A Most Attentive Father Chapter 32, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Update: I've slotted in chapter 31.

Dear readers

I'm afraid I got stuck on chapter 31, which was to be my last chapter before the epilogue.

I will eventually write and post it (without the bit of silliness I included in the summary), but since nothing particularly exciting happens in it, I'm giving you the epilogue for now.

Thanks for all your comments, I hope you enjoy everyone's future.

Cheers

Sydney

~O~

On this Tuesday 5 November the most important results are in.

Knight's Choice won the Melbourne Cup. . 😊

. 😊

~O~

Epilogue

~O~

It was the second week in January when Charles Bingley married Charlotte Lucas.

A very proud Sir William Lucas walked his daughter down the aisle to meet her groom who was waiting at the altar. Against all expectation of his friends and family, Bingley had eyes only for his bride while he did not even notice Jane Bennet, who was standing up with her friend.

The ceremony proceeded in the traditional way until the vicar asked, 'If there is anyone who can show just cause why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace.'

As everyone expected this question to go unanswered, they were unprepared for Fanny Bennet who jumped to her feet and shouted, 'I object. Mr Bingley should be marrying my beautiful Jane. He showed such marked attention to her from the moment they met, it is wrong that he should now be marrying that plain old Charlotte.'

Jane turned bright red as her face took on a pained expression. But gathering her courage she turned to face the woman. 'Stop this nonsense at once, madam. I am very happy that Mr Bingley and Charlotte love each other and are getting married. Not least of all because I never had an interest in the gentleman.'

She turned to the vicar. 'Please continue with the ceremony.'

At the back of the church Fanny Bennet opened her lips to continue her objections, but instead only let out an undignified squawk as two men approached her, and, taking an arm each, lifted her off her feet and carried her out of the church, where they cast her into a convenient snow drift. 'You better cool off, Missus,' said the older of the two and they returned into the church, where they stood with their backs against the door.

Once the disturbance was removed, the vicar continued the service until he declared the couple to be husband and wife.

Apart from Mr and Mrs Bingley, Jane Bennet was possibly the happiest person to sign the register as a witness to this felicitous union.

The wedding breakfast was held at Netherfield which had a proud new owner, as Bingley had decided he liked country life and he liked the estate and he loved to make his bride happy by settling in the area.

Charlotte confessed to Jane, 'I always said that I was not romantic because I would not allow myself to hope for a marriage for love and mutual respect. But now that I have that, I am the happiest woman in the world.'

~O~

Outside the church, Fanny Bennet tried for some time to get back inside to make her displeasure known to all. Thanks to the men guarding the door, she failed.

Eventually Fanny Bennet did cool off, but due to her prolonged exposure to the cold while wearing damp clothing, she cooled off to such a degree that on her return to the dower house she developed a trifling cold. It turned out that it was not quite as trifling as it turned into pneumonia.

A few days later she passed away, with only a maid for company, still cursing the day she had tricked Thomas Bennet into marrying her.

While Jane wore a black armband for a month, the rest of her daughters ignored her death as she had ignored their life. Mr Bennet heaved a sigh of relief and distributed Fanny Bennet's jointure amongst his daughters.

Jane was delighted when her father suggested that she should redecorate the dower house to her taste. With the help of her sisters, predominantly Lydia, the house became a cozy and elegant home.

~O~

A few days later, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam resigned his commission.

As soon as he was officially the Honourable Richard Fitzwilliam again, he proposed to Mary. She accepted, but Bennet insisted on a period of engagement which would see her turn nineteen before they could marry. Richard was uncertain whether to be amused at Bennet's audacity or concerned when his future father-in-law said, 'You do realise that if you make my Mary unhappy, I will call you out.'

Richard and Mary were married the day after her birthday in July. The couple spent their wedding trip touring Derbyshire, looking for an estate to buy.

Their combined fortune allowed them to purchase an estate bringing in five thousand pounds per year, while still leaving almost half of their money as a jointure for Mary. The rest of their funds they set aside for emergencies.

