5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
May 1799 Longbourn, Hertfordshire Elizabeth
“ I t is a good thing that our girls have such a bright future, Mr. Bennet,” Eight-year-old Elizabeth’s stepmother said. They were seated at the breakfast table. Jane sat on her mother’s right, perfectly turned out and delicately partaking of her breakfast. Seven-year-old Mary sat on their father’s left, and Elizabeth on the right. Kitty and Lydia still dined in the nursery.
“What do you mean, Mrs. Bennet?” Mr. Bennet asked. He kept his gaze on the newspaper in front of him.
“Why, I refer to the fortune in the four percents,” Mrs. Bennet said. “Thirty Thousand pounds five ways ensures they shall have something. Of course, Jane shall have my five thousand as well. She is so beautiful. A larger dowry will ensure she marries well.”
“Kitty and Lydia will have a share of your fortune, Mrs. Bennet. Mary and Elizabeth alone will share their mother’s dowry.” Mr. Bennet said it all matter-of-factly, not even looking up from his paper.
“How can you be so selfish and unfeeling, Mr. Bennet?” Mrs. Bennet’s shrill words hurt Elizabeth’s ears. Why was she always so loud? “It is more than enough to see all the children taken care of. Why not divide it up?”
“Besides the fact that only Mary and Elizabeth have any right to it?” he asked. “I signed an agreement with their uncle years ago protecting their interests. My first wife's dowry is safely invested, and I will divide it between her daughters when they marry."
“Can you not renegotiate?”
Mr. Bennet set his paper aside. “Mrs. Bennet,” he said severely. “If you wish to provide your offspring with a dowry beyond the five thousand you brought to this marriage, I suggest you practice economy. You have not born me an heir, and as such, I have no reason to exert myself to bettering my estate for the benefit of another man. I will see that the girls, including your daughter, have masters and governesses to improve their deportment and character. Any additional funds left after all expenses have been paid quarterly, I shall invest as I see fit.”
“Mr. Bennet!” Mrs. Bennet cried in dismay. “How can you be so cruel? Do you not wish to see us taken care of in a manner to which we are accustomed?”
“I believe I shall return to my library,” he said, ignoring her outburst. “Elizabeth, Mary, come to me when you have finished eating.” Mr. Bennet stood and left the table, tucking his newspaper under his arm.
“Horrible man,” Mrs. Bennet seethed. “How can he be so cruel to you, dear Jane? You are so beautiful and angelic. Nothing at all like your stepsisters.” She shot a cruel look at Elizabeth and Mary, her lip curling in disgust. “Such dreadful features. Brown hair, dark eyes… and so diminutive. Why, you were six inches taller at age eight than Miss Lizzy.” Mrs. Bennet sniffed and spooned egg into her mouth.
Jane said nothing. She rarely did. Her natural reserve permeated her entire being. Having come to Longbourn at just two years of age, Jane knew no other home. Mr. Bennet called her his daughter, but he did not display the same warmth toward her as he did Elizabeth and Mary. Even Kitty and Lydia, his other two children, he held at a distance. Everyone in Meryton called Fanny Gardiner’s eldest child ‘Miss Bennet,’ despite Mr. Bennet insisting that the title belonged to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth thought Jane was rather dull. She preferred indoor pursuits, like learning to embroider and sew, to running in the fields and playing in the gardens. And though Jane read, she preferred novels and poetry to the histories and scientific tomes. Elizabeth’s father read to her and Mary daily from the books that interested him, and as such, his two favorite daughters also loved the same subject matter.
After breakfast, Jane went upstairs to work on her sampler, and Elizabeth and Mary went to the library. Their father greeted them warmly, kissing their foreheads and hugging them.
“You look more like your mother every day,” he said to Mary. “The very image of her, I would say. Elizabeth, my dear, you have your mother’s eyes, but you favor the Bennet side.”
Elizabeth had seen a miniature of her paternal grandmother. They did look very similar. Likewise, there were two miniatures of the late Mrs. Bennet. Mary looked very much like her.
