Chapter 3
“You are certain you want me to hold this copy of your Last Will and Testament?” Phillips verified.
“I do,” Bennet confirmed. “I lost my trust in Gardiner after he went along with his daughters, but I am aware you never approved of their actions, which has led me to use your services. In fact, I heard that you would have turned your late wife out had she not been with child.”
“That is correct,” Phillips acknowledged.
“I am pleased that your refusal to do business with my late father-in-law does not continue with me. As such, I am more than willing to perform any legal services you need.” He paused as he thought of something.
“Bennet, you are a young man; why are you so concerned with your will now? You are not thirty yet.”
“Are you aware that my father passed away when he was quite young?” Bennet enquired.
“I had heard something about that. What of it?” Phillips queried.
“Unfortunately, I inherited whatever the malady was that took my father’s life…
” Bennet shared the truth of his health with Phillips and that he did not expect to live much longer.
“Given Fanny’s selfishness, I want to make sure that she has no power over my daughters or the child she is carrying now.
With her going on and on about her nerves and the entail, if the babe she is carrying is a female, I know not what she will do once I am called home to God.
With both you and Gardiner knowing what my wishes are, my children, at least it is my hope, will be as well protected as possible. ”
“I am sorry to hear that you will not live much longer, but I will keep the copy of the will here and do what I am able to in order to assist Gardiner when the time comes,” Phillips promised.
“And I will write to Gardiner and inform him that he has my permission to pay for your legal services from my estate after I am gone.” Bennet stood and shook hands with his former brother-in-law.
“It may be an impertinence, and feel free to tell me if it is, but it has been over a year since your wife passed away. Are you not considering marrying again?”
“In fact, I am. As you know, I have been doing a lot of work for Morris at Netherfield Park. He is the heir to a much larger estate in Devonshire, and he has had me work on plans for when the estate becomes his.”
Bennet had to fight to school his features.
He had a feeling he knew who the lady was who had claimed Phillips’s interest. The only lady of marriageable age at Netherfield Park was Agatha!
He checked himself because even though he had loved Agatha for many years, he had made the conscious decision never to further an understanding with her because of his knowledge regarding the length of his life.
As such, he could not show any negative feelings if Agatha was in fact the one who Phillips decided to have as his wife.
It was well known that as long as his only daughter was happy and loved the man, Morris would not reject a suitor because of the way he earned his money.
In all honesty, the law was one of the professions deemed suitable and acceptable for a gentleman to pursue.
Bennet concentrated on Phillips’s words again.
“I am free to tell you this because it is not a secret in the area. He intends to move to the other estate, and he is leaning towards leasing Netherfield Park out when he does. If he ever receives a good offer, he may consider selling it if, by that time, he is living in Devonshire. In the time I have been working closely with Morris, Agatha, Miss Morris, and I have become very close. If she is amenable to it, I will request a courtship very soon.” Phillips paused.
“You know that she is Morris’s heir, do you not? ”
“I am aware. Fortunately for him, Netherfield Park has no entail to heirs male, and it appears that the estate in Devonshire also does not.”
“You have the right of it. The fact she is his heir is not my motivation. After Hattie, which was a bad mésalliance for a similar reason to your marriage to Fanny is, I was looking for an intellectual equal, one who was interested in more substantial things than gossip and fashion. Agatha is all of that and more.”
There was nothing Phillips was saying about Agatha that Bennet did not already know.
The reasons were the same as the ones which had pulled his own interest to her.
‘If it were not for the damned malady that haunted my father, which I suffer from now, she is exactly the woman I would be married to today. I cannot condemn Phillips for his interest because it was my own choice to walk away and not attempt to court Agatha. If Phillips succeeds where I dared not walk, then I will give him, both of them, my hearty congratulations.’ With thoughts of what his illness had cost him in his head, Bennet took his leave of Phillips.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Before the Lamberts left London, the two men had agreed to correspond about issues of mutual business interests. In the almost two months since they had left, Gardiner was in receipt of two letters, which he had replied to without delay.
He had, of course, asked after all of Lambert’s family, and any mention of Miss Lambert was a boon to Gardiner’s heart.
He was sure she was the lady he wanted to court, and now he only needed to work out how to do so with the over one-hundred-mile distance between them.
His thoughts were diverted when his head clerk handed him an epistle from Bennet.
Gardiner broke the seal and began to read.
6 December 1791
Longbourn
Gardiner,
I have taken the precaution I told you I would take of leaving a copy of my final wishes with Phillips.
There is no reason not to use his legal services, as he carries no blame for what his late wife and your sister did. You know what he came close to doing once he discovered what they had done.
Perhaps I will use Mr Crawley from time to time (as long as I am in the mortal world) if anything he worked on for me needs adjustment, but Phillips will do the rest.
You remember I told you that I wanted to move forward with Miss Morris and why I could not, do you not?
I ask because the day before the date of this letter, your brother-in-law requested and was granted a courtship with Agatha.
I offered him my congratulations and best wishes for their shared future, but I would be lying if I told you that my heart was not hurt by this.
As it was my decision, I do not hold ill feelings for either of them. The pain I feel was self-induced, so I would be a hypocrite if I held anything against Phillips.
As she approaches her lying-in, your sister seems very fretful, but she has not told me what it is that bothers her.
As you are fully aware, we do not have that kind of marriage where we share our thoughts and feelings with one another.
My advice to you, as your older brother, is that when you find the one you cannot live without, make sure you are truly compatible, and she is not just a pretty face.
Of course, whatever you do, guard against an entrapment.
Enough advice; I will climb down from my high horse.
On a more pleasant subject, will you join us for Christmastide? Knowing how antagonistic your sister is to you, I will understand if you chuse to remain in London.
There is much to see in your nieces. Janey is as sweet as she has ever been and is so pleased that Lizzy, at the grand old age of 10 months, has begun to say some words. In addition, I swear that she is getting ready to walk. She is smaller than Janey was at that age, but Lizzy is so very strong.
Her eyes are always watching as if she were taking everything in.
It could be my own desires, but I swear she is going to be a very intelligent little girl.
Do you remember I wrote to you and informed you that before she reached the 6-month mark, Lizzy’s eyes became the same emerald-green as my late mother?
Mother was a petite woman, and I believe Lizzy will be as well.
Janey is a very pretty young girl (your sister agrees because Janey looks like her), but I believe Lizzy will be just as beautiful (my wife disagrees because Lizzy does not have the same looks as her), so when they get older, if I am still here, I will need to keep the young, admiring men away from them.
They will have beauty, and thanks to your skill at investing, a respectable fortune.
Regards,
Bennet
Gardiner was pleased at Bennet’s decision to work with Phillips. He knew what Bennet referred to regarding his health, but as far as he was aware the man was still hale and healthy.
He was waiting for a reply to the last missive he posted to Lambert, and he was hoping that an invitation to spend part of Christmastide with the Lamberts in Lambton would be forthcoming.
His businesses would be closed from the Thursday before Christmas until Tuesday, the day after Boxing Day, and he trusted his head clerk to keep everything in order if he was away from London for a few days either side of the time things would not be open.
He would wait until the next letter from Lambert before replying to Bennet about whether he would be going to Longbourn.
If not then, he would find a time soon enough because Gardiner very much enjoyed spending time with his nieces.
Especially now with all Bennet had told about Jane and Lizzy, as the latter approached her first birthday.
As far as Gardiner was concerned, Bennet limiting Fanny’s time with the girls was a good thing. Unless it benefited her, his sister was not interested.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~