Elizabeth was ecstatic that the estate they chose was a mere fifteen miles from Pemberley, allowing them to visit frequently. It was also convenient because it allowed Darcy to occasionally advise Richard on estate matters.

~O~

That summer, Bingley took Charlotte and Caroline to Bath.

Ever since her encounters with the Matlock ladies, Caroline had started to modify her behaviour. While some habits were too ingrained to change, at least she became easier to be around.

Caroline enjoyed the society, and by the time Bingley and Charlotte returned to Netherfield, Caroline was established in her own house with a companion and was set to enjoy herself… within her budget.

She eventually did find a man who suited her, and she suited him. While he was no Mr Darcy, all was well because Caroline decided that she was more comfortable in less rarified society.

~O~

While The Bennet family was enjoying life, Lady Catherine was not.

Ever since his visit to Longbourn, Mr Collins had become rather independent and utterly refused to be cowed by her. It became worse when he infected her daughter with the same rebelliousness.

Lady Susan was delighted when Anne married her parson, almost exactly a year after his visit to Longbourn, and she was amused when Lady Catherine was banished to the dower house. Lady Susan was heard to say, 'Serves her right for being such an interfering busybody.'

Even though they had no children, the William and Anne Collins lived happily at Rosings until eventually a de Bourgh cousin inherited the estate.

~O~

The year after Mary's wedding, Lady Susan was pleased to present Miss Catherine Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire at court.

Elizabeth and Mary, with their respective husbands, came to London to support their sister. Since the Richard did not have a townhouse, and he and Mary agreed they did not need one, they stayed at Darcy House.

For once, Bennet overcame his distaste for London and all the ladies remaining at home accompanied him. They accepted an invitation by the Matlocks to stay with them.

Bennet suspected an ulterior motive behind the invitation and was not disappointed when Matlock invited several of his cronies to play chess against Lydia. Thanks to her growing maturity, she did not gloat openly every time she won, but even with all her newfound restraint, she could not stop her eyes from glowing with pleasure.

At a ball hosted by the Matlocks in Catherine's honour, Bennet was pleased to dance the first set with her. They made quite a dashing pair, ensuring that Catherine did not lack for partners for the remainder of the ball.

When the ladies discovered that the handsome Mr Bennet was a rich widower, he was inundated by ladies who hinted that they would quite happily console him… after their wedding, of course. He was highly amused but ensured to inform each and every one of them that he had not the slightest intention of changing his status. 'While marriage is a wonderful institution, I have no interest to live in an institution.'

Darcy and Elizabeth happened to overhear one of those conversation, causing Darcy to chuckle when he commented to Bennet, 'Now you know how it feels to be a fox amongst all those hounds.'

'I must congratulate you on escaping them to find your proper match.'

Darcy delighted in making Elizabeth blush when he whispered to her, 'I am even luckier than your father knows because I have a wonderfully improper wife.'

Due to her beauty and connection to the Matlocks, Jane too had her choice of partners. A couple of them were rather put out when she refused their offer of a dance.

'Are you truly prepared to sit out the rest of the ball, by refusing to dance with me?'

'I have not the slightest intention of sitting out the ball for refusing to dance with a rake.'

He ignored the slur and blustered, 'Even a country Miss like yourself must know the rules of society. If you refuse to dance with me, you cannot dance with anybody else.'

'I am quite aware that in our society dancing is a way for men and women to have a chance to speak and get to know each other, to discover if they would make suitable marriage partners. Since I already know that I have no wish to know you better, I would not wish for you to waste your time and mine.'

He puffed himself up. 'Why would someone like you not wish to know me better?'

Jane saw that her father had approached and was standing behind her unwelcome suitor, ready to step in if necessary. She shook her head almost imperceptibly as she said, 'Because my father overheard you making a bet with your friend that you could bed me, in order to force me to marry you so that you could gain my dowry.' She smiled sweetly. 'But you should know that if I should be compromised into marriage, I would not receive a penny. And if you do not believe me, you can ask him yourself.' She nodded towards Mr Bennet.

The young man glanced over his shoulder at the glowering man. His face twisting into a grimace of distaste he turned back to Jane and said, 'Please accept my apologies for wasting your time.'

