Chapter 23
Thomas Bennet stared disbelievingly at the document Gardiner had placed before him as if it was a snake about to strike.
“How on earth did you get Collins to agree to end the entail?” He asked in wonder.
“This is genuine, is it not? It is not some hoax to show me how cruel I could be in my making sport at others’ expense? ”
“No, Bennet, it is not that. I hope from our prior conversation you have seen the error of your old ways. This is absolutely real. Maddie’s and my arguments were convincing, so Collins signed and will receive the amount listed,” Gardiner said.
“I thank you, and I am indebted to you, as are the future generations of Bennets, but how is half such a sum to be repaid?” Bennet enquired.
“It is our gift to help secure the futures of our nieces and Fanny. The rest is in your hands. It is up to you to do what is needed to bring the estate’s earnings back to the levels they were in your father’s time.
It is also incumbent on you to bring the spending, both your own and Fanny’s, under control, and begin to save.
A good first step would be to turn Fanny’s dowry over to me as I am able to make it grow.
I would suggest that as your profits increase and your spending decreases, the surplus should be sent to me to help you save for your unmarried daughters’ futures. It is never too late to begin.”
“If only I had paid heed to your words when Fanny and I first married. My daughters would have very respectable dowries today. Even with the entail in place, they would have had secure futures with or without marrying,” Bennet admitted, his head bowed in remorse and embarrassment.
“Yes, that is all true, except, Bennet, it does you no good to weep over spilt milk. We are all aware there is no way to change the past. That being said, you need not repeat the errors of the past but rather move forward with a new determination. Maddie and I are willing to assist you and Fanny, but only if you are both willing to correct your mistakes of the past,” Gardiner stated.
“By the by, Maddie and I just spent time with Jane and Lizzy…” He related a synopsis of what had occurred when they had met with the two eldest Bennet daughters.
“No wonder you and Maddie know so much about that libertine. It is not only the Bennets who will owe you a debt of gratitude for stopping him before he could damage many more, but especially the merchants and fathers of daughters in this area,” Bennet acknowledged.
“If the past with that profligate is anything to go by, I would wager he already has substantial debts with the local businesses,” Gardiner opined.
“Then on the morrow, I will call at each shop and buy that wastrel’s debts. I know you would have, but as you said, I need to make changes, and it is my town which would be harmed by the merchants suffering,” Bennet insisted.
Gardiner was impressed. He and Maddie had planned to do just that on the morrow before confronting Wickham.
With the almost three thousand pounds owed by him, what would a little more hurt?
“In that case, I will accompany you. Once you have covered all of his debts, I would appreciate the markers to add to what Maddie and I already own. We want to make sure that this bastard never sees the light of day as a free man again.”
Bennet agreed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Dinner that night was much quieter. There were several reasons for that fact.
Lydia was still locked in the nursery, but she no longer screamed to be released; Fanny was calm and contemplative; Collins had taken a tray—with a moderate amount of food—in his chamber; Bennet was not making fun of any of his womenfolk; and the four Bennet sisters present were each lost in her own thoughts.
Just before the end of the meal, Bennet stood.
“Thanks to my propensity to make everything into a joke for my own amusement, I must preface what I am about to say by stating that everything will be the absolute truth, no sport. Maddie and Gardiner will be able to confirm the veracity of what I tell you. Given how I have always teased all of you in the past, I will not be affronted if any of you feel the need to apply to them.”
Bennet took a deep breath. “It strikes me that before I proceed, I need to apologise to all of you for my refusal to do all I needed to in order to secure your futures and ensure that Longbourn was profitable.” He turned to his wife.
“To you Fanny, I owe the most amends. Instead of allaying your fears, I played on them for my own amusement. It was badly done.
“Your main fear is the reason I wanted to tell you all of what Maddie and Gardiner did earlier today. They convinced Collins to break the entail. All I had to do was sign the document they had had Phillips prepare,” Bennet revealed.
A squeal escaped from Fanny’s mouth, but she clapped her hands over that orifice to contain any more effusions.
