Uncommonly Intelligent Chapter 18: A Matter of Interest, a pride and prejudice fanfic

A/N: This is the first of three chapters I will post this week, a day or two apart to allow for possible last-minute adjustments in case a review alerts me to some problem. I'm sorry it took so long, but together they total around 18,000 words, and all of them concern Lizzy's efforts to ease her mother's fears about the future. They are so interdependent that I couldn't finish one before I finished all three. In fact, they were a single chapter until today, when I decided that it would be more convenient for my lovely readers to split them up into more manageable chunks. I have to laugh when I recall that my original plan was for these three chapters, plus the previous four, to all be one chapter. Please tell me in your reviews whether I'm going into way too much detail.

Story in general: I've received several reviews and PMs wanting some assurance that there will be an HEA for Darcy and Lizzy. My original inclination was to keep you in suspense, but my little story has grown to well over 100,000 words, and I'm only now completing the groundwork - the main body of the story (which we are about to begin) will involve Col Fitzwilliam, Georgiana, Wickham, my Original Characters, etc. (yes, Lady Rutherford and Clarence, along with other OCs, will be back). Everything I've read says a book of this genre should not be much over 100,000 words long, so it looks like I'll have to make this a two- or three-volume saga, and based on the very kind reception it has received, I'll probably put the first volume on KU shortly after it's done, if only to prevent someone else from doing it (unfortunately, there are people who steal fanfiction and publish under their name). It would be cruel to make people who don't want to read a non-HEA story wait for the whole thing to be finished to find out, so I've updated the blurb to say there WILL be an HEA for ODC. Some bumps before they get there, but not much angst. And no promises about Bingley and Jane.

Special thanks: I thank all my lovely readers for their reviews, and I especially solicit reviews that give constructive criticism and feedback.

I thought all of the suggestions for the Chapter 17 title were good, so special thanks to everyone who contributed. I have decided that EllieCast4's suggestion "The Red Coats Are Coming" cleverly conveys what is most unique about the chapter. I think that I'll continue to post new chapters with generic titles, and I solicit your suggestions.

Peperuda politely informed me that "cheater" is not a word used in British English. Although I made an early decision to not abandon my American-ness by reversing the use of single and double quotes, or by using "our" instead of "or" in words like "honor" or "color," I don't want to take my British readers completely out of the story by using words that don't fit at all, so I changed it, and I thank Peperuda for the constructive criticism.

My characters have been living in my head for so long that I sometimes forget to make my assumptions explicit, making the story confusing. ToReadGoodLiterature wondered why Captain Carter would not know about Colonel Forster's heroics, so I clarified that in this chapter.

Chapter 18 - A Matter of Interest

Meryton, Hertfordshire, October 8, 1811

Kitty and Lydia chittered happily as they fairly skipped down the road from Meryton back to Longbourn. Lizzy had no trouble keeping up with them, but she remained a couple of steps behind to let them talk freely. She wanted them to be happy and receptive going into the lesson still to come, so that their mother would be drawn in. She also wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, and she did some of her best thinking while walking.

Lizzy was quite satisfied with how the day had gone thus far. The book she wanted had been available, her sisters had mostly paid attention as she showed them the differences in price and quality of various foods and sundries, and she even had the unexpected bonus of meeting the commander of the militia regiment and securing his goodwill. His mentions in dispatches had occurred 15 to 25 years earlier, so not many people remembered them. But Lizzy, with her interest in history, had read all the military dispatches in all the Gazettes published for the last several decades on one of her trips to the library at Oxford, and she never forgot anything that she read with close attention. She had seen how pleased he was to be called a hero by a pretty young lady.

It was a good start, but there was much left to do. Lizzy did not want to merely reassure her mother; she wanted to eradicate, once and for all, her fears and misconceptions. It was a tall order to do it in one day, for as Lizzy saw it, there were at least half a dozen serious errors in her mother's thinking, some of them contradicting one another. She seemed to think that her 5000-pound jointure would not be enough to support her in her old age, and yet she also seemed to think that an officer in the militia made enough to support a wife and family.

