escorted the lady to the Master of Longbourn, who was ensconced in his book-room as was his habit.

'Mrs Mortimer to see you, Sir,' she announced.

Mr Bennet looked up in surprise at the visitor. He was seated at his desk, with Elizabeth beside him, obviously engaged in teaching his second daughter.

He rose slowly from his chair and bowed. 'Mrs Mortimer, what an unexpected pleasure,' he said sarcastically. 'I am afraid my wife has gone visiting, if you wanted to speak to her.'

'Good morning, Mr Bennet. It is not your wife I wished to speak to, but yourself.'

'I can think of no reason why you should want to speak to me.'

'In that case I will be happy to explain to you in private,' answered Mrs Mortimer. She turned to Elizabeth, who had risen and curtsied. 'Miss Elizabeth, would you be so good as to give Mr Bennet and myself a few minutes of private discussion,' she asked with a friendly smile.

Lizzy looked at her father, who nodded in agreement. 'Yes, Madam,' she said politely and left the room.

When she was seated across the desk from Mr Bennet, Mrs Mortimer broached the subject. 'Mr Bennet, you may call me interfering but I am concerned about your daughters. Particularly Elizabeth, Mary and Catherine.'

'If you are concerned about my daughters, do you not think you should speak to my wife rather than myself. After all, she is their mother,' he said caustically.

'But she does not act like one. Which is why I have come to you to offer you a proposition.'

'You came to proposition me?' he asked slyly.

Mrs Mortimer gave him a disgusted look. 'Not likely. Your health is not good enough that I would risk propositioning you. Even if I were inclined to be interested.'

Mr Bennet looked shocked at her pronouncement. 'How do you know? I have not told anyone…'

'Mr Bennet, your family and neighbours see you regularly. They are obviously not observant enough to see the slow deterioration. Not having met you until recently, the signs are clear to me.'

'I see. Since you are not interested in my diseased carcass, what other proposition do you have?'

'It concerns your daughters. Particularly your middle three. Your wife does not care for them. She publicly berates them for no real reason. In particular Miss Elizabeth. To me those girls seem to be intelligent, perfectly nice and well behaved, unlike Miss Lydia who is a spoiled termagant. While I understand that due to your health you find it difficult to check your wife's actions against the girls, I worry for them.'

He gave a mirthless chuckle, 'what would you have me do? As you discerned, I am in no position to interfere. My wife would raise such a ruckus that the strain would probably kill me sooner rather than later. At the moment I try to hang on as long as I can, so that the girls might have a chance to grow up in a decent household, if not a loving one.'

'Allow me to adopt them,' Mrs Mortimer stated concisely.

Mr Bennet stared at her. 'You wish to adopt my daughters? Why?'

'My husband of twenty years died last year. We were not blessed with children. I have this big empty house which requires children's laughter to make it a home.' Mrs Mortimer smiled. 'Also, Elizabeth reminds me of myself when I was that age…'

'What about Jane and Lydia?'

'I am willing to take them as well, but I suspect Mrs Bennet might object. Although I think Jane would welcome the change.' She chuckled. 'Lydia on the other hand would not find me so easy to manipulate, and object quite vociferously.'

'You already know my family very well,' replied Mr Bennet with a sad smile. 'Part of me says that I should be offended by your officiousness, but the realistic part of me appreciates your offer. I would like to think about it for a few days, if you will allow.'

'Naturally. I understand that my offer was unexpected. Let me add, that you are of course welcome to visit with your daughters any time you choose. They will also get the education appropriate for a gentleman's daughters, plus anything else they wish to learn.'

'Anything?' Mr Bennet now grinned mischievously. 'I should warn you that Lizzy would like to learn to ride, astride of course, as well as fencing and shooting. At present she would like to become a pirate.'

'I do not know about being a pirate, but I can teach her all the other skills.' Mrs Mortimer returned the smile in kind. 'I had a very understanding mother and an indulgent husband.'

