Two men were engaged in a heated debate inside a small cabin located ten miles away from London.
"Why did you kill her?"
"Unfortunately, it was necessary. But you are solely to blame for her death. You shared too much information with her."
Lord Matlock shook his head sadly. "She knew nothing! I never spoke with her about our business. "
"You are sorely mistaken Matlock; your mistress knew too much about us. Besides, she was simply a courtesan and you can easily find a new one."
Lord Matlock took a deep breath and chose not to answer. The other man continued, "Furthermore, I must warn you, if your nephew continues to inquire into the death of Frederick Darcy or about my business in any way, he will suffer the same fate as his brother."
Lord Matlock blanched. "But Darcy is a good man and he..."
The marquess interrupted him, "I don't care! He is asking too many questions and I am not willing to take any risks."
Lord Matlock sighed. He knew the marquess very well; he was ruthless. "I promise, I will convince him to finish the investigation."
The marquess merely nodded. He was becoming increasingly annoyed with Lord Matlock, and his patience was reaching its limit.
At sixty-two years old, Lord Matlock never thought he would be in such a dire situation. A few years earlier, due to bad investments, gambling debts from his eldest son, and poor harvests, he made the grave mistake of borrowing money from the Marquess of Belford. In essence, he had sold his soul to the devil.
The marquess was one of the kingdom's most powerful, wealthy, and unscrupulous men. Most of his money was earned from illegal businesses; he had several agreements with smugglers and was also involved in the slave trade to America.
Several people suspected and even knew of some of these businesses, but no one dared to denounce him for fear of the consequences.
Despite Lord Matlock's warnings, Frederick Darcy made the grave mistake of having an affair with the marquess's young wife and paid dearly for it. Unfortunately, Matlock was unable to prevent Frederick's death.
Yet, he could not allow his other nephew, who was an honorable man, to die. The problem was, that he didn't know what he could do to prevent it without telling him the truth.
The Darcys' luxurious carriage pulled up at Longbourn's entrance, but to the surprise of the three occupants, no one was waiting for them. Darcy climbed out first, then assisted Elizabeth and Jane, and they entered the house.
Fanny was in the drawing room with her other daughters, crying inconsolable. Jane was alarmed by what she saw and exclaimed, "Mother, what has happened?"
"Oh Jane, a few hours ago Mr. Bennet fainted and fell down the stairs. He broke his neck. What will become of us? Mr. Collins will throw us out of our house. Where are we going to live?"
Jane hugged her mother tight and tried to comfort her as best as possible. Fanny Bennet might have been having a nervous breakdown.
After Fanny had calmed down, Jane wrote an express to her Uncle Gardiner and asked Mr. Hill to fetch her Uncle Phillips. Soon after, Darcy went with Elizabeth to the church to speak with the vicar and make all the arrangements for the funeral and burial. Mr. Bennet would be laid to rest in the small, Longbourn churchyard alongside his ancestors, who had been buried there for generations.
After everything was arranged, the Darcys went to Netherfield Park where they would stay for a few days. Charles Bingley was happy to see his friend again, and Caroline, although not so enthusiastic, wanted to deepen her friendship with Mrs. Darcy.
Mr. Bennet's funeral was three days later. Subsequently, there was the reading of Mr. Bennet's will. Due to the entailment, Mr. Collins – whom the family had never met– inherited Longbourn, but everything that was not part of the estate's inventory belonged to Mrs. Bennet and her daughters. Besides, Mrs. Bennet inherited £5,000 from her marriage settlement, and her daughters £2,500 each. It also stated that while Mr. Bennet's daughters were underage and single, Mr. Gardiner would be their guardian; he also could delegate that task to Mr. Phillips.
No one was surprised that, even though Fanny's situation and that of her daughters were not so desperate, Fanny was still very nervous because she did not have a home. In order to alleviate Fanny's concerns, Mr. Gardiner and Darcy invited her to the study to have a serious conversation with her, and make plans for the future.
When she said for the second time, she would be homeless, Mr. Gardiner stated, "Please, Fanny. You have to calm down so we can discuss this. You are not understanding your situation or that of your daughters. You are overreacting and being irrational."
"How do you want me to calm down? Mr. Collins will throw us out of Longbourn! My poor daughters!"
Mr. Gardiner sighed, and calmly replied, "Yes, Mr. Collins is the new master of Longbourn and he is within his rights to throw you out of his property. However, you have your dowry and Mr. Bennet saved £2.500 for each of your daughters."
"Or rather, Mr. Bennet took all that money from Elizabeth's dowry to add to his daughters' dowries." Darcy added sarcastically.
