Chapter 1
London, England
Dear Thomas,
After living a perfectly wonderful life in North Carolina for the last twenty years, I have finally returned to England’s shores.
My wife and son both passed on in the influenza epidemic that swept through our neighborhood last winter, and I found that life lost all its sparkle once they were gone.
So, here I am, back in England, looking for the comfort that a child would seek from a familiar blanket.
I was hoping you would allow me to return to Longbourn for a time. If you are still angry with me, I can stay out of sight. I would just like to see the old, familiar landscape, since I hope it can soothe my bruised soul.
Please respond as quickly as possible. Though I have business here in London, I will not be staying in the city any longer than necessary.
Your Brother Always,
Collin Bennet
For the first time Thomas could remember, he was truly grateful he had opened this particular letter as soon as it was placed in his hands.
Usually, he hated dealing with correspondence, and he always put it off as long as he could. This one, however, could not be ignored since it was sent express, and Thomas was glad of it.
Collin was in England, just a few hours away.
Finally, after two decades or more of separation he would get to see his brother.
He was confused at the reference to Thomas being still angry.
He had never felt any anger toward Collin, only disappointment that he had disappeared never to be heard from again.
Regardless of the situation or sentiments held by either party, this letter required an immediate response.
Thomas sat down at his desk to compose an invitation for Collin to come to Longbourn and stay as long as he liked. He then sent it off to London by express to ensure the letter was in Collin’s hands before the end of the day.
Two days later, he received a letter in the regular mail stating that Collin would arrive around noon on the fifth of February.
~~~~~
Thomas’ nervous anticipation was finally rewarded when he heard carriage wheels on the gravel drive. He jumped up from his armchair, threw on his greatcoat, and headed outside to greet his brother.
A hired carriage pulled up, and the driver hopped down to open the door. Thomas expected Collin to jump down with all the energy he used to have.
Instead, a frail, thin man with fever spots on his cheeks practically fell out of the carriage. Thomas rushed over to him to steady him, and he barely made it in time to prevent Collin from falling to the ground.
“Hello, Thomas,” said Collin weakly, though this short declaration was followed by a fit of raspy, wet sounding coughs which only ended when Collin spit bloody mucous onto the ground.
The world spun in confusion around Thomas.
This was not what he had expected in the least, and for a moment he was stunned, not knowing what to do.
Collin’s weight in his arms helped him to pull himself together though.
This was not a time to panic. Collin needed him, and it was high time he acted the big brother that he should have been from the beginning.
“Welcome home, Collin,” Thomas said. “Now, let’s get you inside. I set aside your old bedroom for you so you could have a familiar view out the window.”
The room had belonged to Mary for nearly five years now, but she had willingly given it up when Thomas explained who would be using it and why.
“Can you manage the stairs with my help, or should I call my footmen to carry you?” asked Thomas.
Collin did not answer, but the way he slumped heavily against Thomas spoke for him. While the driver began the process of unlatching the luggage from the back, the two brothers slowly made their way inside. Once there, Thomas immediately yelled for his footmen.
The yelling brought more than the footmen into the hall. It also brought Mrs. Bennet and three of his daughters, none of whom were used to hearing him raise his voice.
“Mr. Bennet, what is this?” asked his wife.
“This is my brother, Collin,” said Thomas with some asperity as he shifted Collin’s weight over to the footmen. Once Collin was on his way up the stairs, he added, “I believe he has a fever, so it would be wisest for no one to visit him in his rooms until I know more.”
“Why would your brother bring disease and illness into my home? I will not have it, Mr. Bennet!” she said in one of her shriller tones, one that he could seldom tolerate for long.
This time, however, Thomas was firm. “Yes. You will,” he said in a voice that was quiet but hard as stone.
“Collin is my brother, and I am the only family he has. He will stay here until he is well. If you are afraid, you may go stay with your sister or even your brother, but I will see that he gets the care he needs.”
Thomas was disappointed, though not surprised, to see a little light of greed in her eyes when he mentioned going to stay with her brother. Mr. Gardiner, Fanny’s younger brother, had set up shop in Cheapside in London fifteen years ago and had since been quite successful.
Mrs. Bennet frequently asked to go visit him, but Thomas had never had much patience with the city, nor had he wished to argue about how much money she would likely spend there.
Now, however, he was practically ordering her to go, and he would willingly pay whatever it took to keep her happy and, most importantly, quiet while Thomas did what was necessary to take care of his newly returned brother.
“Very well, Mr. Bennet,” she said. She attempted to look resigned, but he could see the anxious happiness that seeped through in the way she stood and the shape of her lips.
“I will make arrangements to leave this afternoon, but I must insist on taking Lydia with me. She is too young to be left in a house full of fever.”
Lydia was fourteen, and she would probably handle it just as well as her other sisters, but since she was the loudest of his daughters, he agreed willingly.