The four daughters at the table looked on with absolute shock on their countenances.
Fanny began to sob as the worry of twenty years leached from her body.
“Oh thank the Good Lord, and you, my brother and sister!”
It was Bennet who walked to the other end of the table to comfort his wife.
Fanny dried her eyes with her husband’s proffered handkerchief. “Thomas, is this real? I am not dreaming that I heard you say the entail is no more?” She asked in wonder.
“It will be once Phillips files the papers with the Court of Chancery,” Bennet clarified.
“Both Collins and I have signed, your brother witnessed the signatures; hence, it is now a formality. As soon as the court issues the new deed, I will be the owner of Longbourn and no longer a lifetime tenant.”
“Papa, does this mean you may leave the estate to whomever you choose?” Elizabeth enquired.
“It does,” Bennet replied.
“As Lizzy knows the most about the running of the estate, it should be her,” Fanny said in all seriousness.
“No, Mama, it should be Jane as she is the eldest,” Elizabeth demurred.
“I will have Phillips write a new will for me in which I will stipulate that Longbourn will be inherited by the eldest daughter who, at the time of my passing, is single. If all of my daughters are married, the estate will pass to the eldest daughter whose husband does not own his own estate,” Bennet explained.
“The other stipulation will be that the son of that daughter who inherits the estate in the future will have the surname of Bennet so that our name will not end with me,” Bennet explained.
No one argued against his plan.
“What will Mr Collins do now?” Mary questioned.
Maddie and Gardiner explained what was in Mr Collins’s future.
“It seems he did not worship his patroness like we all thought,” Maddie added.
“After she struck him with her walking stick, he had visions of the cruelty he suffered at his late father’s hands, so he acquiesced as he used to do with his father.
I believe that his eating habits were driven by his need to find comfort.
We hope that his new path will be beneficial for him and lead to him living a happier and more fulfilling life. ”
All Elizabeth could do was shake her head.
Because of her refusal to see past her own intemperate judgements, all she saw was an idiotic man and nothing beyond.
This knowledge would not have changed her desire to marry him, but she would have been far more tolerant of her distant cousin.
There was so much for her to consider. She had accused Mr Darcy of arrogance, but had not her own arrogance stopped her from considering that her judgements were not infallible?
Elizabeth knew she had much on which to cogitate.
Fanny was about to offer her own apologies when Bennet squeezed her arm supportively. “We have all had a draining day, let us enjoy one another’s company in the drawing room and then retire. I am sure we all have much we need to say, however, a good night’s sleep first will not be remiss.”
There was no separation of the sexes that night.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam thought it was rather amusing that he was spending the night at Netherfield Park where his ‘insert-his-hessian-in-his-mouth’ cousin had been hosted until very recently.
Gardiner and his wife had invited him to be hosted there rather than spend a few nights, or even one night, at the Red Lion Inn in Meryton.
Not, they had said, that the inn was not clean and comfortable, but they refused to allow him to spend his own coin for no good reason when the estate was there.
His protest that Bingley held the lease and had not invited him to his house was quickly negated.
Evidently that puppy Bingley had allowed his sisters to close up the house and claim they were giving up the lease.
Gardiner had related that no note refuting that had been received from Bingley in London.
Richard decided that the irresolute man had more money than sense after Gardiner explained that abandoning the estate forfeited the funds Bingley had already paid for the full year’s lease.
It was not surprising that the puppy would wag his tail and sit when his sisters commanded it.
However, surely Darcy would have counselled him about how dishonourable it was to abandon his responsibilities in this way?
If this was how Bingley was with his own funds, no wonder he was so cavalier with ladies’ hearts.
He was looking forward to meeting the Bennets after he dealt with Wicky on the morrow. He was especially keen to meet the one whom Bingley had run from and the other sister William had claimed was not handsome enough to tempt him.
For now, he would enjoy being the only one in residence at this estate which had a full complement of staff and servants at his beck and call.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~