Annoyed, Mr. Gardiner looked at Darcy and replied, "He had the legal right to use that money in any way he wanted."
"I am not questioning the legal aspects of his actions, but the ethical aspects of getting rich off your niece's money without even asking her." He responded with annoyance and then sighed. "But that doesn't matter anymore. The important thing right now is Mrs. Bennet and her daughters have £600 per year."
Fanny repeated, "£600?"
Mr. Gardiner shook his head. "No, you have about £500 because Jane will need her dowry if she marries Mr. Jameson…"
Fanny frowned; she was quite disappointed Jane was wasting her beauty and marrying a man who had less than £1,000 a year. But she reluctantly admitted her daughter was already approaching the age when women were considered spinsters, and due to Mr. Bennet's death, Jane's chances of making a good marriage had been significantly reduced.
Seeing his sister's face, Mr. Gardiner misunderstood her and quickly reassured her, "It is enough money to lease a comfortable house with one or two servants."
Darcy added, "You don't have to worry, Mrs. Bennet. Would you like to live in Meryton or do you prefer to live elsewhere?"
Fanny hesitated for a moment, and finally replied, "It would be difficult to remain in Meryton when Mr. Collins will be living in my former home, and with my neighbors treating me like an impoverished widow."
Both Darcy and Mr. Gardiner nodded, and Mr. Gardiner added, "Then once I return to London, I will look for a house to lease in good condition that costs between £200 and £300 per year."
That night, after making love, Elizabeth was lying on her husband's chest discussing their concerns. Elizabeth was slightly irritated by Darcy's comments about Mr. Bennet's lack of morality and said, "Ever since I was a little girl, Mr. Bennet was kind to me, and I am sure he cared for me and he would have accepted into his family, even if I had no money."
"Even so, Mr. Bennet used your money without your consent! The worst is he used half of the money for his own benefit." He sighed, "I know he sold the most expensive books he owned, but he did it when he knew he was dying and for a much lower price than he bought them for."
"Fitzwilliam, according to my father's will, Uncle Bennet could do whatever he wanted with that money." She smiled slightly, "Besides, I am happy my cousins have dowries and they are not at the mercy of their relatives' charity."
"Are you not upset that your uncle used the money that should be yours without even asking your permission?" asked Darcy, surprised.
"Of course, I wish things had been different, but they weren't. What's done is done." She gave him a soft kiss, "Remember when we got married my dowry was £30,000, and you told me that you would have preferred it to be smaller because you felt I was contributing more to our marriage than you."
Darcy nodded, and Elizabeth added, "My life wouldn't change drastically if my dowry were £40,000 instead of £30,000. However, my cousins' lives change considerably by having £2,500 each at their disposal."
"Sometimes I forget you are the most generous woman I have ever met, but I still think Mr. Bennet took advantage of your good disposition and hear..."
"Don't think about it anymore, my love," she kissed him passionately, and they made love again. Later, as Darcy caressed her hair, Elizabeth said, "Fitzwilliam, if you agree, I would like to invite Mary to live with us at Pemberley."
"Are you bored of having only my company at Pemberley, Mrs. Darcy?" he asked playfully.
"You know very well the answer." She kissed him tenderly, "but I am sure Mary will be happy at Pemberley; she can teach at Pemberley's school, visit the tenants with me, and help me with charities."
Darcy nodded.
PPP
The following morning, Fanny was much calmer since her brother had promised to lease a house. Mr. Gardiner, Jane, and Mary thoroughly reviewed the inventory and separated everything that by law belonged to them. They were careful not to miss anything of value – many of these items had already been sold.
A few minutes before breakfast, Mr. Gardiner was loading his carriage when a small carriage pulled up at Longbourn's entrance. A young parson climbed out and asked him, "Good morning, Sir, is this Longbourn?"
"Yes, Sir. May I help you?"
"I am William Collins the new master of Longbourn. I came as soon as I received the news that my cousin passed away." He paused, "could you please help me unload my trunk?"
Mr. Gardiner nodded, and as they lowered his luggage Mr. Collins asked, "What is your name, Sir?"
"I am Edward Gardiner, Mrs. Bennet's brother. If you wait here a few minutes I'll let my sister and nieces know you are here."
Mr. Collins nodded.
Shortly afterward, Mrs. Bennet came out with her daughters to greet him. Mr. Collins was delighted; he had never seen such pretty girls, especially Miss Bennet. It was a pity he had not met them before. But Lady Catherine had been clear when she told him the Bennet's women were not worth his consideration.