'Gladly.'

When another arrogant young fool with a reputation was also rejected by Jane, he puffed himself up. 'You do realise that with an attitude like that you are unlikely to ever marry.'

'And why should it trouble me not to have a husband who squanders my dowry on his mistress?' she said with a pointed look.

Annoyed that his reputation preceded him, he snapped, 'You are a most unnatural woman.'

'I am pleased you recognise that,' said Jane with a smile as she curtsied and walked away.

Jane could not help but get a certain amount of pleasure from these encounters. She wondered if perhaps it was wrong of her to feel this way, but she had to admit that it felt good to be in control of her life.

~O~

The family did not remain in town for long.

Catherine declared, 'I cannot understand why any woman in her right mind would want to marry any of those wastrels which I have encountered. All they are interested in is their pleasures and finding a rich wife to fund their mistresses. I would rather become an old maid than put up with them.'

Her father supported her. 'I shall be happy to have your company for the rest of my life if that is your wish.' He did not mention that he suspected the real reason for her dislike of the men in town.

Catherine would not admit that a large part of her dissatisfaction with the men in London was that they did not measure up to the young man who had set her heart aflutter for years. To her irritation and dismay, apart from dancing one set with her at Bingley's ball, he had never shown an interest in her. She was almost certain that he thought of her as an irritating little sister, or at best the irritating little friend of his little sister.

But still… he had set the standard against which she judged all eligible men. Many of the men she had met in town were richer, some were more handsome, others were perhaps more intelligent. But none of them combined the quality that was him.

The rest of the family, each for their own reasons were just as eager to return to their homes, after agreeing to spend the summer at Pemberley.

~O~

The reason both Elizabeth and Mary needed to return to their homes, made their entrance into the world at the beginning of July and late August respectively.

Mrs Beth Bennet was on hand in both cases and had the pleasure to introduce to her son, Bennet Darcy and Thomas Fitzwilliam.

Darcy and Fitzwilliam were both heard to complain that they rarely had a chance to hold their sons when Bennet was around. Bennet was unperturbed by their complaints. 'You will get enough time with your boys, since I will have to return to my own home soon. Do not begrudge me what little time I have with my grandsons.'

True enough, in September Bennet and his ladies returned to Longbourn to oversee the harvest.

~O~

The birthday present Jane received from her father when she turned five and twenty shocked her.

Bennet entrusted her with control of her dowry and ownership of the dower house.

While she considered moving there, she realised that she liked the company in Bennet Hall.

~O~

That same summer, Bennet lost another daughter to matrimony.

As he had long suspected, John Lucas had been in love with Catherine for several years already. He had never approached her because he wanted to give her a chance to find someone better and with more to offer than himself.

The day Catherine discovered how he felt about her, she proposed to him. He was too stunned and happy to do anything other than accept.

The fact that Catherine had been so bold, lightened the mood for Bennet about his shrinking family, and he was still teasing her about it when he walked her down the aisle.

Since Jane was still happy to stay in the house with her father, grandmother and Lydia, she offered the couple the use of the dower house until John inherited Lucas Lodge, which sadly happened only five years later.

At least Sir William did have a chance to welcome his grandsons, William and Thomas who were born two years apart.

~O~

Lydia's marriage was the most surprising of all.

When Bingley was at university, he made friends with Patrick Deveril, who was a year behind him. They had maintained a casual friendship and occasionally corresponded. It was the summer after Catherine's wedding, when Patrick mentioned his boredom with chess because he could never find a challenging opponent.

Bingley, who by then was the proud father of two boys, invited his old friend to visit, suggesting he might know a neighbour or two who could give Patrick a good game. Having nothing better to do, Deveril accepted the invitation.

Once he arrived, Bingley introduced his friend to Bennet.

'Deveril is something of a chess prodigy. I thought you might enjoy giving him a game,' Bingley explained and was pleased when Bennet offered to play against his friend.

Deveril won despite playing without his queen, but offered, 'I must say, Mr Bennet. You have been the most challenging opponent I had in a long time.'

'Perhaps you would like to play against my usual opponent, who has allowed me to hone my skills?'

