Chapter 3
Mr. Bennet had only one sibling, his half-sister Sarah for whom he had a deep, abiding love.
His father had remarried after his first wife’s death hoping to have another son.
Thomas Bennet was his only child and heir, another son would further ensure the continuation of the Bennet line.
The second Mrs. Bennet had only given him a daughter and had not made it past the trials of childbirth.
Sarah Bennet had grown up without any parental guidance.
Her father did not care for her as long as she was not an embarrassment.
He had been obliging enough to provide her with a governess and tutors befitting a gentlewoman, but the gentle guidance of a parent was beyond his capabilities.
Her brother had been her only companion.
Thomas was more than fifteen years her senior and had adored his sister.
He made sure that Sarah was well informed and had someone to guide her through life.
Sarah had been eight years of age when Thomas had married Fanny.
Initially she had shared a close bond with her new sister but a year later Fanny had been blessed with her first child, diverting all her attention to the babe.
The following year Mr. Bennet senior had passed away, causing a considerable change in Mrs. Bennet’s life.
Though Fanny had acted as the mistress of the estate from the time she married, old Mr. Bennet had been a rigid master and the lady hardly had any authority over household expenses.
She had drifted towards her new sister for companionship as her father-in-law was not very accepting of her own family and had not allowed much association with them.
With the death of Mr. Bennet and her own child to dote on, Mrs. Fanny Bennet no longer had any use for her sister by marriage.
Ten-year-old Sarah had been heartbroken but her brother had come to her rescue.
He would spend time with her in his library encouraging her to improve her mind as he helped her avoid his wife’s diatribes on being a burden upon the household.
With time Sarah discovered another emotional anchor, her nieces.
Mrs. Bennet doted on her eldest, spending all her time with her, as such, Sarah started spending more and more time with Elizabeth and then Mary, keeping away from Mrs. Bennet.
“Mr. Bennet, you should be concerned about your daughters and not an orphan child. Mr. Whittaker would be happy to take her off our hands and her portion of three thousand should be enough for them,” Mrs. Bennet had tried to convince her husband when Sarah had turned fifteen.
“She is my sister and not an orphan. I want to make it very clear, Mrs. Bennet, that she will be treated as a Miss Bennet of Longbourn as long as she remains unmarried, and that will be for some years. Sarah is too young to enter society let alone matrimony, besides, Whittaker has daughters her age,” Mr. Bennet had firmly put an end to his wife’s insensitive demands.
For the next few years, Mrs. Bennet had tried to cajole, convince, and threaten her husband but to no effect.
Miss Sarah Bennet came out in Meryton society at the age of eighteen.
She was a young lady of beauty, poise and intelligence and a model for her two eldest nieces.
Mrs. Bennet had recently borne a fifth daughter and it was becoming increasingly apparent that no son would be born to inherit the estate.
Her disappointment had soon turned into grievance against the much-admired Sarah.
She saw the girl as a hindrance to her daughters’ prospects and her husband’s attention.
Mr. Collins, Mr. Bennet’s cousin and heir presumptive, had been recently widowed. When it became clear the Bennets would have no son, he had written to ask for Miss Sarah Bennet’s hand in marriage. Mrs. Bennet had seen this as a chance to get rid of the unwanted girl.
“She is almost nineteen now. You can have no cause for complaint. She cannot keep depending upon Longbourn’s income for her own comfort,” Mrs. Bennet had grumbled.
“Sarah will marry when she wishes to and not a moment before. I do not want to hear this nonsense again,” Mr. Bennet had snapped at his wife.
Then, as if answering all her prayers, a friend of Mr. Bennet arrived at Longbourn: a man who had made a decent fortune in the navy and was very much in want of a wife.
Mr. Harcourt was dazzled by Miss Sarah Bennet’s lovely countenance and quick wit and proceeded to court her with a single-minded determination, and soon convinced her to accept him.
Sarah thus departed Longbourn with her brother’s blessings and to the relief of Mrs. Bennet, but fortune did not favour her.
A year into her marriage Sarah Harcourt was widowed.
Mr. Harcourt had not been prudent with her dowry and she did not have any other relative except her brother to turn to.
Mrs. Bennet had cursed Providence for being stuck with the woman who was the bane of her existence.
She was now much more bitter and demanding.
Mr. Bennet had tried to interfere but this time his wife was rigid and unyielding.
Sarah had accepted her lot in life and decided to be as useful around the house as possible.
She loved her nieces and spent a lot of time teaching them all of her own accomplishments.
She would prepare the baskets for the tenants, do the sewing and work with Hill on the household accounts, all while she was still in mourning.
It was an answer to all her prayers when Mr. Frederick Hardwicke, a dear friend of her late husband, turned up at Longbourn with an offer of marriage just as her mourning had ended.
She immediately accepted him and they were married within a month and departed for his estate in Hampshire.
She had never since returned to Longbourn.
Thomas Bennet sighed with relief. His sister was finally settled in her life with an honest and upright gentleman.
He had been worried for her since she had returned to Longbourn.
He had been slowly losing all will to fight with his nonsensical wife and Sarah’s life was suffering for his indolence.
He wrote to her regularly and understood his new brother to be a much more conscientious gentleman than himself.
Though Sarah and Mr. Hardwicke had only one daughter and his estate was entailed, he was still diligent in his responsibility towards the tenants and the farmers and had already settled a dowry of three thousand for his daughter.
Mr. Bennet had visited his sister with some frequency in the early years of her marriage but with time and the responsibility of five grown-up daughters the visits had become fewer and farther apart.
Thomas was sitting in his study reading the letter Lizzy had written him from Kent when he heard a commotion in the hallway and then his wife’s raised voices.
Realising that the situation would not calm down, he decided to go out and investigate.
There in the front parlour stood his wife, a letter in her hand, ranting to one and all.
“I tell you, Mr. Bennet, I will not stand for that ungrateful girl to come in this house again. No, no, she can make way for herself.”
“Mrs. Bennet, whatever are you raving about? Do stop this ruckus at once.”
“What I am raving about! Why that ungrateful sister of yours. She has got herself a dead husband again. I tell you I am not having her here at Longbourn and with her daughter besides.” Mrs. Bennet continued her tirade without realising that her husband had gone stock-still.
“Whoever has died? Please, I do not want to wear black with the militia still in town. I will look all washed out,” Lydia interrupted her mother’s tirade and jolted her father from his stupor.
Mr. Bennet shook himself and rushed forward to seize the letter from his wife’s hand. He caught his foot on the nearby table and fell flat on the floor, his legs awkwardly twisted beneath him.