Chapter 2
Two days after returning to Longbourn, Bennet sat with his daughters in the drawing room.
“Do you understand why we cannot tell the new Mrs. Bennet and her children about Tommy, the actual state of the entail on Longbourn, or our cousins?” Bennet asked as his two girls sat on the settee next to him.
“Papa, is it not a lie if we do not tell the full truth?” Jane asked. “And have you not always told us to lie is unacceptable?”
“I do not want to lie, Papa!” Elizabeth exclaimed, looking concerned.
“In a manner of speaking, it is an untruth. There are times in life when we need to withhold some information from another person, and for good reason. This is one of those times. When you are older, I give you my solemn word I will explain this all to you when you are able to understand the circumstances. For now, I ask you to trust your Papa, and do as I say. You are both intelligent young girls, and you know I would never ask anything like this of you, unless I felt there was no choice, do you not?” Both girls nodded emphatically.
“What I am asking you to do is for the good of our family, and especially Tommy. It is also for your own protection.”
“What will happen to us if you go to join Mama in heaven, Papa?” Jane asked with concern.
“Do you both remember what a contingency is?” Bennet asked. Both of his daughters loved to read, and Elizabeth was starting to read more advanced books and had come across the word not too long ago.
“I remember, Papa; you told me it means making plans in case something occurs,” Elizabeth remembered, proudly.
“Yes, Lizzy-bear,” which was the endearment that Fanny had called her second daughter, as she gave the best hugs.
“That is correct. Firstly, you will not get rid of your old papa so easily, but if, heaven forbid, something happens to me; I have made contingencies with both Uncle James and Uncle Edward. In a few years, I will be able to explain everything in detail to you, but please remember how important it is not to answer any questions about the entail, our connections, or your dowries if the new Mrs. Bennet or her children ask you.”
“What is a dowree?” Elizabeth asked.
“A dowry is a lady’s fortune that she brings with her when she marries.
As neither of you know the amount of yours, you will not have to prevaricate and will be able to honestly answer that you do not know.
My preference, if any of them should ask you questions about the subjects I have mentioned, is that you refer them to me.
” As Bennet completed his speech, there was a knock on the study door and Hill announced a lady that Bennet had been expecting.
“Miss Jones, welcome; please sit.” Bennet looked at his manservant and butler all in one. “Hill, please request a tea service from your wife.” Hill bowed and departed the study and Miss Jones sat in the seat that Bennet indicated.
After Mrs. Hill poured tea, weak for the two girls, she curtsied and exited the study, pulling the door closed. “Who is this lady?” Elizabeth asked directly.
“This lady, Jane and Lizzy, is your governess, Miss Anita Jones. She is sister to Mr. Jones, the new apothecary and doctor in Meryton. She will be working with you and making sure that you are busy. I will repeat what I already told you when we spoke previously, Miss Jones. The new Mrs. Bennet will be my wife, but she is not the mistress of this house. I, and I alone, am the only one who will be allowed to issue instructions regarding my children, and unless I specifically tell you otherwise, the Bingley children are not to be included in lessons with my children.” He turned to his daughters, “I wanted you two to hear this from my own mouth in case anyone tries to gainsay me when I am not in the house.” Both girls nodded.
“Miss Jones will commence on the morrow, and she will stay to look after you when I go to Town to …” Try as he might, Bennet could not force himself to say the word marry!
A few days earlier, Bennet was talking to Mr. Jones when he mentioned that he was looking for a good, dependable governess.
Jones had told Bennet about his younger sister, Anita.
They had grown up on a small estate in Bedfordshire; Jones was a third son.
The family had saved money for the education of their three sons and daughter, but the younger two sons needed to find a profession and shift for themselves.
The middle son had chosen the church, while the third had chosen medicine.
He had learnt both disciplines, doctor and apothecary, as he correctly believed most small market towns needed both but did not have the population to support two men.
Bennet had met with Miss Jones, who did not want to be a burden to her parents or her older brother, so was seeking a position.
