~O~
Family Dynamics
Soon after the birth of Catherine, Mr Gardiner passed away as his health had been deteriorating for some time.
Harold Phillips inherited the practice and the house in which it was located. His wife was happy to be the mistress of her own home at last. Once her mourning period for her father was over, she delighted in frequently hosting her sister and her friends for tea.
Edward Gardiner, who had come for the funeral was grateful to receive his father's savings of four thousand pounds.
Fanny Bennet was put out about her father's death because she hated to wear black and because he had not seen fit to leave a bequest for her, having considered her dowry to be her inheritance.
The Bennets hosted Edward Gardiner as they had the most room to accommodate him and to give him a chance to meet his nieces.
Fanny Bennet immediately took her brother to her own sitting room and ordered her daughter to be brought to her.
Gardiner was stunned when the maid returned with a very pretty girl of five who was dressed in a miniature version of her mother's dress, despite having heard about how his sister dealt with her daughters.
Jane immediately rushed to her mother and grasped her hand with both of her own and looked nervously at Gardiner.
'Jane, dearest, I would like for you to meet my brother, your Uncle Gardiner. Brother, this is my beautiful Jane,' Fanny introduced them.
'How do you do,' the girl whispered uncertainly.
'Good afternoon, Jane. You are certainly the young lady already,' Gardiner greeted his niece.
Jane nodded but turned to her mother. 'Mama, I want to play.'
'Yes, my precious. Of course. You can go back to your room to play.'
'But I want to play here,' Jane pouted, giving her mother a soulful look.
Fanny immediately capitulated. 'I am sorry, Edward, but my daughter needs me. Go and visit with our brother.'
Gardiner was only too pleased to do so. Seeing his young niece in such a grown-up dress made him feel uncomfortable.
~O~
The reception he received in the family wing was very different.
The three younger girls had been moved into another large suite on the family floor, with the girls sharing one room and their nurse sleeping in the second bedroom.
As Bennet led Gardiner into the sitting room of the suite, a whirlwind with mahogany curls, dressed in a pinafore rushed up to Bennet and jumped into his arms, shouting, 'Papa.'
Bennet whirled her around before setting her down and performing introductions. 'Gardiner, this little imp is my Elizabeth. Lizzy, I would like you to meet your Uncle Gardiner.'
At an encouraging nod from the nurse, Elizabeth managed a wobbly curtsy and said carefully, 'I am pleased to meet you, Uncle Gardiner.' She quickly glanced towards the nurse who gave an approving smile and a nod, which caused the girl to grin.
Gardiner returned the grin and gave Elizabeth a very proper bow. 'I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, my dear niece. I have heard much about you.'
'You have?'
'Indeed. Your father writes to me about you and your sisters.'
'I wish I could write,' Lizzy said mournfully.
'If you wish to learn, I shall teach you,' promised Bennet and was rewarded with a brilliant smile.
After brief introduction to Mary, who was not yet two and lacking in conversation and Catherine, who was sleeping, the men indulged Lizzy by having tea with her and answer question after question, many of them starting with 'why'.
~O~
The children were asleep, and the ladies had retired to their rooms, giving Bennet and Gardiner a chance for a private conversation.
'How go things for you in London?'
'Exceedingly well, and I expect that matters will be even better now that I have the extra funds to invest immediately to provide me with the starting capital for my own business. Working for Mr Mason has been highly educational, and he has allowed me to invest any spare funds I had to make an excellent profit.'
'So, you are going to strike out on your own?'
'If I had another eight thousand, I would start now, but if I am careful and lucky, I shall be able to do so perhaps next year, at least in a small way.'
Bennet poured them another drink as he thought about the situation. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of the fine brandy. 'How would you like a partner in your business… a silent partner?'
'Are you suggesting that you want to invest in my business?'
'I promised your father that I would assist you when you were ready. It seems that you are ready now.'
Gardiner looked hopeful as he said, 'You are willing to invest eight thousand with me?'
Bennet smirked. 'How much would it take to do this properly?'