Lizzy mentally ticked off what she had learned about her mother's thinking in the past 24 hours:

First, she had no idea how much money was required for her to live comfortably.

Second, she thought that Longbourn's income was barely enough to cover its expenses.

Which led to the third, that there had been no money for savings or dowries.

Which led to the fourth, that terrible things would happen to her and her daughters if Longbourn was not retained after Mr. Bennet's death.

Which led to the fifth, that it was imperative to get one of her daughters married to Mr. Collins, and the others to rich men like Messrs. Bingley and Darcy, or rich soldiers, as quickly as possible.

Which assumed the sixth, that the militia would be teeming with rich soldiers.

Well, at least her fortuitous meeting with Colonel Forster had given her a ready solution for that. If she was unable to bring up soldiers' salaries in today's lesson, she would ensure her father invited Colonel Forster to dinner as soon as possible, preferably before the main body of the militia arrived, and she would further ensure that the conversation during that dinner included a commiseration for the low pay received by militia officers. After hearing first-hand from a colonel in the militia that a captain's yearly salary was substantially less than her own pin money, her mother would not be able to deny that unless he were independently wealthy, a soldier would not make a suitable husband for any of her daughters.

The clatter of hooves jolted Lizzy out of her woolgathering. She was gratified to see a familiar carriage coming around a curve in the road ahead, for it signaled another piece of her plan being fulfilled. The three girls stepped to the side of the road, and Kitty and Lydia waved their new ribbons and hallooed to their father as his carriage passed them. He leaned out and waved back, smiling, and nodded as he caught Lizzy's eye. Lizzy beamed back at him. She knew that he was on his way to his brother Phillips' office to retrieve some of the documents she needed. Mr. Phillips had inherited a large, fireproof safe from the senior Mr. Gardiner when he took over as Meryton's solicitor, and Mr. Bennet kept duplicates of important documents there, and even some originals that were infrequently referenced but vital to keep safe, such as the deed to Longbourn itself.

Mr. Bennet was following Lizzy's instructions to retrieve the entire large box of documents that was simply labeled "Lizzy" from the safe. He had no idea what was in it - not because it was a secret, but because it was a part of his long-standing policy to trust Lizzy and not ask her about things he didn't need to know, lest he be tempted to interfere with ill-informed advice.

Lizzy did not need the entire contents, but it was easier to do it this way. Among the contents she did need were the certificates from the government bonds she had purchased, and duplicates of the estate ledgers, which Lizzy updated whenever she visited her Aunt Phillips. Thanks to her gift, she did not need to have the originals with her when she updated the duplicates; they were securely in her head. The redundancy was a precaution should some disaster happen, perhaps a fire at Longbourn, which might destroy the originals and injure or kill Lizzy or Mr. Bennet. The duplicate ledgers would help the survivors keep the estate running. Importantly, since they were intended for someone other than Lizzy or her father to read, all the entries were in English rather than Greek.

One thing Lizzy had learned from the previous evening's talk with her mother was that Mrs. Bennet believed what she saw in writing over what people told her, and sometimes even over what she saw and heard with her own eyes and ears. Her misinterpretation of the figures in Mr. Bennet's expense ledger had made her blind and deaf to all the evidence around her that Longbourn was prospering, and all her husband's reassurances. Lizzy hoped that the English version of the expense ledger would convince her mother that her fears had been mistaken.

Longbourn, Hertfordshire, October 8, 1811

As they reached Longbourn's front steps, Lizzy said, "Girls, take an hour to refresh yourselves and eat if you are hungry, and then the lesson will resume." She had to smile when their groans of protest actually made a melodious harmony, but she said only, "Come now, you have had almost an entire week off. And I believe that you will find our activity this afternoon quite entertaining."

Her sisters grumbled, but they were of a mind to do nothing to aggravate Lizzy after she had so recently produced four shillings out of thin air, and had hinted of more to come. After all, what the Lizzy gaveth, the Lizzy might taketh away. As they ascended the steps of Longbourn's porch, Mary descended them. She approached Lizzy and said, "How went the expedition? Was the book available?"