Mr Bennet laughed outright at that statement. 'I can see that you and Lizzy would do very well together.' He became more serious again. 'But I still need some time to get used to the idea.'

'Certainly, Mr Bennet. Please let me know what you decide.'

~~~oo00oo~~~

After Mrs Mortimer left, Mr Bennet considered all the lady had said. He was impressed by her perceptiveness. Neither his wife nor his friends and neighbours had realised the state of his health.

She had surprised him into admitting his concerns, and he had spoken more freely to her than he thought possible. He sighed, wishing that his wife was more like this lady. She seemed intelligent and kind, and accepting of the foibles of others.

In recent months Mr Bennet had become ever more worried about his wife's behaviour towards their middle daughters. As he admitted to Mrs Mortimer, he felt incapable of tempering Mrs Bennet's actions for fear of what it would do to his own health.

Yet, he needed to live as long as possible to delay his cousin Collins from inheriting Longbourn. Mr Bennet was certain that his cousin would evict his ladies, the day he took possession of Longbourn. The man was a vicious fool and held a grudge against the Bennet family. Mr Bennet hoped that Collins' son was a better person than his father, but he was still afraid that that was a forlorn hope.

He had considered asking his brother-in-law, Edward Gardiner, to take the three girls, but Gardiner had recently married and his wife was expecting.

Much as he hated to admit it, Mrs Mortimer's suggestion seemed to offer the best hope for his daughters' security and welfare. The added advantage was that Brook Hall was only two miles away. He could still see his daughters frequently.

Although inclined to accept Mrs Mortimer's proposal, based on his own judgement of her character, he determined to make enquiries to ensure that his daughters would be safe.

~~~oo00oo~~~

The following afternoon when Elizabeth came for her lesson with her father, she appeared rather thoughtful to Mr Bennet.

'Is something the matter, Lizzy?' he asked.

'I was just thinking about Mama. Is there anything you can do to make her less frightened?'

'What makes you think that your mother is frightened?'

'I met the nice lady who came to see you yesterday on Oakham Mount, and she explained that Mama is frightened about the entail, which is why she is so mean to me. I thought that if you could fix it that Mama is not scared anymore, she might be nicer to us,' Elizabeth explained hopefully.

'I am sorry, my dear, there is nothing I can do about the entail. Your grandfather decided that only a man can inherit the estate, and since I do not have a son, Longbourn will have to go to my cousin Collins when I die.'

'Is your cousin a nice man? Maybe he would let Mama live here?'

'I am afraid he is not nice, and your mother is rightly worried. But I have a plan to fix things for you,' Mr Bennet tried to reassure his daughter. 'But tell me about the nice lady who explained about the entail.'

Elizabeth allowed herself to be diverted and explained about her meeting on Oakham Mount.

Mr Bennet was again favourably impressed by Mrs Mortimer as the tale unfolded. He was beginning to hope for a positive report into the investigation about Mrs Mortimer, which he had requested his brother-in-law, Mr Phillips, to undertake.

~~~oo00oo~~~

The following week, a footman from Longbourn brought a note to Mrs Mortimer, requesting her to call on Mr Bennet the next day.

When she arrived, Mrs Hill was expecting her and took her straight to Mr Bennet, who was not alone in his book-room.

Mr Bennet introduced his brother-in-law, Mr Phillips, the local solicitor. When they were all seated, Mr Bennet explained with a sigh, 'Mr Phillips has prepared the papers to allow you to adopt Lizzy, Mary and Kitty. I have made enquiries and have determined that my girls will be better off with you than at Longbourn.'

'Thank you, Mr Bennet. I promise you that I will take good care of those precious girls. Have you told them yet?'

'I was about to do so, once we have signed the papers. After all, there was a chance that you had changed your mind.'

'I look forward to have them living with me. What about Jane and Lydia?'

'I would not deprive their mother of all her daughters. They will stay, but I have a request, Mrs Mortimer.'

'What can I do, Mr Bennet?'

'If something happens to me, I would like to name you guardian for Jane and Lydia, to ensure that Mrs Bennet cannot pressure either of them into a marriage for her convenience. I am hoping that my daughters will find greater happiness in marriage than I did.'

'Certainly, Mr Bennet. Do you also wish me to interfere if the girls choose an unsuitable man?'

'If he is poor but decent, then no. If his character is unsuitable, then by all means, do whatever you need to do to separate them.'

'Very well, that agrees with my thinking. But on a related matter. Even though Jane and Lydia will remain at Longbourn, they are welcome to share lessons with the other girls.'

Mr Phillips, who had quietly stayed in the background, smiled and nodded. 'I believe Jane will be overjoyed to be allowed lessons in becoming an accomplished lady.'

'Lydia is too young to appreciate anything other than toys and pretty clothes. I suspect as she gets older, the toys might change but not her attitude,' commented Mr Bennet.

'In that case, I will send my carriage to collect Jane for lessons three days a week, if that is agreeable to you.'

'Most agreeable, thank you.'

