Page 245 of The Long Road Back to Yesterday

Elizabeth handed him the letter. “It is a very generous gift.”

He read Mary’s account before setting the letter on his desk. “Then I shall match it. Another three thousand pounds, contributed in your mother’s name. I will arrange with Charles to have the two contributions invested so the capital is preserved. The interest can then be used to meet the needs of the parish.”

Elizabeth looked at him. “In Mamma’s name?”

“Yes. Whatever her faults, she loved her daughters and wanted them provided for. Let something good be done in her memory.”

Elizabeth reached for his hand and threaded her fingers through his.

“She would have liked that very much.”

Darcy lifted her hand and kissed it.

Elizabeth leaned nearer and embraced him. “Thank you, Fitzwilliam.”

Darcy held her close and kissed her.

* * *

Later that same month, Mr. Phillips arrived at Longbourn carrying his leather case.

Mr. Bennet was still packing his library when his brother-in-law came into the room.

“You had better stop putting those books into trunks, Bennet. I need your undivided attention.”

Thomas Bennet lowered the volume in his hand. “That sounds ominous.”

“It is nothing of the kind. I have news about Longbourn.”

Alexander and Mary came into the study as Phillips opened his case on the desk and removed several folded documents.

“You remember that I sent the old settlement papers to a conveyancer in London.”

“I remember paying his bill.”

Phillips ignored that. “He has finished examining them.”

Mr. Bennet put the book back on the shelf.

“The entail can be barred.”

His hand stopped on the spine.

Mary stared at her uncle. “The entail can be barred, sir?”

“The entail can be barred,” Phillips repeated. “Your father is not obliged to leave Longbourn to Mr. Collins.”

Mr. Bennet looked from Phillips to the papers on his desk. “My father was told otherwise. So was my grandfather.”

“I expect they were. The family has been treating the same understanding as fact for generations, but no one appears to have had the original settlement examined by a conveyancer who specializes in these matters.”

Alexander picked up one of the documents but did not unfold it. “What has to be done?”

“There is a legal procedure. It is cumbersome, but perfectly established. Bennet can bar the entail and make a new settlement determining how Longbourn will pass after his death.”

Mary reached for her father’s hand.

Mr. Bennet looked at her before returning his attention to Phillips. “Then I shall leave the legal work to you. Draw up whatever is required.”