Lizzy nodded, and held the Practical Economy up to show her. "Indeed, all went well, and we will convene in the dining room in an hour or so. I want to talk to mama first, though. And where is Jane?"

Mary looked up at the sky and squinted. "I cannot see her, but I believe she is walking on one of those clouds. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy visited while you were gone. They left about half an hour ago, and if there was any doubt of Mr. Bingley's interest in Jane, it has vanished." She put a hand on Lizzy's arm. "But I must caution you, mama is upset with you for taking Lydia with you, for she was certain that Mr. Darcy would have proposed to her otherwise."

Lizzy rolled her eyes, and said, "While they do seem to be made for each other, I believe that Mr. Darcy follows the Town custom of courting a lady for a day or two before proposing."

Mary laughed and said, "Just be warned. But perhaps if you say something about how happy Jane looks, you may divert her wrath."

"I will adopt your strategy. And if Jane truly has her head in the clouds, I will depend upon you to ask questions during the lesson this afternoon. It will look less like a lecture to mama if you ask whatever you think she might be wondering about. And if I wink at you, ask me how these budgets," she hefted the book, "would apply to a family with five children."

As predicted, Mrs. Bennet accosted Lizzy almost before she had removed her pelisse.

"Well, Lizzy, I hope you are satisfied! Poor Mr. Darcy came here to see Lydia, and had nothing to do because you had taken her to town. He was forced to spend his time with your father, which must have been very dull for him."

Lizzy mentally thanked Mary for her warning. Without it, she might have retorted that people who call without prior notice should not be surprised when not everyone is at home, or perhaps asked her mother whether she and her sisters were expected to never leave the house for as long as Mr. Darcy continued to reside at Netherfield. But today of all days, she could not afford to engender ill will in her mother, so instead she said, "I am very sorry, mama. If I had known that Mr. Darcy was coming, I would certainly not have taken Lydia with me. But we had no way of knowing that he was to visit, for both he and Mr. Bingley had every opportunity to mention it yesterday before we left Netherfield, yet they did not."

This contrition seemed to mollify her mother, and so Lizzy felt emboldened to ask, "Mama, speaking of Lydia and Mr. Darcy, I learned this morning that Kitty and Lydia desperately need your guidance in how to perform the duties of the mistress of an estate. We stopped at the butcher's shop, and neither of them had any idea of the cost of meat, or even that there were different grades of meat. You are renowned throughout Hertfordshire for your dinner parties, and I am sure that all of your daughters, including Jane and me, would benefit greatly from your expertise and experience. Could you possibly help us with our lesson this afternoon? It is about preparing household budgets, and while I can tell them about coal and candles, I will need you to tell them about gowns and dinner parties."

Mrs. Bennet looked at Lizzy's walking dress, an altered hand-me-down from Jane, and thought, I should say so. You know nothing of what it is to live in the real world. It would be amusing to watch you try to teach a class on fashion. But she was not immune to flattery, even from Lizzy, and she was justly proud of her reputation for hosting successful dinner parties, so she agreed to help with Lizzy's class.

Then her expression sobered, and she looked around to ensure that no one else was in earshot, and said in a low voice, "Lizzy, did you ask your father about… what we talked about last night?"

Lizzy took her mother's hands and smiled reassuringly. "I did, mama, and as I thought, it is a misunderstanding. Papa is very sorry for it; he honestly thought that you knew that he was putting money aside for our future, and he wishes to speak to you about it later today to ease your mind. I believe he is even now on his way to my uncle Phillips' office to get some documents for you to see, that will prove to you that you have nothing to fear. But mama, there are some things you said that confused me last night. It seems as if you are not completely clear about what will happen if papa should die. Has anyone explained your marriage settlement to you?"

Mrs. Bennet looked embarrassed. She had a dim memory of her parents making much of her settlement, but could not recall the particulars. "Oh Lizzy, it is so vexing! Long ago, my parents talked to me about it, but they spoke so rapidly about so many things that I did not have time to think how to put my questions until they had moved on to another subject." She scowled. "And your father will have his fun with me, so I never know whether I can believe him."