~~~oo00oo~~~

Mrs Mortimer read through all the documents, and, finding them in order, she and Mr Bennet signed them. Mr Phillips and Mrs Hill witnessed their signatures.

Mr Phillips had prepared three copies of all the documents. He handed one set to Mrs Mortimer, gave the second set to Mr Bennet and kept a copy to store at his office. 'Just to make sure,' he commented, before leaving.

Mrs Hill, who had been told by Mr Bennet about the changes to occur, went to fetch the four oldest girls from the school-room.

When the girls entered, Mr Bennet called them to him and gave each of them a hug. Then he asked the younger three, 'how would you like to go and live with Mrs Mortimer?'

Elizabeth gave the lady a dubious look, before asking her father in a sad voice, 'do you not love us anymore either?'

'Not at all, my dear Lizzy. It is because I love you very much that I am suggesting this. I know things have been difficult for you with your mother. Mrs Mortimer likes you very much and would like you to live with her. As a matter of fact, she would like to be your new mother,' he reassured her.

'Where would we live?'

'At Brook Hall, which is about two miles from here,' Mrs Mortimer entered the conversation.

'That is not so far. What about Jane and Lydia?'

Jane had been watching this exchange with a thoughtful look. At the age of eleven she thought of herself as quite grown up, compared to her sisters. She loved all her sisters, even Lydia when she was not throwing a tantrum, and as the oldest she felt protective of them.

While Jane always tried to see the best in people, she had been aware of their mother's irrational hatred towards Elizabeth.

'Lizzy, we cannot all leave Mama. You know that she treats me differently to you. I will be well, but I think you and Mary and Kitty should accept the offer. Brook Hall is not so far. We can visit.'

Mrs Mortimer smiled at Jane. 'You are quite right, Miss Bennet. I will arrange for masters to teach your sisters, and your father has agreed that while you will continue to live at Longbourn, he will permit you to have lessons with your sisters.

When Mary heard the words masters and lessons, she piped up, 'pianoforte lessons too?'

As Mrs Mortimer answered, 'yes, Miss Mary, pianoforte lessons too,' the girl's face lit up.

Kitty looked nervously between her sisters, unsure about the proceedings.

'We will find fun things for you to learn too, Miss Catherine.'

'Could you please call me Kitty, like my sisters do,' she whispered.

Mrs Mortimer held out her arms to the little girl. 'Certainly, Kitty. Would you like to call me Aunt Stephanie?'

The girl shyly accepted the hug.

Suddenly she threw her arms around Mrs Mortimer's waist and hugged her back. 'I would rather call you Mama. I never had one before.'

'You can call me whatever feels right to you, Kitty,' replied Mrs Mortimer softly, as she looked up at Mr Bennet, who looked on with tears in his eyes. He caught her gaze and nodded, both in acceptance and resignation.

~~~oo00oo~~~