Alias Thomas Bennet (9 page)

“That is quite true, Miss Bingley. Mr. Bennet and I had so hoped for a son to inherit, but we have only five daughters. However, Longbourn is not the only estate Mr. Bennet has inherited, and the other property may be passed through the female line.”

“Another estate? Pray, Mrs. Bennet, is it comparable to the beauties of Longbourn?”

“Oh, the property in Gloucestershire is much smaller. We currently let the lands to a fine young fellow, the eldest of a neighbouring estate. The property also includes a dower house, which we have let to a widow and her three unmarried daughters. It has its own beauty, but when Mr. Bennet inherited Longbourn, we chose to relocate here for the convenience to Town. Our decision was rewarded with many blissful years in Hertfordshire. I could not find a happier place to live.”

Miss Bingley was impressed; it looked like Jane Bennet had more to offer than the small portion rumoured in Meryton. Mrs. Bennet was asked a question on another topic by Mr. Bingley and moved across the room to attend to him and her two eldest daughters. Miss Bingley continued her line of questioning regarding Jane’s fortune with Mrs. Philips.

“So with such an estate, Miss Bennet has much to recommend herself in addition to her fortune,” she said quietly.

“Oh, Miss Bingley, it seems you are not aware of the Bennets’ situation,” Mrs. Philips said in a similarly hushed voice. “As much as many would assume Jane and Elizabeth are their own children, they were not born to Mrs. Bennet. They came to the Bennets as wards when they were but babes. I will relate to you the circumstances of their coming to be within our family.” Mrs. Philips, being an agreeable woman who delighted in superior company, was pleased with such an opportunity to have the undivided attention of Miss Bingley.

The Bennets preferred their privacy to remain so and were disgusted with people who revelled in spreading rumours, and Mrs. Philips was one of those people. For that reason, she was privy only to the limited information that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had chosen to disclose. Mrs. Philips was a dedicated gossip and had no qualms about repeating this tale. She whispered it often and had taken the initiative to embroider it somewhat.

“Jane and Elizabeth’s young father lost his dear wife very shortly after she gave birth to Lizzy, and he was also in fragile health. Mr. Miles was such a dear friend that the Bennets offered to accompany him and the girls to Bermuda, where he was hoping to recover from an ailment of a pulmonary nature. Alas, their friend’s illness became worse during the trip, and he was tragically lost long before arriving at their destination. The girls were but babes and had no family at all. Mr. Bennet was as close as family to Mr. Miles, and Mrs. Bennet had much affection for the girls. The Bennets promised Mr. Miles upon his deathbed to take the girls as wards and give them the Bennet name.”

“My word, Mrs. Philips, your sister and brother have shown exemplary charity and Christian good will to have taken on such a burden,” Miss Bingley said with anxious curiosity.

“It is my understanding they saw it as no burden at all. The Bennets are well pleased to have been bequeathed the two girls. They are loved and treated as if Fanny had given birth to them herself. No doubt you can see, Miss Bingley, there is no difference whatsoever in the elegance of their dress or in the education and opportunities that Jane and Elizabeth have been provided.” Mrs. Philips continued with a surreptitious whisper, “But Mr. Bennet’s fortune and property cannot be inherited by a ward. That will fall to the other girls.”

“I had no idea, Mrs. Philips. Poor Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth, to have never really known their parents. They are fortunate to have the Bennets’ charity. I have also lost my parents, but I had their company for many years before they were taken from us.”

“A pity, Miss Bingley. You must feel it deeply.”

“I truly do, Mrs. Philips.”

Just then, Mrs. Bennet announced refreshments were to be served, and the conversations took another turn regarding the upcoming ball. Not long after tea and sweet cakes, Bingley and his sister took their leave, and many merry farewells were exchanged as well as gratitude for the invitation and happy anticipation of the ball.

As soon as they were in their carriage and on their way to the Gouldings, Miss Bingley related the news she had gleaned from Mrs. Philips in a low, conspiratorial voice.

