A Most Attentive Father Chapter 4, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Since there was some confusion – when the house at Longbourn burnt down, they moved into the house at Longford. But because the Bennet's ancestral estate is Longbourn, they kept using that name even though they lived in a different house – especially since Longford was originally part of Longbourn – before the entail to heirs male (purely on the remaining Longbourn). Longford must be inherited by a descendent chosen by Bennet.

...

I have found your comments fascinating although I cannot help but wonder what some of you (mostly Guests) were reading when you were commenting re Jane on this story…

Btw Bennet is a 19th-century man not 21st-century.

Also, historically women raised children, whereas men often barely knew their children especially daughters. Why would Bennet stop his wife, when for once she is doing her duty. He only steps in and becomes attentive when the younger girls are rejected by Fanny.

Who would have thought I have so many bloodthirsty readers who want to kill Fanny – I must be doing something right.

End of rant. 😊

~O~

Gaining Knowledge

As Fanny Bennet slowly recovered from that difficult birth, she was torn between anger and despair as she reminisced about her situation.

When she had set her cap on Thomas Bennet, she had expected a life of ease and luxury. Not only that, but she had also expected to be accorded the status of mistress of Longbourn.

It had started so well. Her mother's advice of how to gain the interest of the master of Longbourn had been excellent. Thanks to her beauty, Thomas Bennet seemed to be quite in love with her when he proposed. Even on her wedding day he was still pleasant.

At the time Fanny had even fancied herself in love with the handsome and rich man. That was until she experienced the reality of marriage.

On their wedding night, when she had submitted to him as her mother had instructed her that she must do, she had been mortified by the whole procedure and could barely stop herself from crying. And then he had been offended when she asked him to return to his own chambers when he had finished his attentions. What did he expect? She had done her duty.

The days were not much better. During their courtship and engagement, she had not spent too much time with him and had therefore been able to hide her boredom by feigning curiosity when he discussed topics in which she had not the slightest interest. While he discussed books, she fantasised about pretty dresses and jewels and going to parties on the arm of her handsome husband.

But in Margate she was forced to spend the whole day with her new husband, and he kept trying to tell her about history and literature and who knew what else. Yet all she wanted to do was to indulge in shopping with what she thought would be unlimited funds, only to be thwarted.

She prayed for their return to Longbourn, as she rightly assumed that he would be busy with estate matters, giving her the freedom to visit friends and show off all the fine new clothes and jewels which she would buy. She could just see it in her minds eye, gowns covered in yards of expensive lace, proclaiming her new wealth.

On their return she discovered that her funds were much more limited than she had expected. Instead of having two thousand pounds a year to spend, she was restricted to two hundred, and there was nothing she could do about it. No matter how she pleaded or demanded extra funds, she was always denied.

Then, to add insult to injury, Mrs Bennet had stepped in, expecting her to exert herself for the tenants of Longbourn. How could that woman expect her to associate with peasants now that she was a part of the gentry and a lady of leisure. While Fanny had resisted all efforts to sully herself with work, there was one duty she could not refuse. She could not keep away from her husband completely. It had been a shock to discover that Longbourn would be inherited by a distant cousin unless she provided a son to Mr Bennet. She had endured her husband's attentions again and again but all she had to show for her efforts was five daughters, four of whom were supposed to have been boys.

At least she had her beautiful Jane, who was the only good thing to come from her marriage. Yet even with her daughter, Mr Bennet and his horrid mother tried to interfere and turn Jane into a bluestocking like the other girls. But in this instance Fanny Bennet would fight tooth and nail to ensure that Jane would not be contaminated by those girls. Jane needed to have a chance at a good marriage which would save her mother from the hedgerows.

Fanny's mind drifted to another complaint. Even though she had been married for eight years her husband's mother was still in charge of the house. While Fanny was allowed to design the menus for the week, they had to be approved by her mother-in-law.

And Mrs Beth Bennet still occupied the mistress' place at the table at mealtime, even when they had guests. Fanny despaired that she would ever be allowed her rightful place.

As she refused to listen to her husband and Mrs Bennet, it never penetrated her understanding that her laziness and her steadfast refusal to acknowledge her younger daughters was the cause for how she was treated.

~O~

Mr Bennet on the other hand was a devoted father to all his daughters, spending as much time as his duties allowed in their company. He even limited his time with his beloved books to the evenings when the girls were asleep.

He was delighted when Mary as well as Lizzy and later Catherine displayed an interest in the written word.

It was not long before Mrs Taylor approached her employer. 'Mr Bennet, Lizzy and Mary have expressed an interest in some of your books written in foreign languages. With your permission, I can introduce them to French, Italian and German, but some of your books seem to be written in what I would guess to be Latin and Greek. Those are languages with which I am not conversant.'

