Chapter 9
Before Elizabeth turned twelve, Longbourn’s governess Mrs Taylor, requested a meeting with the master and mistress of the estate; they met in the study.
“Mrs Taylor, I hope this meeting is not to tell us you are to resign your position,” Fanny stated somewhat nervously.
“No, Mrs Bennet, that is not the purpose of my request to see you and Mr Bennet. It is regarding Miss Lizzy, and it is nothing bad,” Mrs Taylor assured.
She knew how much her employers loved their children, especially their third child.
She saw them relax at her statement. “The truth is that I have reached the limits of what I am able to teach her. You know how intelligent she is, not to mention that she has perfect recall. It is not that she just regurgitates what she has read, but her mind is so sharp that she analyses what she has in her memories and can apply it logically when she needs to do so.”
“What do you propose?” Bennet asked.
“Allow her to join Master James’s lessons with his tutors.
She will easily be able to assimilate what is being taught.
Also, you may want to look at adding more masters than the music and art masters who come to work with the girls,” Mrs Taylor suggested.
“It is not just for Miss Lizzy. Miss Bennet, as I believe you are aware, loves maths and is extremely good at them. I believe she would enjoy being taught more involved maths.”
“So it is more than an ability to add columns of numbers at speed and identify errors others miss?” Bennet enquired.
“Yes, Sir, Miss Bennet loves all kinds of mathematics,” Mrs Taylor said.
“What of Mary and Kitty?” Bennet queried. “Have you identified any special abilities as you have with Jane and Lizzy?”
“Indeed, I have. Miss Mary does not have perfect recall like Miss Lizzy, but she is a very intelligent young lady and excels at the pianoforte. Miss Kitty also has a sharp mind, but her talents lie in the arts. Even before you employed an art master, I saw great potential in her,” Mrs Taylor responded.
“As you know, Master James has his share of intelligence and is an excellent student. As such, he will be more than ready when he attends Eton beginning with the 1804-1805 academic year.”
“We have been greatly blessed in the children we have,” Fanny observed. “I know Edward and Maddie think they are the most blessed parents, but I believe that title belongs to us.”
For almost three years, it seemed like Edward and Maddie Gardiner would not be granted any children, but then Lillian Jane, named after her two late grandmothers, was born in June 1798.
She was followed by Edward Elias in January 1800.
The youngest Gardiner was May Beth, who was born in December 1802 and was soon to reach the three-month mark since her birth.
Bennet turned away so his wife did not see the guilt flash on his face.
The article he had read in early 1799 invaded his memories no matter how much he tried to push it aside.
Had they misinterpreted the part of the note Fanny had discovered on the dead criminal?
Had they robbed another mother of her child?
‘No!’ Bennet told himself silently. ‘We saved her, and I have no proof that the note did not mean what we believed it did. Unless I was sure there would be no danger to Lizzy, I would not allow her to leave us. I would never devastate Fanny in that way. If we lost Lizzy, it would break her heart.’ He shook the inconvenient thoughts from his head.
“What think you of Mrs Taylor’s suggestion regarding Lizzy, Fanny? ” Bennet asked aloud.
“I do not object. As long as we find tutors like you, who will not take issue with teaching a girl…” Fanny paused as she cogitated for some moments.
“Thomas, why do you not tutor both James and Lizzy for some time each day when you are not involved with estate business? Who better to teach our children than you?”
“I suppose that I do have time to teach them since we have a steward as good as Mr Mason. I will speak to Mr Jamison and explain that my taking on some of the tutoring has nothing to do with the quality of his lessons,” Bennet agreed.
“Lizzy is to go walking with me in an hour; I will inform her of the additional lessons she will have,” Fanny volunteered.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Is it wicked of me that I am not sorry none of my siblings wanted to come to walk with us today? I love them fiercely, but none of them can walk at the pace you and I do,” Elizabeth said after she and Mamma left the kitchen garden and struck out in the direction of Oakham Mount at speed, with John Biggs trailing behind them.