Thinking Bennet was joking, Gardiner said airily, 'I suppose for fifty thousand, I could buy out Mason and that way I would have an already going concern.'
'Very well, fifty thousand it is,' Bennet replied and enjoyed the stunned look on Gardiner's face.
After a moment, the younger man closed his mouth and laughed. 'You still have your sense of humour, I see.'
'I was not joking.'
Gardiner took a few moments to find his voice. 'You have that much in liquid funds?' When Bennet nodded with a smirk, Gardiner protested, 'I could not accept that much. There is no guarantee that I can make this work.'
'Do you think you can do well?'
'Yes, I think so. But as I said, I cannot give you any guarantees and I could not countenance for you to lose all your money on this venture.'
'I expect you to keep this confidential…' Bennet said and at Gardiner's emphatic nod he added, 'I own two profitable estates, and I have a considerable fortune sitting in the funds.'
'I thought Longbourn only brought in two thousand a year? Fanny complains about the lack of funds often enough.'
'That is correct, but Longford makes considerably more.'
'Longford?'
'Did not your father tell you about our history?'
'I was away at school much of the time and he never divulged his clients' business.'
'Several generations ago, the younger Bennet son William amassed such debts that his father was forced to sell nearly three quarters of Longbourn land. The granddaughter of the man who bought the land and built this house,' Bennet waved his hand indicating his current home, 'married my grandfather. Her only brother died but her father lived long enough to be alive when I was born.'
He stopped speaking to take a sip of his brandy, amused that Gardiner listened eagerly. 'As my older brother was to inherit Longbourn, great-grandfather Purcell made me the heir of his estate – Longford. Since I was only four when I inherited, the estate was held in trust and managed by a steward and my father, and all profits after expenses was invested in the funds.'
Gardiner did a quick calculation in his head. Longford was three times the size of Longbourn, and the profits had been invested for over twenty years. Adding compound interest, he estimated that Bennet must have something like two hundred thousand pounds.
He could not help but exclaim, 'No wonder you can afford to invest. But if Longford is your major estate, why are you still known as Bennet of Longbourn?'
Bennet grinned and continued his story. 'In '87 when the fire at Longbourn killed my father and brother, instead of rebuilding we simply moved into this house. But since the Bennet family estate has always been Longbourn, I was content to be known as Thomas Bennet of Longbourn, even though Longford is bigger and more profitable.'
'I had forgotten about Longford as everyone always refers to you as Bennet of Longbourn.' Once he had recovered from his shock, Gardiner immediately made the right connection. 'You are hiding your true wealth from Fanny.'
'If she knew about the extra money, she would want to squander it, and I have no desire to listen to her constant complaints if I did not give in to her. Instead of wasting that income, it adds to what I keep in the funds. It will also give my girls options when they grow up.'
Bennet appreciated that although Gardiner looked like he was curious about the exact amount of his wealth, he did not ask. Then again, the young man was bright enough to make a fairly accurate estimate.
Changing the subject slightly, Gardiner asked carefully, 'I did not wish to pry, but I gather that my sister has been resistant to education?'
'I am afraid so,' Bennet admitted. 'Both my mother and I have tried to teach her about being the mistress of an estate and how to be a gentlewoman.' He sighed. 'She does not want to listen.' Shaking his head, he added, 'I discovered too late that all she ever wanted was a life of ease and luxury. She wanted the status of being the mistress of Longbourn but without ever lifting a finger to contribute to the estate.'
'I had not realised she was as bad as that. I just thought she was not overly bright and thought life was one continuous party.' Gardiner grimaced and changed the subject. 'About your daughters…'
'So, you have noticed the difference?'
'I would have to be blind not to see that Fanny is trying to turn Jane into a miniature copy of herself and does not seem to acknowledge the others.'
With another sigh Bennet explained about the entail and their efforts to have a son and Fanny's frustration that her daughters refused to be born as boys.
Gardiner nodded in sympathy. 'I am afraid Fanny has always been thus. She is not sensible and cannot understand why the world does not bend to her wishes.'