“Fine, fine,” said Thomas. “Any other of our daughters who do not wish to be exposed to fever may go stay with your sister in Meryton. Now, make your arrangements, Mrs. Bennet, and leave me in peace so that I may find out what is actually wrong with Collin.”
He moved to climb the stairs, but he was forestalled by his eldest daughter, Jane, saying, “Is there anything we can do to help?”
He paused to think before replying. “I don’t know exactly what is wrong yet, so I am uncertain what is needed. However, I do know that we will need Mr. Jones’ assistance as well as a physician. Will you send the stable boy to fetch Mr. Jones and have Mrs. Hill send for the physician?”
“Of course, Papa,” said Jane.
Then, he was finally able to head upstairs to find out what was wrong with Collin and how serious it might be.
When he entered the bedroom, he found Collin lying down on the bed on top of the covers. He hadn’t changed his clothing. He hadn’t even removed his boots. He just lay there, forcing himself to breathe.
“Collin, whatever is the matter?” Thomas asked.
“Consumption,” Collin replied weakly. “It wasn’t too bad until the last fortnight of my journey, but this past week has been rather torturous. All I could think was to keep breathing long enough to get home.”
“But consumption doesn’t run in our family,” said Thomas.
“Which is why I didn’t realize what my cough meant until I was halfway across the Atlantic. The ship’s medical officer heard me coughing, and he told me what it was. By that time, however, no matter how bad I felt, it was easier to keep making my way home than to stop or turn back.”
“If you felt so awful, why did you stay in London for so long?” asked Thomas. “The air must have made it quite difficult for you. You could have come straight home, you know.”
Collin shook his head. “I knew no such thing. After you didn’t reply to either of my letters I sent from America, I assumed you never wished to hear from me again.”
“But I never received any letters,” said Thomas. “I had a letter ready to send to you once I had an address. In fact, I think it’s still in my desk somewhere. But I never received anything from you, so I didn’t know where to send it.”
The corner of Collin’s mouth quirked up in a rueful smile. “So many years of separation simply because two letters went astray.”
The two men fell silent and mourned all that they had lost due to their separation. Finally, Collin said, “Still, I do not regret leaving. I had a wonderful life with my Emilia and my son, Bertram. He was just becoming a man when his life ended.”
There was a pause. Then that little smile reappeared. “I also had some rather interesting luck while I was there.”
Before Thomas could ask about his luck, the footmen and the driver brought two trunks and a valise into the room. The footmen left almost immediately, but the driver set about opening the trunks and unpacking them.
“That is my manservant, Rydley,” explained Collin. “Rydley, before you unpack, will you fetch the papers from my valise and give them to Thomas?”
The man nodded and did as he was bid.
“Collin, we don’t need to take care of any business right now,” said Thomas, trying to forestall the servant. “What we need is for you to be made comfortable and for a physician to look you over.”
“Wait, please,” said Collin. “I promise with all my heart that once you look at the papers, I will submit to any treatment. But please read them first. Those papers are the main reason I stayed in London far longer than I should have.”
Reluctantly, Thomas accepted the two folded documents which Ridley handed him.
The first one he opened was Collin’s will. Thomas wished to drop the cursed thing as soon as he realized what it was. He wanted to prevent it from ever going into effect, simply because he did not wish to face the idea of his brother dying so soon after they had reunited.
Still, if Collin truly did have consumption, there was no real way to save his life. Though it might take months or perhaps even years, the disease always ended in death.
Thomas opened the document and read through it. The will simply stated that, other than a large bequest to Rydley, all Collin’s worldly goods should be divided evenly among Thomas’s children.
“You don’t even know that I have any children,” said Thomas. “How could you do this without consulting me first?” He knew he sounded petulant, but he was beginning to feel overwhelmed with guilt, regret, and sorrow.
“The odds were in my favor, Brother,” said Collin.
“I decided to play them. Besides, if you truly didn’t have any children, I was nearly certain the courts would simply give it all to you, so there would be no harm done.
I have already seen that you have at least two daughters downstairs, so it seems as though my bet paid off. Now, open the other document.”
Before he opened the other document, Thomas said, “I have five daughters.”
Collin’s tiny smile had a mysterious quality to it as he said, “Excellent. Young ladies can always use a little boost to their dowries.”
Thomas hesitated, another protest on his lips, but he swallowed it. The faster he took care of this, the sooner he could take care of his brother.
The second document was a statement from an investment firm.
It listed several stocks as well as a bank account balance.
There was also a very large amount in the funds.
Thomas didn’t believe what he was seeing at first. He thought that perhaps someone had forgotten to place a decimal where it should be or that extra zeroes had been added.
He felt his eyes grow wider and wider as his gaze traveled down the list where it eventually landed on the final sum.
Apparently, Collin Bennet was worth over three hundred thousand pounds.