Chapter 3
Chapter Three
A Diller, A Dollar, The Family’s Scholar
On her journey home, Elizabeth Eleanor Bennet, Lizzy to family and friends, reflected on her family and its history.
Lizzy knew everything there was to know about her family history, past and present, but she was especially knowledgeable about her Grandmother Bennet’s matriarchal line.
Moreover, Lizzy found the most recent history, beginning with Grandmother Bennet, of extreme interest.
Grandmother Bennet had been against her son’s choice of wife.
She was not a gentleman’s daughter, but the daughter of the town solicitor.
She held nothing personal against the family, but she knew Mrs. Gardiner, the young girl’s mother, was grasping and greedy.
She wanted her youngest daughter, who was also the prettiest and had assumed the personality and behaviors of her mother, to marry one of the local landowners.
Mrs. Gardiner saw it as the only way her daughter would become a lady.
Mrs. Bennet frequently warned her son about the manipulations and tricks used by those who sought to raise their standing in the community.
She especially warned him about Mrs. Gardiner and her daughter.
Unfortunately, Robert Bennet’s attention had already turned to young Miss Francine Gardiner, unquestionably the most beautiful young lady in the entire neighborhood.
Even though Mrs. Bennet had been vigilant in trying to thwart any contrived compromised by the young Miss Gardiner, Mrs. Gardiner was just as prepared to take any opportunity presented to wed her favorite daughter to young Master Bennet.
The opportunity arose soon after Robert graduated university.
The town was to hold it autumn assembly, and mother and daughter contrived a plan whereby Robert Bennet would be forced to offer for Francine Gardiner.
Mrs. Gardiner knew she would have to orchestrate a plan to keep Mrs. Bennet from interfering with her scheme, so she arranged for her eldest daughter, now Mrs. Philips, to assist in trapping young Bennet.
All went according to plan and three weeks later, after the banns had been read for the required number of Sunday’s, Miss Francine Gardiner and Mr. Robert Bennet were joined in holy matrimony.
By the time the honeymoon trip ended, young Robert Bennet understood why his mother had been so set against his marrying Francine.
She was the most beautiful of all the young ladies, but she was also the silliest, most foolish, and ignorant person he had ever met.
There would never be one intelligent conversation between them.
They shared no common interests, nor did they agree on how their lives should be lived.
Franny, she requested he address her so, wanted only to attend parties and gatherings.
She wanted to redecorate the entire house, of which his mother was still mistress, and she wanted to order the servants about.
She also wanted to hold large, lavish dinners with great expense spent on the meal which she insisted had to have five courses.
At this point, Mrs. Bennet stepped in and took over the training of the new Mrs. Bennet.
As current mistress of the house, Mrs. Bennet was not going to allow her daughter-in-law to ruin the family status or finances.
She began an aggressive training schedule teaching her son’s wife about household finances, budgeting, and estate responsibilities the mistress owed to the tenants under her care.
She also spent time teaching the young bride the proper behavior of a lady and prepared a list of books that Francine was required to read.
Never having been provided a formal education, Francine Bennet now underwent the most strenuous education necessary to turn her into a true lady.
Any time Mrs. Gardiner tried to intervene, Mrs. Bennet firmly but kindly reminded the woman that Francine Bennet was no longer a Gardiner but the wife of a respected landowner, and that for her to remain Robert Bennet’s wife and not face the possibility of being set aside or, worse, divorced, she would have to learn how to behave properly.
Mrs. Bennet loved her son and was not unwilling to use any necessary intimidation to control both Mrs. Gardiner and her daughter.
Lizzy’s favorite comment from her grandmother about her endeavors was, “I was determined to turn a sow’s ear into a real gem beginning from the inside and working out.”
Grandmother Gardiner had been offended, but her fears of seeing her daughter put aside caused her to never again question the way Grandmother Bennet handled the Bennet family matters.
Grandmother Bennet was also responsible for compelling her son to learn everything he could about estate management.
Although the elder Mr. Bennet was still alive, the young master needed constant prompting from his mother to leave his books and take an active part in estate management along with his father.
Mrs. Bennet had always known her son was more interested in academic endeavors than estate management because he always lamented about not being allowed to become a university professor.
Her son frequently remarked, “I would have been happier to remain the spare rather than the heir,” as his older brother died before his sixteenth birthday.
Also, Longbourn, due to the limited thinking of an ancestor, was entailed to the male line. This entail would end after her son had a son and the boy turned one and twenty, but first young Francine had to birth a male heir.
To keep her son interested in the estate, she reminded him that there were no guarantees that his wife would ever have a son but might only birth daughters.
To that end, she also encouraged him to begin saving for his daughter’s doweries.
Saving was not something that came easily to the young couple.
They both wanted to spend lavishly on items they saw as important.
Young Mr. Bennet greatly desired to build up a large library, while young Francine wanted to splurge on gowns, parties, and home decorations.
With the agreement of her husband, Mrs. Bennet set a limit on how much each could spend.
Mrs. Bennet knew it would be her duty to see that both her son and his wife became the responsible landowners they needed to be to ensure the prosperity of Longbourn.
Mrs. Bennet also pointed out that a wife, in order to keep her husband’s attention needed to share, at the very least, some of her husband’s interests.
“It would please your husband if you requested him read to you in the evening,” she had informed Francine a year after the marriage.
Mrs. Bennet often listened to her daughter share the local gossip with her son, and she knew her son held no interest in gossip of any type.
For his part, Robert had tried to read to his wife in the evening, but Francine told him, “It would be better for you to remain quiet than to read from something I will never understand.”
