Chapter 37
Finding Redemption
In Scotland, the Bennets were finally settling into their new life there.
Mrs Bennet remained bitter but eventually stopped spending so much time above stairs.
The maid she hired to attend to her had left, stating no amount of wages would force her to continue to listen to the whinging of such a bitter woman.
At one point, Mr Bennet had been sufficiently fed up with Mrs Bennet’s complaints he demanded she stop.
“Mrs Bennet, I have had enough of your complaints. Our foolishness led us to this point, not the fault of your daughter, her husband, or anyone else. You raised Jane to believe so well of herself that she attempted to murder her sister so she might steal her husband, which, by the way, would have been prevented by law. I allowed you to behave in this fashion and ignore the rest of our children’s education.
We are the reason we are here—our inaction and poor decisions have led us to this point.
I will not listen to you speak another word on this matter. ”
Mrs Bennet had been shocked into silence, but her husband’s outburst had the desired effect. She stopped complaining about her other daughters and the circumstances that led them to where they were, at least within Mr Bennet’s hearing.
Jane discovered contentment in reading alongside her father during their years in Scotland. They would sit together, her father reading aloud while she worked on her sewing. These reading sessions provided fertile ground for discussions, and they often delved into the books they explored together.
Soon, Jane developed a yearning to make a difference in the lives of others.
She ventured into charitable activities, collaborating with local ladies to assist the underprivileged in the community.
This engagement opened doors to forge meaningful connections with women she had initially kept at a distance when they first relocated.
The local population consisted mainly of shopkeepers and sailors, far removed from the landed gentry she was accustomed to.
In her previous life, she might have hesitated to associate with those she considered beneath her social class, much like the reluctance she initially felt when assisting her younger sister with the tenants.
Jane underwent a remarkable transformation through the expanded education she received from her father and the profound loss she experienced, having been separated from her home and sisters.
This transformation prompted her to look back at her previous self with regret.
Jane worked diligently to find common ground with her new acquaintances, drawing on their wisdom to learn effective household management despite limited resources.
On days she intended to spend time with these women, Mrs Bennet would wail and complain of her nerves to stop her daughter from leaving.
Mr Bennet had learned to prevent these complaints with a firm tone and wondered why he had never attempted this when they still lived at Longbourn.
Jane had likewise learned to ignore her mother’s objections, as she had also learned by choosing not to give in to them she would cease complaining.
Recognising the need to fill his time, Mr Bennet immersed himself in writing a novel.
His work evolved into a moralistic tale, exploring the consequences of indolence, and it drew inspiration from his own life experiences.
Though the characters were fictionalised, the novel conveyed the profound lesson he had only recently understood and wished he had learned far sooner.
Upon completing the book, three years into his Scottish sojourn, Mr Bennet sent the manuscript to Mr Gardiner.
He sought his brother-in-law’s assistance in using his connections to publish the work under a pen name.
Despite not having contacted his brother since his exile to Scotland, he believed Mr Gardiner, with his resourcefulness, might be the one to help him realise his plans.
To his great astonishment, six months later, Mr. Gardiner found a way to publish the work and inquired about Mr. Bennet’s intentions regarding the profits.
At this point, Mr. Bennet was nearing the completion of a second book, which proved to be a more straightforward task, having done it once before.
In his response to Mr Gardiner, he proposed his brother-in-law act as his agent, offering him a ten per cent share of the proceeds.
The remaining funds were to be invested for the benefit of his daughters.
Mr Gardiner diligently fulfilled his role, allocating the funds into various accounts that steadily grew. This growth stemmed from the successful sales of additional books penned by Mr. Bennet and the flourishing investments.
Shortly after publishing his second book, a sorrowful event transpired—Mrs Bennet passed away.
This occurred during their fourth winter in Scotland, as what initially appeared to be a minor cold developed into a severe ailment.
The sadness and worry from the loss of his wife were compounded by two significant pieces of news they had received shortly before her illness.
First, Jane had become engaged to a shopkeeper from Kirkwall, a delightful but not particularly wealthy man.
Second, Mary had accepted a marriage proposal from a landed gentleman whose estate in Lancashire yielded an annual income of three thousand pounds.
This gentleman was deeply devoted to Mary, which had prompted her to accept his proposal when they met during a visit to Charlotte Livesay.
However, it was the fact of his wealth that greatly troubled Mrs. Bennet.
In her mind, it was profoundly unfair when her second daughter married a man with an income of over five thousand pounds and had relations to the peerage.
Now, her third daughter, the plainest of them all in her mind, was marrying a gentleman with an income of three thousand pounds, while her Jane had to settle for a shopkeeper who had less than a thousand a year.
Jane was the one who looked the most like her and was supposed to do better, not worse, than those plain girls she had given birth to. “It was not fair! “ she thought.
Determined to stop Jane from making a horrible mistake, she rushed to the village to speak to her disobedient daughter, forgetting her coat.
It did not take her long to become damp in the misty air, and when she returned to the house later, damp and cold, she went straight to bed.
The next morning, she told her family she had developed ‘a trifling cold’ and demanded assistance from her family.
Overwhelmed by her frustration, she crumbled under the weight of it all; her already fragile mental health could not bear the added strain.
Her physical condition deteriorated rapidly, and despite earnest efforts to nurse her back to health, her decline persisted.
It was not the illness that took her life but the profound sense of mistreatment and the unbearable burden of grief it wrought.
She yielded to the relentless force of her emotions and declining health in a relatively short span.
Mr Bennet and Jane were the only ones to mourn her. Yet they did not mourn the person she had become, but what she might have been had she listened to anyone else and for what they once were. Both were exceptionally grateful for the second chance they had not deserved.
In the letter Mr Bennet sent to Gardiner, notifying him of his sister’s passing, he requested Gardiner oversee the distribution of Mrs Bennet’s dowry as initially intended.
However, the four sisters had decided to allocate the full amount to Jane long before.
They had chosen to completely disassociate from their mother, not wishing to benefit from her death in any way.
As for the three youngest sisters, they were already well provided for.
Gardiner and the Darcys had established accounts for them many years ago when they came to reside with their relatives.
Each of these sisters possessed a dowry worth surpassing their mother’s five thousand pounds, and this sum continued to grow thanks to the ongoing profits generated by Mr. Bennet’s literary works.
Letters between Scotland and their relations in England had been rare, but a few had been exchanged over the years.
It was a little over a year after their banishment that the first was received.
Mr Bennet and Jane had each written to Elizabeth first, begging her forgiveness and sharing their realisations about their poor behaviour in recent years.
Since then, a few other letters had been received, and finally, Elizabeth had reluctantly agreed to send a letter in reply.
In it, she accepted their apologies but had said little else.
After their mother died, she wrote a letter expressing her sympathy for their loss—she could not feel the loss of a woman who had despised her so entirely.
Elizabeth extended her warm congratulations on Jane’s engagement and upcoming marriage in her letter to her sister.
She also took the opportunity to share her family news—the birth of the twins, followed by a baby girl at the end of 1811.
At the time she wrote this, she was also expecting another child.
Given the slow pace of postal services between the remote areas of Scotland and Derbyshire or London, there was a delay in exchanging news, but this did not bother them much. They were content with the gradual flow of information as they re-established communication between the families.