Lizzy was encouraged that her mother would admit this much to her. Apparently, their talk last night had made her mother more comfortable in confiding in her. Even if it was because her mother did not have a high enough opinion of Lizzy to care what she thought, and therefore was not as fearful of looking foolish to her as she was with her husband, Lizzy considered it progress.

"Mama, I sometimes help my uncle Phillips with documents, and I am very familiar with marriage settlements. Would you like me to go over yours with you?"

"Oh Lizzy, I do not even know where it is!"

"It is in papa's study, and I know exactly where," said Lizzy. "Why do we not look at it now?" Seeing her mother look frightened again, she added, "It is all right, mama, papa said I could do it when I talked to him last night."

Her mother gave a shaky nod, and they went into her father's study. Lizzy closed the door behind her and pointed to the desk. "You see, mama, he left it out for us."

Mrs. Bennet gingerly approached the desk, but still seemed reluctant to touch the document on it. Lizzy guided her mother to a chair near a small table, pulled another chair up beside it, and then retrieved the settlement and sat next to her mother. "What have you been told about this, mama? Specifically, what is it that you are not certain about?"

"I believe that your father is supposed to give me 200 pounds per year for pin money, and that he must preserve my dowry to be split among you girls when I die," her mother said.

"That is correct, mama," said Lizzy, choosing not to complicate things with a discussion of the difference between a jointure and a dowry.

Her mother added, "Oh, and the dowry is 5000 pounds, so you each get 1000 pounds. But that will not do you any good now, when you most need it! And it will not feed us after your father dies!"

Lizzy was confused. "What do you mean, mama?"

Now her mother looked confused. "Well, if my pin money stops when your father dies, and the dowry cannot be spent until I die, what happens in between? And even if we could spend the dowry, it would only last five years!"

Aha! That explains much, Lizzy thought. Aloud, she said, "Mama, do you know why your pin money was specified at 200 pounds?"

Again Mrs. Bennet felt that someone, somewhere had talked to her about this, but again it was like trying to remember a dream. She caught tantalizing wisps, but nothing of substance. She finally gave up, discouraged, and shook her head.

Lizzy saw the dismay on her face, and said, "It is all right, mama, it was probably more than 20 years ago. I really should not have asked, for no one should expect you to remember that far back. Why, you were scarcely as old as Kitty! But it is no matter, for as I said, I am familiar with marriage settlements, and we will discover this together."

Her mother seemed to be encouraged by this.

"Now mama, have you heard of the four percents?"

"I have heard of them, but I do not truly understand them."

"Well, it is like loaning money to the government. The government needs money to fight the war, so it sells bonds, which are very like vowels. Because the buyer of a bond is loaning it money, the government pays him interest - in this case, four percent." Again, Lizzy saw no point in complicating things with an explanation of discounts and secondary markets just now. "When your settlement was signed, your 5000-pound dowry was put into the four percents, so the government paid four percent interest on your 5000 pounds each year.

"With a nice round number like five thousand, it is easy to calculate the interest paid." Lizzy saw her mother wince when she said "calculate," and realized her tone was too lecturing, so she softened it and said, "Truly, mama, you can do it. Look, I will show you a trick."

Lizzy rose and retrieved a wax tablet from a shelf, and laid it on the table in front of her mother. She wrote on it in large numerals as she spoke.

"All you have to do is take two zeroes off of the sum you invest, and then multiply by whatever percent the interest rate is. So with your 5000 pounds, you take two zeroes off, and it becomes 50. You then multiply it by four, because the rate is four percent, and you get 200. And that is your yearly interest, and that is why your pin money was set at 200 pounds when you were married - because your 5000 pounds was put in the four percents."

Her mother frowned. "That is all there is to it? I thought interest was more complicated."

Lizzy nodded. "It gets more complicated when instead of collecting your interest each year, you leave it with the borrower, and the borrower must pay interest on the interest. That is called compound interest. But when you collect the interest each year, it is called 'simple interest,' because it truly is that simple. Let us do another example."