Kowing that learning languages was easiest at an early age, Bennet happily gave his permission and Mrs Taylor set out to teach the basics of modern languages to her charges. It was not long before Elizabeth and Mary made a game of conducting their conversation in a melange of languages to which their father contributed Latin and Greek. But, as their knowledge expanded, they managed to confine themselves to one language at a time.

Mrs Taylor was an exceptionally gifted teacher. Her lessons were so much fun that even the younger girls participated unasked, once they were able to do so.

As his daughters grew older, they each developed particular interests and skills which Bennet was only too pleased to encourage.

~O~

Elizabeth loved anything to do with nature. By learning about plants, it was only natural that over the years she became interested in estate management. This was just as well as Mrs Taylor struggled to get her to practice to more conventional accomplishments for a lady.

'Mr Bennet, have you seen Elizabeth? It is time for her music practice,' Mrs Taylor asked her employer, whom she encountered while searching for her student.

'I am afraid that it must have slipped her mind, as she is visiting the tenants with my mother. I understand that Mrs Potter has just been blessed with another boy, and they are taking some clothes Lizzy made for the babe to them.'

Mrs Taylor refrained from rolling her eyes as she said, 'At least her sewing is improving.'

Elizabeth did learn her accomplishments, but by preference she was either outdoors or in her father's library.

~O~

Mrs Taylor found her most satisfying student in Mary, who was intelligent, studious and willing to work on any tasks she was given.

She was also the only one able to coax her favourite sister to practice duets on the pianoforte. 'Come, Lizzy. It is so much more fun playing when you join in,' she often begged, timing her requests perfectly. 'And, since it is raining, you cannot go for a ramble.'

As Mary loved not only music but also philosophy, she preferred to divide her time practicing the pianoforte and devouring her father's books. Yet she still made time to accompany Mrs Bennet when she attended the poor.

~O~

Another time, Mrs Bennet listened with pleasure as Cathy related a story she had read the previous week to her sisters. As she was about two thirds through, Mrs Bennet noticed that her granddaughter diverged from the original. Not wanting to embarrass the girl in front of her sisters, she waited until they had an opportunity to speak privately. 'My dear, you did a masterful job entertaining your sisters with your story telling. But I seem to remember the story ending a little differently.'

Cathy ducked her head before she answered, 'I did not like the way the story ended, so I made up a different ending.'

Mrs Bennet smiled and put a finger gently under the girl's chin to get her to look up. 'Do you do that often?'

'Yes, grandmama. Is that wrong?'

'Not at all. I simply did not know that you had such a talent for creating stories.

With this encouragement, Cathy started to not only change stories to her liking but create her own tales with which to entertain her sisters.

~O~

Lydia was more artistically inclined than her sisters and had an excellent eye for colours. As she and her sisters got older, Lydia was the one who generally advised them on the most suitable colours and styles to wear. While she learnt all the other accomplishments considered normal for a gentlewoman, she was not outstanding at any of them.

But Lydia had one quirk which greatly amused Mr Bennet in the beginning. He taught each of his younger girls to play chess, which they mastered to a greater or lesser degree. In Lydia's case it was to an exceptional degree. Within weeks, Lydia had mastered the game and soon Bennet had to institute handicaps for the girl to give her opponents a fighting chance.

When Bennet asked Lydia how she worked out which moves to make, she frowned as she answered, 'What do you mean work out how to move the pieces? It is obvious.'

Bennet accepted that Lydia was a natural at the game and chuckled in anticipation of the consternation she was going to cause amongst his acquaintances once she grew up.

~O~

The only one of Mr Bennet's daughters who was reluctant to join in the lessons with Mrs Taylor was Jane. A large part of her reluctance was that she had to interact with her sisters.

Jane would not admit it, but she was afraid of the girls. Ever since she could remember, her mother always declared that her sisters were unnatural because they each had refused to be born a boy. They were also quite frightening because they all knew many things which Jane could not comprehend and she found the girls, particularly Elizabeth, to be quite intimidating.

Although on a couple of occasions Jane nearly succumbed when Elizabeth artlessly invited her to play with them, Jane could not bring herself to trust them. What if her mother was right, and the girls would hurt her the way that Lydia had hurt her mother? She was terrified of pain.

Once she knew how to read and write as well as having become proficient at doing her sums, she had no further interest in anything the lady had to teach. She had no talent for music. She refused to sketch or paint anything because it might cause her dress to become stained. Even sewing and embroidery was not to Jane's liking because she kept pricking her fingers.