'Until she is able to behave in a sensible and grown-up manner, I will not allow her the title of mistress of the estate and I shall not confide in her the true state of our situation,' Bennet declared.
'In that case, I expect she will go to her grave without ever knowing,' Gardiner agreed with Bennet's estimate.
Reluctant to delve further into this situation, the two young men went back to discussing their prospective business venture.
~O~
Before Gardiner returned to London, he and Bennet approached Phillips to draw up contracts for their future partnership.
They agreed that Bennet would be a silent partner in the business for which he would provide the starting capital allowing his brother to keep his own funds for contingencies. As Gardiner was going to do all the work, Bennet would receive a fifty percent share in the business.
They both declared themselves eminently satisfied with this agreement.
Six months later, Gardiner reported that they now owned Mr Mason's former business, which had been renamed to Gardiner and Associates.
~O~
Since Elizabeth had declared an interest in learning to write, Bennet asked Gardiner to start making enquiries for a governess in addition to the nurse who looked after the younger girls.
In the meantime, he started to teach Elizabeth her letters. While she initially struggled with the fine control required for writing, she was soon reading stories and became a voracious reader. The day Bennet took her to his library for the first time, seeing all the books, little Lizzy's eyes became huge, and she gasped. 'Is each of them a different story?'
'Not all of them are actual stories, but they all contain something of interest to me.'
'This must be a corner of heaven,' the girl exclaimed in awe.
Not wanting to stifle her enthusiasm for the written word, Bennet gave her access to the books after he extracted a promise from Lizzy to be careful of his treasures, which she happily gave.
The only limitation Bennet put on Lizzy's literary forays, was that he moved his most valuable books into a lockable breakfront case, and he kept the key and any unsuitable books out of her reach.
After that, whenever Elizabeth was not in the garden, she could be found in the library, curled up in a big chair by the window, lost in her imagination.
A few months later Gardiner found a young widow who he thought would be perfect to teach his nieces.
Mrs Taylor was a huge success with Elizabeth, but less so with Jane, whom Bennet had decided to include in the lessons.
The most resistance came from Fanny. 'I do not wish for you to turn my beautiful daughter into a bluestocking, making her unmarriageable.'
Bennet insisted, 'There is a big difference between being a bluestocking and having a basic competence in reading and writing as well as being able to do sums. All of which are things which she will need when she grows up. I do not expect her to read philosophy, but I need her to be able to read, even if it is only trashy novels.'
Fanny eventually agreed, albeit grudgingly, but Jane remained skittish whenever she was in company with Elizabeth.
~O~
Once Fanny Bennet stopped mourning her father, she reluctantly agreed to resume marital relations with her husband in an effort to produce an heir for Longbourn, who would save her from the hedgerows.
These relations stopped the moment she realised that she had missed her courses. Even though she was not particularly religious, as for her, Sunday services were simply a pretext to spend time gossiping with her friends, she prayed that this child would be the hoped-for heir.
The next months were the most difficult for her and the labour to deliver the child wass more difficult and lasted longer than all the previous ones.
The doctor whom Mr Bennet brought in for this occasion, saved the lives of both mother and child, but his verdict was that Mrs Bennet would not have any more children.
While Fanny rejoiced in never having to have marital relations again, she was devastated that all her trials had resulted in yet another daughter.
It was too much for her, causing her to scream, 'Take that monster away from me. It destroyed my womb. I am certain it planned to ensure that it would be my last child and receive all the attention as the baby of the family. But it was all for nought you little monster. Because of you I will not be able to produce an heir for Longbourn, but I promise you, you will be the first to be cast into the hedgerows to freeze and starve when Mr Bennet passes away.'
As Mrs Bennet had expected such a reaction, although not as extreme, she took Lydia to meet her father, who was delighted to welcome another precious daughter.
During the time while Fanny was in labour, Jane, who was seven years old, was supposed to have spent the day with her sisters, but she had evaded them and returned to the safety of her own room. There she huddled, listening to her mother's screams.
She cried in sympathy for her beloved mama and came to hate the child who caused so much pain.
~O~
~O~
A Most Attentive Father (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2024