'I would be delighted.'

Bennet could see that Deveril was dubious when he was introduced to Lydia, who had recently turned nineteen. 'There is no need to worry. I am only offering a chess opponent,' Bennet reassured him.

Despite Deveril saying, 'Very well,' he did not look convinced. But he sat down opposite Lydia and after choosing colours and who would begin, he removed his queen. He was astonished to see Lydia raising a brow and doing the same. 'Miss Bennet, you should be aware that I removed my queen to give you a chance to win.'

'That is exactly why I removed mine,' Lydia replied with a saccharine smile.

Battle commenced and it was an epic battle. Two hours later they conceded that the game was a draw.

Both were stunned to have found an opponent they could not beat.

'By Jove. I have not had a game like that in twenty years or more,' exclaimed Deveril.

'It has been only fourteen years for me, but I only learnt when I was five. This has certainly been an experience. I wonder what would happen if we both played with a queen?'

'I am not sure I still know how to play with a queen,' suggested Deveril who was still flabbergasted.

'In that case I have a chance to beat you,' teased Lydia, causing Deveril to grin.

They played every day for the next month. Most of the games ended in a draw although on occasion one or the other would win. By the end of the month the score was even.

Lydia, who had scorned every overture by all the men she had met since her presentation the previous year, was pleased to accept a proposal from her chess opponent. When she did accept, Deveril counted himself lucky to have won such a prize.

Bennet, being a most attentive father, had sat with them through every game, and had learnt to like and respect the young man because Deveril never complained on the few occasions when he lost a game.

But Bennet did get to laugh at Lydia's expression when she discovered that she had agreed to become the Duchess of Markham.

~O~

Theirs was the last wedding Lady Susan attended. She passed away quietly in her sleep only a few weeks later.

Mrs Bennet remained the mistress of Longbourn for another six years. Ever since Fanny Bennet's death she had taught Jane how to take over from her and in recent years, Jane had been doing the greater share of the work.

By the time Mrs Beth Bennet passed away at the age of eighty, Jane had won the respect of her family, the staff and the tenants of Longbourn, as well as that of the wider community.

Jane continued as the mistress of Longbourn until her father passed away in 1842 at the age of eight and seventy.

~O~

Bennet thoroughly enjoyed the last three decades of his life.

He enjoyed the company of Jane through all those years and was pleased that she had become a strong and independent woman, as well as an excellent mistress of his estate.

Once John Lucas inherited Lucas Lodge, he and Catherine used some of her dowry to buy more land to make their estate more profitable. Bennet encouraged them and their increasing number of children to visit Bennet Hall frequently, allowing him to be a doting and attentive grandfather.

While he occasionally visited Lydia in Oxfordshire and Elizabeth and Mary in Derbyshire, they more often stopped at Longbourn on their way to or from London.

Whenever possible, the whole family gathered at Bennet Hall for Christmas, as it was conveniently located for those of the family who wanted to attend the London season. During those visits, Bennet delighted in the growing brood of grandchildren. While he was always generous, he never spoilt them… at least not much.

As the children got older, he developed a particular affinity with Henry Fitzwilliam, a bright and mostly sensible boy. Once Henry finished his education at university, Bennet invited him to live at Longbourn and started to train him as the next master.

It was only during the last weeks of his life that Bennet's age caught up with him and he became frail. That condition alerted Jane and Henry and they sent for their families.

Bennet passed away peacefully, surrounded by the daughters to whom he had been a most attentive father.

~O~

Bennet's legacy lived on in his daughters and their families. Since he had been such a shining example of the kind of man all his daughters aspired to marry, they all chose good men with whom they could be happy.

Elizabeth in particular felt that she had done particularly well. While she would never have said so to her father, she thought that Darcy was the best man in the world, even better than Bennet.

That is not to say that their marriage did not have its problems, but they always managed to work out their differences.

Darcy was forever grateful to Bingley for inviting him to Netherfield where he had met the love of his life.

And while Elizabeth thought she had the best husband, to their children's irritation and delight, Darcy was a most attentive father.

~O~