It had not taken long for Bennet to realise she would be perfect for the position.
His daughters took to Miss Jones almost immediately, which sealed the proposition, and so, she was hired.
One of the contingencies that Bennet put in place was that regardless of his being alive or not, the servants would all be paid through Gardiner, so the new Mrs. Bennet would have no say over the firing or hiring of servants.
If she wanted personal servants for herself or her children, she would have to pay for them out of the fifteen pounds and half a sovereign they would have each month, if they combined their allowances.
That afternoon, Bennet had occasion to visit the general store where he met with the proprietor, and his friend, Mr. William Lucas.
The Lucas family owned a nice sized house behind their store.
His wife Sarah had been close to the late Fanny Bennet.
His oldest was Charlotte, who was almost fourteen.
His sons Frank and John were eleven and seven, respectively.
They all helped in the store whenever they could.
Their unanticipated baby, Maria, was not yet one year of age, and demanded much of her mother’s time.
Besides being the owner of the local store, William Lucas was also the mayor of Meryton.
It was a largely ceremonial position, but Lucas enjoyed it, as he was a jovial and sociable fellow.
While Bennet was ordering some of his favourite port, Lucas was regaling his friends of how in about a sennight, the King and Queen would pass through Meryton and, he, though only a lowly merchant, would make an address to his Royal Majesty because he was the mayor.
Lucas was a rather loquacious chap, but that did not bother Bennet.
The only thing that counted was the Lucas family were loyal friends of long standing and how either would do anything in their power to help the other.
Even though Charlotte was almost five years older than Jane, she often enjoyed spending time with the Bennet sisters, declaring each of them as friends well before either of his two daughters had learned to say the word.
Unexpectedly for Lucas, Bennet asked if they could speak in the store’s office.
With his wife there to assist the customers, Lucas led the way.
Bennet filled his friend in on all of the happenings, and Lucas pledged himself to help and support as required.
He would make sure his wife and children knew never to disclose any information about the Bennets to the new Mrs. Bennet and her offspring.
After Lucas, Bennet spoke to his friends Spencer Goulding and Johnathan Long; both pledged to assist as and when needed.
Before his departure to London, Bennet met with Philips several more times to make sure his will and all other relevant documents were as they should be and that there were more than three copies to disperse throughout the land.
As Bennet travelled to London during the latter half of March 1795, he cheered himself by thinking of Lizzy’s fifth birthday and how much fun they all had.
He was also diverted with how the King, for a reason known only to himself, had been enamoured with William Lucas’s drawn-out speech, and would knight him as a reward for it, at St. James Palace in early April.
His friends were now, or would be after the investiture, Sir William and Lady Lucas.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lady Catherine de Bourgh was seriously displeased, though for those who were her servants it seemed to be her permanent state.
No matter how many letters she wrote about a claimed agreement with her sister, who she often declared stole the man and rank that was her due as the older sister, there had not been a single answer—other than the one with a warning even she would not test.
If that were not enough, it seemed Anne was getting more sullen.
The stories that she would one day be a duchess were the only things that interested her.
At ten, Anne was not like others her age.
Until she was six, she had been a normal, vivacious girl, but then she had contracted scarlet fever.
Although her mother did not want to acknowledge it, Anne’s heart had been weakened, and there was a true possibility that she would never see her thirtieth year, or perhaps only her twentieth.
Anne de Bourgh knew everyone thought her spoilt and a sour person, yet they would feel the same if her mother was theirs. Anne was fully aware that she was uneducated and had no accomplishments, for her mother always spouted her, ‘if my Anne had been healthy enough to learn…’ nonsense.
The truth was, Anne would have loved to have learnt to play, to draw, and to do many other things, but had always been denied the opportunity by her officious and overbearing mother.
Her mother thought Anne was not aware that once she attained the age of five and twenty, fifteen years in the future, she would become the owner of Rosings, the de Bourgh House in town, and the de Bourgh fortune.
As the estate was unentailed, she would be able to will it to whomever she chose.