“Charles, I have discovered some dreadful news regarding Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth that is of much importance to you. You recall it is widely known about Meryton that the sisters have a fortune of but £3,000 each.”

“Yes, I remember something like that. They were never speculated to have a substantial fortune. But Caroline, as a very dear friend of Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth, you are surely sensible that they are blessed with such agreeable natures that there is no need to be concerned with their want of fortune.”

“Well, as much as I may question your thoughts of denying a reasonable fortune to your children, we seem to have been ungraciously misled with regard to the extent of the elder Miss Bennet’s inheritance. I am certain it was an intentionally seeded rumour meant to deceive gentlemen of fortune into considering the eldest two daughters as suitable wives.”

“How so?” Bingley was annoyed by the accusing tone of his sister’s revelation.

“Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth are but
penniless wards
of the Bennets! No better than
foundlings!
The other properties owned by Mr. Bennet will not be inherited by a ward, and Longbourn is entailed to that Collins creature. Mr. Bennet may be a gentleman, but Mrs. Bennet’s relations are low, and the two eldest have no claim to any connections at all. Surely you can see they are not of our social sphere, nor will any alliance with them assist in elevating our status in society.” The coach stopped as they reached the home of the squire.

“Caroline, you are speculating on their parentage and connections. They are highly regarded in Meryton, and as I am to live at Netherfield, if the society in the environs accepts Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth, I see no reason to think ill of them. The Bennets are some of the most amiable people of my acquaintance. I am tiring of this conversation. Can we leave it for now and enjoy inviting people to our ball?”

“Perhaps, if there were anyone here in the country worth our notice at such a ball,” she sniffed.

Bingley just shook his head and handed her out of the carriage.

After cutting the visit to the Gouldings’ so short as to be very nearly insulting, Miss Bingley begged her brother to have the remainder of the invitations delivered by a servant since she had no pleasure in the company of Hertfordshire’s finest. Bingley was reluctant because he found nothing wanting in his neighbours but eventually relented, hoping to have a reprieve from her disparagement of Hertfordshire, the Bennets, and in particular, the ‘foundling’ Bennet sisters.

***

At dinner that evening, Miss Bingley proceeded to tell all to Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley rolled his eyes several times at her dramatic retelling of the intelligence and chided her on her derogatory conjectures. Darcy also questioned the extent of the truth and the knowledge of her sources.

“You are fully aware, Miss Bingley, that oftentimes fortunes and incomes are estimated speculatively and sometimes misreported to suit the aspirations of the holder. Although to some extent, information is available to anyone who wishes to verify the numbers, all are estimates until the settlement papers are drawn up. Some intimate their value higher than the truth to gain advantage in a union, and some may suggest their value is lower in order to distract fortune hunters.”

“Surely that is rarely the case, Mr. Darcy,” Miss Bingley said.

“Perhaps, but it does happen. You should take care whenever you hear something reported or estimated by other than those with access to the records of the funds. Oftentimes it is little more than an annoying rumour.”

“I do not know why you are arguing about conjectures or estimates,” Bingley interjected. “I think the Bennets are all lovely girls with no need for a great fortune or connections to recommend them. They are the most likeable girls of my acquaintance, no matter who their forefathers are.”

Darcy was not ready to agree with Miss Bingley in full. However, his conservative views on maintaining the strict social strata for advantageous marriages were evident as he refuted Bingley’s ungrudgingly complacent viewpoint.

“I can agree with your praise of the Bennet ladies, but their situation in life makes for little likelihood of their securing an advantageous marriage, and that is the whole point, Bingley,” he said and then excused himself.

Later, in the drawing room, Miss Bingley situated herself near Darcy and took up the topic with him again.

“Mr. Darcy, Charles is so willing to overlook all faults, and he refuses to acknowledge that an alliance with the Bennets will be a serious disadvantage to his ever being truly embraced in your circles. I know you are determined to see him be accepted as a gentleman once he acquires an estate, but an unsuitable wife will be a liability.