Of course, any outdoor activity was unacceptable as it might have dirtied her dress or tanned her skin to an unfashionable brown. Jane was rescued from complete boredom by accompanying her mother as she visited her friends. During one of those visits to the newly renamed Lucas Lodge, Jane at last made a friend of her own.

Charlotte Lucas was four years older than Jane and had heard stories about the Bennets from her mother, the newly minted Lady Lucas. She was the wife of Sir William, the former merchant who had been knighted for giving a speech to the King, while Lucas was the mayor of Meryton.

Feeling sorry for Jane because Mrs Fanny Bennet kept her isolated from her sisters, Charlotte took the young girl under her wing.

~O~

To overcome some of that isolation, once each of the girls was old enough to have learnt adequate table manners, they were invited to join the adults for meals.

Mr Bennet and his mother felt it was one way to bring the family together despite Fanny's reluctance to interact with the younger girls.

Initially it was not particularly successful as Fanny and Jane spoke to each other until Mrs Bennet decreed that Jane was to sit at her right, while Fanny sat at her husband's right. Despite Fanny's objections they persevered, and Jane slowly learnt to speak with her grandmother. As each of her sisters was added every couple of years or so, conversation around the dinner table became more lively, even though Jane found many of the topic incomprehensible and some objectionable.

Discussions of literature, history or estate management were bad enough but thirteen-year-old Elizabeth's contribution of, 'Grandmama, Jenny Potter said that her mother is expecting again,' caused Fanny to vehemently object to the subject, claiming it was not fit for maidenly ears.

Elizabeth glared at her mother as she answered, 'Pardon me, madam. I only mention this because I wanted to ask for more fabric to make some clothes for the babe.'

Fanny turned on her husband, 'You would waste money on a tenant, but deny me and my daughter new gowns?'

'You have more than enough gowns, the child has none. And Lizzy was right to raise the subject as the mistress of an estate must be aware of such things,' Bennet replied angrily, causing Elizabeth to give her father an apologetic look for causing discord at the dinner table.

Bennet smiled at his second daughter. 'You shall have as much fabric as you want,' ending the argument but not the angry looks from his wife.

A few months later, Lydia was allowed to join them. That was the day when Jane threw a fit. 'Mama, you cannot allow that monster to contaminate us with her presence,' she cried as she could not avoid Lydia's presence the way she had done for years.

'How dare you speak of Lydia that way,' thundered Bennet. 'What has got into you to spout such nonsense?'

For once Jane's temper flared. 'I remember how much she hurt mama. I remember mama screaming for hours and hours the day that monster came into our family. But instead of getting rid of her, you coddled that horrible creature.'

Mrs Bennet thought it best to intercede. 'That creature, as you call her, is your sister and no more a monster than you are. Your mother screamed just as much when she brought each of you sisters into the world… including you. But this is truly not a subject for the dinner table. Young lady, you will sit down and eat your dinner. If you speak, I expect you to do so politely. We will discuss this later.'

At that remonstrance, Jane shrank into herself, terrified of the harsh words directed at her.

Lydia, who had never known anything other than love, except when she got into a scrape, listened in wide-eyed astonishment. Not able to comprehend the reason why such anger was directed at her, she turned to Elizabeth. 'I promise you that I have never hurt Jane's mama. Who is she?'

'The lady sitting next to papa,' Elizabeth said quietly. 'I will tell you more later, but meanwhile remember that you did nothing wrong.'

After dinner Mr Bennet and his mother explained the relationship to Lydia. Once she had all the facts, Lydia sat quietly for a while and eventually shrugged. 'She is very strange, but since she avoids us, I do not really care. I am just glad that you love me,' she finished with a smile.

After Lydia went to bed, Mrs Bennet said to her son, 'Thank heavens for the resilience of youth.'

~O~

A few days later, Mrs Bennet did indeed discuss the subject of birth with Jane when she took her granddaughter to distract the Potter children while she assisted the midwife with Mrs Potter.

Jane was horrified when she heard the noises from the cottage but was even more upset when the children seemed to take the situation in their stride. Jenny Potter merely commented, 'Mama always screams a lot while she's giving us a new brother or sister.'

Soon after they heard the cry of a newborn child, Mrs Bennet required Jane to come inside. Jane was amazed when she saw Mrs Potter propped up in bed, looking tired but happy as she cuddled her newest daughter to her. 'Ma'am, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to call her Beth, cause of your help.'

Mrs Bennet declared herself honoured and soon after took Jane back to the manor. Along the way she commented, 'This is what happens when a loving woman has a child. Yes, there is pain, but that is forgotten as soon as she bonds with her child.' She thought it would be diplomatic to let Jane draw her own conclusions.

Even though Jane said nothing, from that day forward, while she was always reserved, especially when her mother was present, she acted in a civil manner to her sisters.

~O~