Chapter Seventeen
W hatever the maidservant made of the remnants of their late-night supper, she made no comment as she made up the fire in the Miss Bennets' room in the morning. Miss Elizabeth stirred at the sound of the grate being swept and slowly blinked at the sharp ray of sunlight that crept through a narrow gap in the heavy curtains .
“What time is it, Freyton?”
“Almost eight, Miss. Mrs. Gardiner said I was to wait until now to do your fire.”
“My aunt is already up, then; I had better rise as well.” Once out of bed, she quickly drew on a robe. “It is a cold morning. Try not to disturb my sister, Freyton — she needs a little more rest.”
“Yes, Miss. We had a frost last night. The baker's boy who come to the kitchen door says the Thames is hard.”
Lizzy nodded. “Frozen, I should think. The air felt bitter when we came home. Build up the fire well. Hopefully Miss Bennet will sleep long enough to wake up when the room warms. I shall dress.”
“Yes, Miss. Mrs. Gardiner is with the children having breakfast.”
“Breakfast sounds just the thing.” Elizabeth glanced at her sister, still soundly asleep, and went behind the screen to change from her nightrail into her warmest dress.
As Freyton had said, Mrs. Gardiner was at breakfast with the children. Isobel was beside her and Ned sat on her lap. Miss Rachel Gardiner was intently occupied in spreading the jam on her bread roll to her satisfaction .
Upon Elizabeth's entering the room, Mrs. Gardiner looked up .
“Good morning, Lizzy. I feared that sending Freyton in might wake you, but it is such a winter's morning that I hoped the fire might make you more comfortable.”
“Good morning, Aunt. Once I have poured myself a cup of tea, I will take Ned on my lap — he will discover how far his reach may go at present, I see.”
Mrs. Gardiner calmly prised her butter knife from her son's grasp. “I think it is the speed at which he gains his target as well as the reach of his fingers that causes the problem, Elizabeth. His papa discovered this morning that he can get a quill from the table and into his mouth in a matter of seconds.”
Her niece took a fortifying sip of tea and reached for the boy. “Here now, Ned, come and sit nicely on my lap. It is a pity it is so cold or I should have enjoyed taking them out to the park again. What if we were to take a carriage to view the Thames? That might be a spectacle worth seeing, and it would not be so very cold, you know, if we brought blankets and hot bricks.”
“That would be delightful for them, Lizzy. I suppose you will wish to go soon so as to be back for Mr. Bingley's call later.”
“Certainly. Jane will want me with her. I already feel wretched enough that I was not by last night.”
“It is a waste to feel wretched about anything that occurred last night, dear. If Jane is to feel guilty about her concentration and you are to feel likewise about an unavoidable dance with Mr. Darcy, then I suppose I must take my turn to be stricken in conscience that I turned faint on you.”
Elizabeth laughed, and while Ned was happily occupied with a spoon, took another sip of tea. “How rational you are, dear Aunt.”
“Speaking of Mr. Darcy…”
“Oh, must we?”
“Elizabeth. Do you properly understand the consequence of that young man?”
“Now you sound like Charlotte. She was also greatly impressed by his ten thousand pounds a year.”
“It is not just that. I knew the Darcy family by reputation when I lived in Derbyshire — they were the first family there and most of the lives of my circle of acquaintance were touched by them in some way.”
“Charlotte also believed he had the right to be proud.”
“Are you not proud of Jane?”
“Hardly the same thing, Aunt! I do not disdain others for not being exactly like her — she is unique, of course.”
“Do you not judge your younger sisters for failing to match Jane's sweetness?”
“I protest, Aunt! Must you compare me to Mr. Darcy?” She laughed but saw that Mrs. Gardiner was serious. “I will allow that Jane's temperament must naturally be impossible for any of the rest of us to equal, but I have never knowingly thought less of my younger sisters for not being the same.” Her natural sense of justice compelled her to add, “How could I, at any rate, given how far short I fall myself?”
Mrs. Gardiner smiled at this. “You are far sweeter than you give yourself credit for, my dear. I do not mean to pull caps with you, however, so I will only suggest that Mr. Darcy has likely never deliberately been proud either. Why do you believe he danced with you?”
“Certainly not because he likes the exercise — he danced as little as he possibly could in Hertfordshire. Did I tell you how rudely he dismissed Mr. Bingley's suggestion that I might be a worthy partner?”