Pulling his girls onto his knees, Mr. Bennet settled back into his chair. “It is time to hire a governess,” he said. “I have had a letter from your uncle Mavery. He has given the name of a suitable candidate, and I have written to her to extend the offer.”
“Is Uncle James well?” Mary asked quietly.
“He is. Your cousins are running your poor aunt ragged, though. He writes the viscount poured ink on the rug in the parlor last week.”
Elizabeth’s maternal grandparents had died two years ago, elevating her uncle to the position of earl. Her aunt, Lady Maria, had stepped into the position of countess with ease, at least according to her uncle’s letters. The earl and countess had two children, a son, Viscount James Mavery, born just a month before Mary, and a daughter, Lady Susan.
“When is our governess to arrive?” Elizabeth asked.
“In two weeks’ time,” Papa replied. “She will teach you everything you need to know to be proper ladies.”
“What sort of things?” Mary chimed in.
“Oh, dancing, history, embroidery, sewing, how to manage a household… There are many things a young lady must know before she comes out in society.”
“What does 'come out' mean?” Elizabeth asked curiously.
Her father looked into the distance as if lost in memory. “It is when a young lady is presented to all the important people in London,” he finally said. “Your mother had a season in town. She wanted you both to have one as well.”
“I do not think I would like that,” Mary said nervously. “I do not like it when people look at me.” Mary’s shy nature was the exact opposite of Elizabeth’s more outgoing personality.
“You will not be made to go to London until you are ready,” her father promised.
“Can I go with Lizzy?” Mary asked softly. “I would be much braver if she were with me.”
“Yes, I think that can be arranged. You are both so very close in age.” He kissed the side of Mary’s head, eliciting giggles. “Now, both of you take a book and read by the fire. I have estate business to manage.”
They hopped off their father’s lap and hurried to the rug before the fireplace. There was a basket of books there to choose from, and soon they were both comfortably situated before the fireplace.
Mrs. Bennet appeared, and Elizabeth looked up from her volume, wondering what her stepmother wanted. She rarely came to Mr. Bennet’s library. Indeed, Elizabeth’s father preferred that his wife not come here at all.
“Mrs. Hill has seen that the governess's rooms are cleaned and ready." Mrs. Bennet stood before the desk, hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She tapped her foot in irritation and continued. “I was not aware that we would be hiring a governess.”
“Lord Elmwood has arranged for a Miss Gertrude Lane to come to Longbourn,” Mr. Bennet replied. “She will begin lessons with Elizabeth and Mary directly.”
“And Jane?” Mrs. Bennet tapped her foot impatiently.
“No. Miss Lane is contracted for Elizabeth and Mary only. That is the direction I received.” Papa did not look up from his ledger as he spoke.
“And what of Jane? Of Kitty and Lydia?” Mrs. Bennet’s voice rose, her shrill words once again hurting Elizabeth’s ears.
“If you would like to hire a governess for Jane, you have my permission. I shall make a note of it in the account book. As for Lydia and Kitty, they are full young. But perhaps Jane’s governess can teach them to read and write better than I have.”
“You are very unfeeling toward your children, Mr. Bennet. Why should Mary and Elizabeth receive more than the others? They are not as handsome as Jane.”
“It is their due by right of birth, madam. We have discussed this before.” Mr. Bennet’s voice held a touch of warning.
“Are not Kitty and Lydia also daughters of a gentleman?” Mrs. Bennet challenged.
“They may be, but they are not in any way related to an earl.” Mr. Bennet closed the book in front of him with a snap. “Mary and Elizabeth have high-born connections. Thus, their education and comportment must reflect that so as not to disgrace their relations. Jane is, unfortunately, born from trade, no matter how you like to call her ‘Miss Bennet.’ As for Kitty and Lydia, they are of gentle birth, but their pedigree is markedly less than their half-sisters’. Must I spell it out further, Mrs. Bennet?”
Elizabeth watched her stepmother quaking from anger. With a huff, the lady whirled around and stalked from the room.
“Back to your studies.” Elizabeth looked at her father. He was frowning and peering at them over his spectacles perched on the end of his nose.
“Yes, Papa,” Mary and Elizabeth murmured together. Elizabeth read distractedly, idly wondering why her father and stepmother always seemed at odds with each other.
