Chapter 19 #2
Mr Bennet was counting the days until Mrs Bennet left for London with Lydia.
He expected them to remain there for at least a week, which would guarantee him several days of peace.
In addition, Elizabeth would return to Longbourn in three days and attend to all the pending matters.
The tenants had been complaining about various problems, and several payments had to be made for matters that he did not fully understand himself.
He knew Elizabeth always had some savings and hoped they would be enough to settle the outstanding debts.
He had already given Mrs Bennet the last of the money he possessed so that she could travel to London and squander it on unnecessary things for Jane's wedding.
"Mr Bennet, I do not think the money you gave me will be enough to buy everything Jane deserves. She is so beautiful that I must ensure she looks wonderful on her wedding day. And the church must be filled with flowers..."
Mrs Bennet paced nervously about her husband's study, while he wished only that she would stop talking and leave him in peace.
"I very much doubt that an intelligent and sensible man like James Andrews would concern himself with whether there are more or fewer flowers at a wedding, or whether the bride's gown has sufficient lace.
Besides, I am quite certain that Ella will give Jane several new gowns as a wedding present.
Now, if you please, leave me alone. I wish to continue my reading, and I do not want anyone to interrupt me," said Mr Bennet impatiently.
Mrs Bennet continued to insist upon the same subject for several minutes while her husband ignored her, until she finally made him pay attention with a scream.
"But, my nerves, Mr Bennet, have a care for my nerves!"
He sighed, "Mrs Bennet, your daughter is on the verge of marriage to a wealthy man, which is exactly the outcome you have desired for years, yet still I must suffer concern over your perpetually frayed nerves, to the point of near hysteria!"
"You have never held any compassion for my poor nerves.”
“Fanny, what is the price I must pay for peace in my own home?”
“I’m sure I can manage sufficiently with…oh…perhaps, five more pounds?”
He sighed heavily as he handed her several banknotes. “I am far too indulgent with you, Fanny.”
“It is not for me, it is for Jane!” protested Mrs Bennet.
"Another thing, Mr Bennet. I shall bring Kitty and Mary back here.
They have spent enough time in London, and this is their home.
Besides, Lydia misses Kitty terribly. The poor girl has been begging me in tears to bring her back to Longbourn. "
"Kitty may return home; Mary may not," Mr Bennet said without looking up from his book.
"I am sorry, Mr Bennet, but I need Mary. She is the only one who helps me with the house whenever Jane is away. So I shall bring her back whether you like it or not."
"I SAID NO! Do not dare challenge me on this matter, or I swear you shall not see another penny of your pin money," Mr Bennet shouted.
Foolish Mary had dared to mock him, and he would never forgive her. He had always hated Mary because she reminded him of Eleanor, the perfect, hard-working Eleanor.
Mrs Bennet was shocked by her husband's outburst and realised it was better to leave his study immediately.
Once in her room, she shed a few tears. She loved all her daughters, even though she had never understood Mary.
Ever since she was little, Mary had been different.
She enjoyed reading and could spend hours alone without ever growing bored.
She had always been an obedient and well-behaved girl.
She and Jane would accompany their mother on shopping trips and could sit beside her for hours without making a single demand.
It pained Mrs Bennet that her husband had always loved Elizabeth, who was only his niece, more than Mary, who was his own daughter and the one who most resembled him.
"Mama, is Kitty finally coming back to Longbourn?" Lydia asked as she entered her mother's bedchamber.
"Yes, my dear girl. We shall finally have Kitty back with us," Mrs Bennet replied, kissing Lydia on the cheek.
"I am so glad. She has spent enough time in London. Now she needs to be here with us," Lydia said with a satisfied smile.
Lydia was delighted. She could finally have Kitty back with her.
She had been green with envy at the thought of her sister strolling about London in expensive gowns and jewels that the tiresome Aunt Eleanor had bought for her.
Besides, she needed someone to cover for her so that she could do whatever she pleased, and foolish Kitty had always done whatever Lydia asked of her.
◆◆◆
Eleanor finished reading the letter and did not quite understand why her friend was so concerned. She handed it to Marcus and turned to Mr Gardiner.
"Do not worry, Eddie. I am not afraid of Thomas. I shall not allow him to disturb my peace by using the girls."