“Yes, you did, dear. He appears to have changed his mind on that score — your mama mentioned that you danced with him at Netherfield, I believe. ”
“Yes,” said Lizzy quickly, “but that was only because he wished to argue with me.”
“Naturally you obliged him.”
“It was irresistible, I assure you. I had only to mention Mr. Wickham's name and such a hauteur came over him. I daresay he despises me for being an acquaintance of the son of his father's steward. Mr. Darcy even said that whilst Mr. Wickham could make friends, he was not equally capable of retaining them. Is that not evidence of his disdain?”
“It might be, but I am rather more interested as to why he would say so to you. As you may imagine, I did not sleep much last night, Elizabeth, even after we went to bed. One thing struck me as strange, even above all the strangeness of what went on in the card room. Mr. Darcy of Pemberley, with at least ten thousand pounds a year, waltzed with you in front of his own circle of acquaintances.”
Elizabeth blushed. “I see what you are hinting at, but you are quite out. He does not like me, Aunt. He thinks me incapable of any sort of good judgement and tried to warn me away from associating with the likes of Mr. Sutton.”
“Why should he do so?”
“Because, according to Mr. Darcy, Mr. Sutton is not the sort of gentleman whom young ladies ought to know.”
“And did you observe him dancing with every other young lady in the room in order to warn her in this noble way?”
Elizabeth was silenced for a moment and finished her cup. Mrs. Gardiner waited patiently .
“I wonder if I ought to take the children out immediately. It may take longer than usual to get to the river if the roads are icy.”
“You need not rush out in order to avoid my questions, Lizzy. If it distresses you to believe that Mr. Darcy may admire you, then I shall leave the whole subject be. It is only that you are rather stubborn in your views sometimes, and I should not like you to fool yourself to your injury.”
“Would you have the goodness to pass me the teapot, please? I shall need another cup, I believe.” She craned her neck to look at the grey sky outside. “Do you think it will snow today?”
“Very well, Elizabeth. Shall we speak instead of Mr. Bingley?”
“If we may do so without mentioning his friend, with the greatest pleasure.”
“One moment then. I will ring the bell for my little ones to be taken to the nursery.”
The nursemaid entered and ushered her charges off, taking the baby in her arms as she went. Elizabeth, her arms now free, applied similar concentration as her niece in spreading some jam on a muffin.
“I am glad we did not utterly deplete the jam supplies last night — it is particularly good. What did you wish to speak about with regard to Mr. Bingley?”
“Jane is still in love with him, I believe, and he with her.”
“I thought it too, but there is Lord Cranshaw to consider as well, particularly since last night.”
“Do you object to Mr. Bingley?”
“I never did when he lived at Netherfield, but he left, Aunt, and she has been dreadfully unhappy because of it.”
“What makes you think Lord Cranshaw is a superior man then?”
“It is clear that he still admires Jane after so many years.”
“Yet he also left. He might have asked her then, might he not? He chose not to.”
“It is not the same. Did he not have to follow orders from the army?”
“Many soldiers marry, Elizabeth, particularly if their affection is strong enough.”
Lizzy considered this. “You liken him to Mr. Bingley then? As a gentleman who pays attention to a girl and then leaves.”
“I liken him in that, yes, but I do not believe his affection matches that of Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth, that young man's face was joyful when he was near her last night, regardless of the fact that he had lost an astronomical amount of money to her. Do you think the strength of those feelings is something to be dismissed?”
Sighing, her niece held up a hand in acknowledgement. “Very well, he is certainly in love with her, but after leaving her so cruelly, I reserve the right to think poorly of him. He does not deserve her.”
“Even if he is the means by which our dear Jane may be happy? Will you be so set against him if she wants him? I take leave to point out that it is Jane's choice whom she deems worthy, regardless of what the rest of us might think.”
“Do you think he will ask her to marry him?”
“I could not say. I could read only his expression, not his intention.”
“You have a purpose in saying this to me this morning.”
“I would like you to refrain from trying to influence your sister against Mr. Bingley.”
“She deserves to be protected from flighty young men, Aunt!”
“She is not unprotected, Elizabeth; neither does she want sense. Aged though I might be, I remember what it was to be in love and, I assure you, I reasoned with myself very thoroughly to accept your uncle on his merits as a husband rather than simply acting as my heart told me.”