A week later, Miss Gertrude Lane arrived. She had a happy and caring personality, and her two charges warmed to her immediately. Another week passed and a second governess joined the household. Her name was Agatha Younge, Mrs. Bennet’s former sister-in-law.
Mrs. Bennet was quick to tell the lady’s history at dinner before she arrived. Mrs. Younge had, within the last year, been widowed. Her husband, Mr. Reginald Younge, had owned a small estate in Derbyshire that brought in some fifteen hundred pounds a year. Mr. Younge had been a dissolute man and a poor landlord and married his bride purely for her dowry. As the daughter of a tradesman, Agatha Miller had brought with her a dowry of ten thousand pounds and a house in town. Mrs. Bennet reported the house was not in a fashionable location, but an area where tradesmen lived. But, it was nonetheless worth something.
The Younge’s estate was entailed away from the female line. Since Mrs. Bennet’s first husband had died without a son, when Mr. Reginald Younge left his mortal coil, the estate passed to a distant cousin.
“Entails are dreadful, unfair things,” Mrs. Bennet moaned to the entire table. “Jane would have inherited and her future would be secure. And now I find myself in the same situation, for Longbourn is entailed, too! We shall be thrown to the hedgerows when you die, Mr. Bennet!”
Life at Longbourn settled into a predictable routine. All seemed well until Mrs. Hill came to Mr. Bennet with concerns. The dear lady, ever faithful to her former mistress, had taken on a protective stance regarding Miss Lizzy and Miss Mary.
“Sir,” she said, standing before her master’s desk. “I wish to speak to you about something disturbing.”
“Go on, Mrs. Hill,” Mr. Bennet directed.
“The new governess, Mrs. Younge… she has taken to disciplining Miss Lizzy and Miss Mary behind Miss Lane’s back. For the silliest things, too. Miss Lizzy came in with mud on her hems and Mrs. Younge took a cane to her behind. Molly witnessed it and came to me in tears, sir.”
“Did Lizzy say anything to Miss Lane?”
Hill shook her head. “No, sir. I fear she does not know Miss Lane well enough yet.”
Bennet frowned. He glanced over toward the rug where Mary and Elizabeth read. His oldest child did not look at her book, however. Her cheeks were red, and she watched the conversation her father was engaged in.
“Elizabeth?” he asked, beckoning to his child.
Elizabeth stood up and ambled toward her father. Her gaze was on her toes. “I promise to not do it again, Papa,” she said dismally. “I will be more careful with my clothes.”
“Elizabeth.” He pulled her into his arms. “You did nothing wrong. I shall speak to Mrs. Younge. She is not in charge of you. Miss Lane is. As such, only your governess may issue punishment, and never by hitting you. Am I understood?”
Elizabeth sniffled and nodded. “Yes, Papa.”
He kissed her cheek. “Off you go. Read your book.” He turned to Hill. “Stay with the girls whilst I sort out this mess,” he directed kindly. “I am in your debt for bringing this to my attention.”
Bennet issued a stern warning to Mrs. Younge, reminding her of her place and promising to cast her out if she touched his children again. The lady grudgingly agreed to his terms, and all seemed resolved.
Not two months later, money came up missing from Mr. Bennet’s desk. Then, an expensive vase and silver candlesticks vanished. Along with those things, Mrs. Younge disappeared. It did not take a genius to figure out that the lady had absconded with the missing items.
Mrs. Bennet insisted it was all nonsense and tried to blame the servants. Her husband refused to allow her to dismiss their faithful staff, instead declaring that any other governesses that his wife wished to hire must first be approved by him.
Another governess was not retained, for Mrs. Bennet chafed at the restriction placed upon her. “Do you not trust me, sir?” she asked her husband.
“You have proven to be a poor judge of character, madam,” came the reply. This elicited more cries of ill use. The conflict turned Elizabeth’s stomach and made Mary whimper softly. Jane did not seem at all affected. She continued to eat steadily, her face a mask of serenity. Elizabeth wondered how her stepsister remained so unaffected by the constant contention surrounding them.