“Surely you can convince him that his infatuation with Miss Bennet should be curtailed. Although she is a dear friend of mine, she has nothing to bring to a marriage but a questionable past. We would be subject to scandalous rumours about her plebeian origins and shunned in all the best circles.”

“She does have a point there,” Mr. Hurst said, amazing Darcy that he was attending to the discussion when he appeared asleep.

Miss Bingley, pleased with her brother-in-law’s sanction, continued, “We are so very grateful to you, Mr. Darcy, for all you have done to help Charles with the estate and introduce him to better society. It would be a shame to have all your efforts undone by a country girl with nothing to recommend her. I beg you to take my brother aside and convince him of the truth of the matter. He has business in Town the day following the ball. Perhaps if we close the house after he is to Town, we could then work together—without the influence of those Bennets—to relate the importance of fortune and connections and his duty to a good marriage and make sure he is aware of all Jane Bennet’s shortcomings in that regard.”

When she was interrupted by a request to join a table at cards, her entreaty was ended for the moment, but over the following week, she relentlessly took Darcy and the Hursts aside to urge them to follow when Bingley went to London and convince him to abandon his pursuit of Jane Bennet.

Darcy did agree with Caroline’s views on the duty of making a good marriage, but he had other reasons to desire that Bingley not return to Hertfordshire. He was alarmed at the intensity of his increasing affection for Elizabeth Bennet. He had always been a sensitive young man and now had become affected by the playful manners and familial caring observed in the second eldest daughter of his newest good friend, Thomas Bennet.

He enjoyed her company immensely, but convivial feelings had given way to desires he knew he must repress. He was quite aware of the power she had over him and wrestled between the sensible solution of escaping before the danger became too great or staying to enjoy the exhilaration he felt in her presence. Darcy’s sense of duty was pushing him towards the former. Miss Bingley’s plan offered a way to exit gracefully from the situation, and he began to convince himself it was for the best.

So, as Miss Bingley was working her manipulations to separate Bingley from his beloved, Darcy mentally started listing other justifications for Bingley to quit Netherfield permanently. He had almost fooled himself into believing the justness of Miss Bingley’s scheme to satisfy his own reasons for cutting ties to the Bennets. But as much as he was determined to accede to the plan, guilt was niggling in the back of his mind.

The Hursts were of the same sentiment as Miss Bingley, having no intelligence to the contrary relating to the fortune of Jane Bennet. They liked her in a true sense, in contrast to Miss Bingley’s falsity of affections, and perceived their brother was very likely in love with the lady. But self-preservation required them to agree with Caroline unless there was a very strong incentive otherwise. She would be impossible to live with if she were not to get her way on an issue of such paramount importance to her.

Thus Caroline’s plan was gaining supporters. While her brother was in the room, she continued her denunciation of Jane and Elizabeth and made untoward suggestions regarding their possible past. As was usual, her brother indulged her in allowing the diatribe, and although he found it annoying, he only occasionally requested her to be more kind when speaking of the Bennets.

***

Elizabeth and Lydia were enjoying the cool autumn afternoon as they took a long walk near Oakham Mount when Lydia started a new topic.

“Have you ever been in love, Lizzy?”

“I cannot say I have ever felt a
tendre
towards any man, Lydia. I have enjoyed the particular company of certain lively and intelligent gentlemen of my acquaintance, but I have not had any serious suitors thus far, so no one has touched my heart in a truly passionate way. As you well know, I always delight in the company of amiable people, men and women alike, with whom I can jest and tease. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering how one goes about recommending oneself to a gentleman of interest without being seen as forward or wanton,” Lydia said with a glance at her sister. “Oh my, Lizzy! Your face shows concern about which gentleman I might like in such a way! Do not distress yourself! I assure you, I have no particular individual in mind at present. I am much too young for romance in any case.