Lizzy's smile returned and was fond. “A better man you could not have chosen for yourself. I thought before I closed my eyes that we could not be more ideally situated for such a time as this. To have a fortune is a fine thing, but to have our uncle's assistance, as well as yours, in deciding what is to be done with it is doubly fortunate.”
“We will let Jane sleep. She has a few hours she may stay abed before Mr. Bingley calls. While you finish your breakfast, I will arrange transport to the Thames for you. Do not be too long, dear.”
It took some time for them to reach the Thames and properly survey the frozen water. Ned was largely unimpressed, but was happy to be held closely by Elizabeth in a thick shawl. Isobel was perhaps the most engaged with the outing, but did not wish to stay outside in the biting air for very long .
By the time they returned to Gracechurch Street, Jane had risen and Mr. Gardiner had returned from his place of business. They returned to the drawing room together and, by common consent, began to consider the best course to take with the fortune won .
“I…I suppose I ought to say now that I should like to destroy Mr. Bingley's note of promise,” said Jane softly. “It does not feel it can be right to take his money from him.”
Mr. Gardiner exchanged a glance with his wife. “It is twenty thousand pounds, Jane. Do you understand that he may take great offence at the suggestion that he would play without being able to pay?”
Jane inhaled sharply. “Would he, do you think?”
“Any gentleman worth the name pays his debts of honour, my dear. If you will take my advice, it would be better not even to try to refuse. If it got out, it would be a great embarrassment to him and furthermore, would look very particular on your part.”
“I suppose,” said Jane, “that the other players might feel they were treated unfairly if we were to forgive only Mr. Bingley's debt. I do not wish to insult him — it is only that it troubles me exceedingly.”
“Let us discuss what options you have, my dears.”
“Yes,” said Elizabeth, eagerly. “I do wish you might advise us. We do not have any thought about what might be done, do we, Jane?”
“The only thing I wish for is that my family might be helped as equally as possible. I know you have said that I might be dowered, Aunt, but how dreadful it would be, to be married for my money and leave my sisters with only Mama's portion between them.”
“I was not idle this morning when I went to my offices. I have composed a list of possibilities that we may cross off one by one. There is, I believe, a preferable option, but you may think differently to me.”
“Do tell us, sir.”
“Very well.” He regarded them over his list. “You may move to strike any possibility from the list as it is read. Firstly, Jane may be dowered with the whole fifty thousand pounds. In the four percents, which is the usual place fortunes are put, that would bring you an annual income of two thousand pounds.”
“The same as Longbourn provides,” added Elizabeth.
Jane remained firm. “I move to strike it, Uncle.”
He neatly crossed it out. “Secondly then, each Miss Bennet may be dowered with ten thousand pounds apiece, which would, in the funds, bring an annual income of four hundred pounds each.”
“It is not as spectacular a sum as two thousand pounds, but when combined with Mama's settlement it might make a material difference to us all. It is a good solution.”
Mrs. Gardiner nodded. “Certainly it is an equal solution but is it a sensible one? I for one would have grave concerns about Kitty and Lydia, even Mary — they might be considered prey for a fortune hunter if such an amount was given to them with no restriction.”
Elizabeth saw the sense in this. “Lydia would make herself wildly popular by buying gifts for all her friends and find herself penniless each quarter. ”
“Thirdly,” continued Mr. Gardiner, “you have the option to purchase an estate in your own name and distribute the funds as you see fit. The difficulty there is that if it was solely in your name, Jane, it would fall to any husband you might choose to take once you were married, and he might object to it being used to support your sisters and mother. As would be his right, I suppose.”
“Could it not be inherited by my next sister if I wed?”
“Not easily. It is easier to do that with a fortune than a property.”
“An estate of your very own, Jane!”
“I could keep the house well enough, Lizzy, but I have not much idea of what is involved in the running of a property beyond that.”
“Neither do most gentlemen,” said their uncle drily. “That is why they engage a good steward. Your excellent sense and gift for numbers would stand you in good stead not to be cheated.”
“What is the next option, sir?” asked Jane. “It might be easier to compare these possibilities once we know the extent of what might be done.”
“It is the final item on my list,” said he, quietly. “I find that now I come to it, I am reluctant to read it as I would have no small interest in you choosing it. It seemed like a grand idea this morning in the quiet of my office but now I fear it would be taking advantage of you.”