Marcus could scarcely believe what he was reading.
That wretched excuse for a man was asking Ella for money so that Fanny would not take Kitty back to Longbourn.
Worse still, he threatened that, unless she stayed away from Elizabeth, he would travel to London himself, take all her daughters away, and never allow them to see her again.
"Very soon, Bennet will have to face me. We shall see whether he is as brave with a man as he is with the ladies," Marcus said, unable to contain his anger.
Mr Gardiner was now almost certain that Mr Bennet had deceived him into believing that he would tell his sister the truth about Elizabeth in that letter. Even so, he needed to be absolutely sure.
"Ella, may I please read the letter? Trust me; I would not ask such a thing if it were not necessary."
As soon as Mr Gardiner had the letter in his hands, he quickly read it and silently cursed his brother-in-law.
"I am sorry, Eleanor, but there is something I must tell you. I believe it concerns both you and the General."
He paused for a moment to compose himself before continuing.
"Almost a month ago, your brother swore that he would tell you the truth. He should be the one to say this, but since he is nothing but a coward, I must do it in his stead."
General Sinclair could not help growing uneasy. In a way, he thought he knew what Mr Gardiner was about to reveal. Yet whenever the thought had crossed his mind, he had dismissed it. He had not wished to raise his hopes, only to lose once more what he loved most in the world.
"Eddie, you are frightening me. What is happening?" she asked anxiously.
Marcus, who had been standing, sat down beside his future wife and took both her hands in his. He wanted her to feel his support at that moment.
"What I am about to tell you began more than twenty years ago.
I first suspected the truth many years ago, but I believed you were dead, and I thought it best to leave the past buried.
When you returned to England, once the initial shock had passed, I decided to discover whether my suspicions were true.
I spoke with my sister, and she confirmed everything. "
Mr Gardiner looked directly into Eleanor's eyes.
"Eleanor... Lizzy is your daughter."
He then explained everything that had happened while Eleanor lay unconscious, hovering between life and death, and why his father had told her that her child had died.
"If your child had been a boy, they intended to pass him off as Fanny and Thomas's son so that he would become the heir to Longbourn. If the child had been a girl, they intended to give her away to one of the tenant families," Mr Gardiner explained with visible sadness.
"WHAT?" Eleanor cried, unable to contain her emotion. "It cannot be. How? Eddie, what kind of cruel joke is this? Please... please."
Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Eleanor threw herself into Marcus's arms. He, too, was weeping.
"My love... our girl, our little angel, is alive and with us. Oh, Marcus... my daughter, my beautiful daughter..."
Marcus held her tightly.
"Yes, my love, our daughter. Our beloved girl is with us. I love her as dearly as I love you. Our daughter... our beautiful daughter."
They embraced, wept, and sought comfort in each other's arms for a long while, while Mr Gardiner respectfully waited to answer the many questions he knew would follow.
At last, they drew back and looked into one another's eyes. Marcus laughed through his tears.
"Our beautiful daughter is alive, my love, and she is the most charming young lady in the whole world. I swear to you, my dear, I shall cherish and protect her until the last day of my life."
Eleanor laughed through her tears as well. Elizabeth was her beloved niece.
"My little girl... my Elizabeth. I think, somewhere in my heart, I always knew. I shall protect her too, my love. I shall give her all the love I have been unable to give her all these years. Our girl... we can finally be a family. Oh, Marcus, how happy I am. Our angel is alive."
When Marcus and Eleanor had finally regained some composure, Mr Gardiner told them everything Eleanor's father had done and how Fanny had decided to adopt the little girl and give her her mother's name.
"I know my sister is not an intelligent woman, but I can assure you that, in her own way, she always loved Elizabeth, even though she never truly understood her."
"We shall remain indebted to Fanny for the rest of our lives for the compassion she showed our little daughter, for giving her a home and for being her mother," Eleanor said, deeply moved.
"I shall never forgive Thomas Bennet or his father for lying to me when they told me that Eleanor had died, or for stealing twenty years of my daughter's life from us. I shall call him out tomorrow. I shall go to Longbourn and settle matters with that damned man."
Marcus was overwhelmed with happiness yet filled with resentment.