Page 16 of Pride, Prejudice and Prudence

“What is it, Papa?” Elizabeth asked.

Her father shook his head, “We must await your uncle’s arrival, after that all will become clear.”

Her mother asked when he would be arriving, but her question was near drowned out by Lydia’s asking if the children were to come with him. Lydia, now fifteen, was no longer interested in playing with her toys in the nursery, but she was still the favourite of her young cousins.

“It will just be your uncle this time, Lydia, but it will not be long until they are all with us for Christmas,” Mr Bennet said, replying to Lydia first before confirming to Mrs Bennet that he would arrive on the overmorrow.

Mr Gardiner arrived to cheerful welcomes from all his Bennet family. His sister gave him a hug and kissed his cheek on his arrival, and his nieces did likewise. His brother, Mr Bennet shook his hand vigorously and patted his back two or three times. Elizabeth was in high anticipation as to the news he was bringing, but she had learnt her manners and therefore refrained from asking any questions. She was surprised that Lydia did not ask him anything as she was the most inquisitive of her sisters. Elizabeth later realised she had quite put out of her head the reason for his coming.

It was not until he had refreshed himself and had a light repast supplied by Mrs Bennet that he went with their father to his study. Elizabeth was most confused when their father asked their mother to join them. When they all returned to the parlour, Elizabeth waited with excitement for all to be revealed. Seeing them all so happy, she had great expectations of it being something of real interest. Elizabeth caught her father’s eye, hoping to hurry him along, and ended up with a feeling of exasperation on realising he was deliberately drawing it out, to his own evident amusement.

“Some of you are too young to remember what your mother and I were like when you were younger, before Miss Farnsworth joined us,” he finally said.

“I was most given to spending the majority of my time in my study to the neglect of my family and our estate.”

Lydia and Kitty looked confused because, although Kitty had been eleven years old, she had not overly concerned herself with her father’s comings and goings at the time, and Lydia had only been nine when their father had changed. But Mary, although she had been only twelve, had noticed, as had Elizabeth at fourteen, and Jane most of all.

“Your mother also, in wanting the best of everything for you girls, had not been considering the future, and was spending more than needed on clothing and fripperies. But we realised that we could not go on as such if we wanted to ensure you all had the best future we could give you.” He paused, ostensibly to await all comments, but his daughters all remained silent, waiting to hear what he had to tell them.

He looked around, smiling at all his daughters. “Your Uncle Gardiner and I have been investing a percentage of Longbourn’s income for these last seven years. We began with the Bank of England wartime bonds, and they are successful, but not enough to materially change our family fortunes. So, in 1805, your uncle and I invested half our savings from Longbourn in a shipping enterprise, and it has been generally successful, but not to the extent I had hoped. So, last Christmas we decided to place fifty percent of our earnings in a high-risk shipping venture. In truth, it was a gamble, and nothing more but luck was on our side.”

Elizabeth was aware that not many fathers would discuss finances so openly with their daughters. But the other change that had occurred after that event at Netherfield was that their father had begun to teach all his daughters about money and the management of same. This began with the awarding of pin money to them and leaving them to the management of it. Elizabeth recalled that at the time, he had said that none of his daughters were silly, and they had proven him right. But even with their unorthodox education in financial matters, Elizabeth could not understand just how much money their father was talking about.

“But what does this mean, Papa?” she asked.

“Security,” her father replied. “First and foremost, security for you all, for your mother should I predecease her, and a permanent home for you all, no matter what.”

“But Longbourn,” Jane said, and her father held up his hand to forestall her.

“Longbourn is entailed on your cousin, which will not change.”

They all nodded at this. They all loved Longbourn, but having now met Mr Collins, they were no longer angry at his inheriting the property when their father died.

“The funds are such that we shall be able to purchase a home large enough to house you all should there be need, but I will not discuss this further at this time. I have plans in action that I am not yet ready to disclose. Apart from that, it also means that you girls will have dowries which will be most generous given your station.”

“Dowries,” Jane said, she as the eldest at one-and-twenty, knew most of all what that meant for her likely future marriage. Elizabeth did not think that Jane had ever concerned herself with it before, but the disappointment of Mr Bingley’s desertion must have made her wonder if her small dowry had impacted his decision. If it had, then Elizabeth was even more glad that he had gone.

“Yes, my dear,” her father smiled at her. “Dowries. I will discuss with you, Elizabeth, and Mary the amounts in your dowries but,” their father paused seeing the look of disappointment on his youngest daughter’s face, “I will not reveal the amounts to you, Lydia, nor you, Kitty. These are matters to be revealed when you are older and ready to start thinking of courtships, and not before.”

“There is one other matter,” Mr Bennet said. “Your mother and I intend to take a house in town next season.”

“A house in town...” Lydia said, her voice dreamy.

“Yes, and we will all be going to town, even you, Lydia, and Miss Farnsworth will be accompanying us, of course. But Jane, you and Elizabeth will be having a London season.”

Jane grabbed Elizabeth’s hand; she had never thought to have a London season. Elizabeth knew that she had sometimes speculated that their chances of marrying well were materially lessened by the limited society available in Meryton.

Elizabeth thought she heard Lydia whisper the words “a London season”, and it brought a smile to her face. Lydia seemed unable to fully absorb everything their father was telling them, and Elizabeth thought her repeating everything was her way of doing so.

“And one day, Lydia,” their father said, seeming as if he too had heard her whisper, “you will have your own London season.”

And with that pronouncement, Lydia broke into delighted giggles, in which she was soon joined by all her sisters, including Mary. Elizabeth also saw that her mother was laughing with happiness, and she even heard a chuckle escaping from her father.

Chapter 26

Life at Longbourn ostensibly went on as it ever had, with some small changes. Their pin money was increased, and Mrs Bennet was given free rein to purchase new dresses and accoutrements for herself and all her daughters. Miss Farnsworth was also dressed for her new position as companion, and the staff were all awarded sums to acknowledge their years of loyal service. This made Longbourn happier than it ever had been. It also had the benefit of helping Jane to, if not forget, at least recover from her disappointment. The excitement of a London season in the new year was not overshadowed by the whole Gardiner family’s arrival for Christmas.

But January came, and London was still many months in the future, and Miss Farnsworth took it on herself to get all the Bennet daughters to return to working on their accomplishments. This diligent work was interrupted by a welcome invitation from their uncle for Jane and Elizabeth to join his family in town. Originally, Mrs Bennet was to accompany them, but Kitty was ill in the days leading up to their departure with a terrible cough, and Mrs Bennet could not be parted from her. It was therefore to be left to Mrs Gardiner to see that Jane and Elizabeth purchased the first of many new dresses they would need for their London appearance, when the season was to begin.