To Mrs. Bennet, it appeared the young couple had begun drifting away from each other, and Mrs. Bennet feared this would lead to greater difficulties when children began to appear.
Since wives were supposed to be supportive of their husbands, Mrs. Bennet began explaining to her daughter-in-law how it was her duty to take an interest in her husband pursuits.
“Why should I listen to him read about sheep shearing or proper ways to plant crops. It is not as if I will ever take part in any of these activities,” Francine had complained after listening to Mrs. Bennet chastisement once again.
“Then ask Robert to read from one of his many poetry books,” Mrs. Bennet had suggested. It also became a suggestion she would repeat until little Miss Elizabeth turned three.
Begrudgingly, Francine finally asked her husband to read to her from a book of poetry.
It surprised her that she found some of the poems entertaining and even interesting.
As the reading became a nightly custom, Mr. Bennet began to read to his wife from other books as well, and then discovered, if he discussed what he read, his wife’s interest grew, and her questions become more sensible.
After the birth of two daughters, Francine Bennet began to lament the lack of a son.
She soon began to exhibit high strung behaviors, often complaining of nerves and feelings of fluttering in her chest. Mrs. Bennet quickly stepped in and began correcting the young mother’s flights of fancy by reminding her that she was still young and would have more children.
This also included curbing Francine’s desire to blame her second daughter for not being born a boy.
Mrs. Bennet, in an endeavor to change her daughter-in-law’s thinking, often said, “Francine, God choose the gender of the child. The child has no choices. If you wish to blame anyone, then you must blame God, but be careful that He does not decide you do not deserve a son.” This comment always caused Francine to pause and reflect on what she had been told.
By the time the third Bennet daughter was born, Mrs. Francine Bennet was a calmer, more sensible and stable person.
The birth of the third daughter also saw the death of the elder Mr. Bennet and the young Bennet assuming the master’s responsivities.
At the same time, Franny finally became the mistress of the estate, but a wiser one than when she first married.
Beside intervening in a positive manner in the lives of her son and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Bennet also had responsibilities outside the family as she was the only ward weave and having no daughter to follow her — her only daughter died at the age of ten due to a virulent disease — she began looking at her granddaughters for a possible apprentice.
By the birth of her second granddaughter, Mrs. Bennet realized Jane, the eldest, would not follow in her footsteps.
When Jane was nearly three, she did display some natural ability to use the power to influence the growing of plants, but her interest remained with the flowers in the garden.
As she began wandering further from the house, she showed a talent for increasing the growth and yield of the orchard trees.
When the second granddaughter, Elizabeth, was born, Mrs. Bennet began watching her for any signs of tapping into the power of nature.
The first occurrence came when Lizzy began walking, for she quickly learned how to climb down the stairs backwards and slipped out of the house whenever a door was left slightly ajar.
The first time Mrs. Bennet found her granddaughter outside the child was sitting in a patch of wildflowers just beyond the natural back lawn area of the house.
This little flowered meadow was just inside a line of trees bordering the formal lawn.
Mrs. Bennet found little Elizabeth, now called Lizzy, because Jane had trouble saying her sister’s full name, sitting and talking rapidly.
Around Lizzy, Mrs. Bennet noticed two brownies who were also sitting among the flowers.
When questioned, the brownies informed Mrs. Bennet that they somewhat understood her baby talk.
This was the first sign that Mrs. Bennet might have found her replacement, but the child’s apprenticeship could not begin until she was older.
Mrs. Bennet provided one more advantage for her granddaughters.
When she first began making money plying her ability, she put most of it in the four percents.
Originally, she meant it as a dowry for any daughters she had.
When her daughter was born, she put the majority of her earning in the account.
After the death of her only daughter, she continued to invest the money but stipulated in her will that the money would be shared evenly between any granddaughters she had.
When Jane was born, Mrs. Bennet met Edward Gardiner, Francine’s brother, who had come to stand as godfather for little Jane.
During his visit, she overheard him speaking with her husband, son, and his father about the business he was starting up.
The elder Mr. Gardiner, who had hoped his son would take over his solicitor’s practice, agreed to give his son some startup money, which would come out of his inheritance, for his business.
Mrs. Bennet spent a few days pondering how successful the young man might be, and before he left to return to London, she entered into a business proposition with him.
She would move one quarter of her money in the four percents into his business, and if it proved prosperous, she could consider investing more.
It took two years before Mr. Edward Gardiner’s business began to thrive, whereby Mrs. Bennet’s investment began to grow. By the time the third Bennet daughter, Mary, was born, Mrs. Bennet pulled all her funds out of the four percents and turned them over to Edward Gardiner.
It was soon after Catherine, known as Kitty and the fourth Bennet daughter, was born that Mrs. Bennet began training Lizzy to become a ward weaver.
She also shared with Lizzy her investments with Lizzy’s uncle and suggested she do the same, for Mrs. Bennet did turn over a portion of her earnings to Lizzy for her being an apprentice.
Thanks to Mrs. Bennet’s intervention, her son and daughter-in-law created an extremely favorable family dynamic.
Mr. Bennet became an active participant in his estate and family while Francine Bennet became more aware of what was needed for her daughters became accomplished young ladies.
When Jane turned five, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet hired a governess, and Grandmother Bennet encouraged the hiring of a music tutor for Lizzy.
Mrs. Martin, the governess, had detected Lizzy’s innate musical ability.
In addition to the governess and music master, Lizzy took an active interest in her father’s books and often discussed with him what she read. Mr. Bennet discovered his second daughter was a sponge who seemed to soak up knowledge and information as quickly as it was read or shared with her.