“That you like to walk fast like I do is not wicked, Lizzy,” Fanny responded. “I did tell Jane, James, Mary, and Kitty that they were welcome to join us but that today I needed to walk at a speedy pace.”
As they walked, before she mentioned the additional lessons Lizzy would have with Thomas, Fanny was having an internal debate about whether she and Thomas should tell Lizzy the truth of how she joined the family after she turned twelve rather than when she turned fifteen as they had planned to do.
With her great intelligence, Fanny did not doubt her favourite daughter would be able to understand that even if she was not born of Fanny’s body, she was no less loved than her brother or sisters.
It was a conversation that she would need to have with Thomas.
They were partners, and Fanny would never make that decision without her canvassing her husband’s feelings and opinions first.
“Mamma, where did you go?” Elizabeth asked as the path passed through a wooded area. The trees were still stark without leaves, but as spring approached that would all change.
“Please pardon me, my dearest daughter; I was lost in thought.” Fanny knew she needed to distract Lizzy before her daughter asked why she was so deep in thought.
“Your father and I met with Mrs Taylor before our walk…” Fanny told her second daughter what had been discussed and the proposed solution.
It had the intended effect and commanded Lizzy’s attention completely.
“I have heard how Papa was a tutor before we came to Longbourn. I would like nothing more than for Papa to give me lessons, and I am certain that James will feel the same way,” Elizabeth enthused.
“You know that the way you and James tease one another is not acceptable behaviour when you two are being taught by your father or any other tutor, do you not?” Fanny pointed out.
“Do not look at me with those big, beautiful eyes. You two are very competitive and like to prank one another too much.”
Elizabeth looked away. She knew what Mamma said was nothing but the truth.
As she and James were so close in age, they had always played together, and as soon as they were old enough to understand what winning was, they began to compete in anything they did.
That included seeing who could prank the other better.
In all things academic, thanks to her memory, Elizabeth was unbeatable.
However, in physical feats, James won more often than not.
The activity they were neck and neck in was riding.
They both rode geldings of equivalent strength and ability.
At times, her smaller and lighter body was an advantage in races across fields.
At least, that is what James claimed whenever she beat him in a race.
It took Elizabeth a minute to understand Mamma had stopped and was watching her with an arched eyebrow, waiting for a response.
“Mamma, now it was my turn to get lost in reverie. Of course, I will behave in any lessons I have. That encompasses the ones where James is included.” Elizabeth paused and smiled. “I suggest you give my brother the same charge.”
Fanny shook her head at Lizzy’s impertinence—something she did not object to—and commenced walking again.
When she stopped, John Biggs had as well, and as soon as she and Lizzy began to walk again, so did he, ever vigilant.
In another ten minutes they reached the base of Oakham Mount.
It was the tallest hill in the area. However, as hills went, its height was on the low end of the scale.
To those in Meryton who had never seen a taller hill, to them, it was the tallest one.
With John walking just ahead of them, Fanny and Elizabeth made their way up the path from the base of the hill to the flattened summit. As soon as their guard found the top deserted, he stood aside near the head of the path.
Mother and daughter walked to the eastern edge where a flattened boulder lay, where they would sit to watch the sunrise.
In the centre of the summit was a stand of six oak trees, the ones for which the hill had been named.
They were all leafless now as they waited for the spring when their greenery would return.
As they often did, they made a circuit of the top while admiring the views below.
Meryton was clearly visible. They could make out some of their friends and neighbours going about their business in the market town.
The manor house of Jane’s future property to the west of the town, Netherfield Park, was visible but too far distant to see any details.
There were tenants leasing the estate who kept to themselves, and of course they knew not that the estate would be Jane’s one day.
There were mainly fields to the north and south.
They were colourless at this time of year, but in the next month, they would be tilled and prepared for the spring planting.
With regard to the upcoming planting season, not all tenants were as fortunate as those renting farms at Longbourn.