Again, she wrote in large numerals as she said, "If the interest rate is five percent, then we take two zeroes off the 5000, giving us 50, and then we multiply by five, giving us 250. You see?"

Her mother nodded, and the crease in her brow was gone, indicating she really did see, so Lizzy said, "Now you tell me what you would earn at six percent," and handed the stylus to her mother. Mrs. Bennet carefully wrote in a column 5000, 50, x 6, 300."

Lizzy clapped her hands and said, "Mama, in a week you could give lessons to the London bankers!" This time, her mother actually smiled.

Lizzy recalled the time many years ago when she first read Newton's Principia, and the feeling she had when she learned why it took the moon 27 days to orbit the earth, and why it appeared to take 29 days. A little piece of the universe became something she could calculate, rather than just accept as a fact beyond her understanding. She thought she saw some of the same satisfaction she had felt then, on her mother's face now. It wasn't a tremendous intellectual achievement, but it was more than anyone had explained to her mother before. Lizzy shuddered inwardly to think of her mother growing up without a governess, and being taught nothing by her parents, except how to embroider and how to look pretty.

"We can make it even easier, mama. What you just did is a general formula that applies to any amount of money you invest. But since your join- your dowry is 5000 pounds, that is the only amount we need to work with. So instead of taking the two zeroes off of 5000 each time, you can just start with 50, and multiply that by the rate to get your interest." Lizzy pointed at the figures on the tablet as she spoke, and again she could see that her mother understood.

"Now mama, what I believe no one has explained to you is that this continues after papa dies. Your 5000 pounds will still be invested, and it will still pay you interest every year. So your allowance will not stop, not ever."

Her mother looked hopeful. "Lizzy, do you mean I will get 200 pounds a year until I die?"

"Well, not exactly," Lizzy began, but when she saw her mother's face fall, she quickly added, "you will get more! You see, when you were married, the four percents were the best place to invest your money, but now that my uncle Gardiner has done so well with his business, it is better to invest it with him. He pays us ten percent interest, which is a very high rate, because we are family. So that means your 5000 would earn… hmm… let me see…"

As she had hoped, her mother closed her eyes and moved her lips for a few seconds, and then shouted, "Five hundred pounds!"

Lizzy laughed and clapped again. "Indeed, mama, five hundred pounds! Every year, for the rest of your life!"

The play of emotions on her mother's face was fascinating to watch. Lizzy sat quietly watching her for a moment, then said softly, "Oh mama, I wish I had known that nobody told you of this before. But we cannot change the past; all we can do is learn from it." She looked up at the clock on the mantle, and added, "And we can ensure that my sisters learn these things before they marry, so they do not have to worry as you did. Can you meet us in the dining room in fifteen minutes?"

"The dining room?"

"Yes, it has the largest table, and we will need room to work."

Mrs. Bennet still looked a bit dazed, but she nodded and said, "Yes, Lizzy, I will be there."

"Oh! Mama, there is one more thing." When her mother nodded, Lizzy said, "One of the things my father is bringing from my Uncle Phillips today is a duplicate ledger of our household expenses." She walked around to the front of her father's desk, pulled open a drawer, and took out the red expense ledger that her mother had misunderstood. She opened it to a random page, and placed it in front of her mother. "This is the ledger you thought was our estate profits, yes?"

Her mother nodded nervously, not knowing what Lizzy had in mind.

"What I wanted to tell you in private, mama, is that I did not tell my father that you looked at this ledger, and I never will. When we compare the ledgers this evening, we will both act as if this is the first time you saw either of them. I am very upset with my father for letting you live in worry and fear these twenty and more years."

Mrs. Bennet was speechless. She would have thought it more likely that Lizzy would jump over the moon than side with her against her father, and she had been castigating herself for lowering her guard with Lizzy the previous evening. She had been sure that Lizzy would tell Mr. Bennet about her snooping, and that he would be furious with her. The relief she felt at Lizzy's declaration was immense.

Finally, she said, "Thank you, Lizzy. I will see you in the dining room in a few minutes."

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