Page 8 of A Life Diverted
“While she did not move to the dower house, she insisted on vacating the mistress’s chambers. She is in Master Henry’s former bedchamber,” Hill replied.
Bennet led Fanny up to his late brother’s chambers. Although it would be strange to enter Henry’s room without him being here, Bennet could understand why his mother would want to use it to feel closer to the son she had lost. He and Fanny paused at the door before he knocked.
“Enter,” came a weak voice from within.
The chamber was darkened; a single candle lit on the stand next to the bed. Bennet saw his mother sitting in an armchair, wearing a black dress and the same coloured veil covering her head.
“Thomas, you have come,” Beth Bennet sobbed as soon as she saw her second son. “Welcome to your home, Fanny and Thomas.”
“Mother, allow me to light some more candles,” Bennet insisted. His mother did not object, so Bennet lit a taper from the lighted candle and lit more until the room was lighted. His mother looked like she had aged a decade and was drawn and listless.
“As happy as I am that you, Fanny, and Jane are here, I miss my James and your brother every minute of every day. They and so many other good people perished because of some thoughtless men who decided to fight while in their cups,” Beth related bitterly.
Bennet looked around and saw a few trays, all with uneaten food.
“Mother, I know that you are grieving, but you must take care of yourself. Fanny and I need you, and Jane will as well. There may be another girl with us for some duration, but more on that another time.” He paused as he looked at his mother compassionately.
“You must, of course, mourn Father and Henry, as we will too, but you cannot be selfish and give up. God will call you home when it is time and not before.”
In her grief, Beth missed what her son said about another girl.
His words did, however, pierce the fog of her sorrow.
Thomas, much more so than Henry, looked like her late James.
When he spoke, it was almost as though her beloved was speaking to her.
No, she could not be selfish. She needed to live a good life like James and Henry would have wanted her to do.
“When may I move to the dower house?” Beth asked as she sat up straighter and removed the veil from her head.
“Mother, we would be happy if you would remain in the manor house,” Fanny assured her mother-in-law. “I learnt from you before we moved north, but there is much I will need to learn about being the mistress of an estate. You remember I was not born to this, do you not?”
“I think it will be less confusing for the Hills and the servants without both the old and new mistress in the house. The dower house is less than a mile from the main house, and I have my phaeton, making it easy to come see you as often as you need my help.” Beth took one of Fanny’s hands.
“It will be my pleasure to teach you anything you desire to know. As a compromise, I will remain here for another fortnight before I ask to be moved.”
Seeing his mother reclaim, at least a little, of her old spirit made Bennet feel much happier. “Mother, will you join Fanny and me in the dining parlour for dinner? While we eat, mayhap Fanny can have Mrs Hill supervise the cleaning of your room?”
“I will be at dinner,” Beth agreed. She did not mourn her husband and son any less; it was just that now she had a purpose, something that gave her a reason to live.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At church on Sunday morning, condolences were conveyed to the three Bennets who attended, but being the sabbath, other than Mr and Mrs Pierce, the rector and his wife, no one, not even Gardiner or the Phillipses, called on the Bennets.
That afternoon while the adult Bennets sat in the drawing room with quiet pursuits, Fanny had Mrs Hill inform Miss Weasley that the girls were to be brought down to her. Jane was wearing one of her newly dyed dresses, while the one Elizabeth was wearing was, of course, not coloured black.
As Beth had only travelled north once to celebrate her granddaughter’s second birthday, and Jane knew her by what she had been told, the two were reintroduced.
Beth looked at the dark-haired girl questioningly.
“And who is this pretty little girl?” She asked.
“Did you have another daughter and forget to write and tell me about her birth?” As the girl had dark hair like herself, Beth could see her being the offspring of Fanny and Thomas.
The emerald-green eyes were unexpected, though.
Beth, like her second son, had hazel-coloured eyes.
Fanny nodded to the governess who shepherded her charges out of the room and back up to the nursery.
As soon as the door was pulled closed, Bennet turned to his mother.
“No, Mother, that is Elizabeth, and she is a foundling. I am sure you did not hear me mention another girl when we spoke after arriving…” Bennet, with assistance from Fanny, told all from Smither’s discovering her, the steps they had taken to locate her family, and what they intended to do .
“By this evening, we will have written out notices. They will be given to the coachman, who will be able to leave some at each of the inns we stopped at on the way here. We are paying him ten guineas to take the time to spread word all the way back to Sir Guy’s home outside of Dronfield.
My former patron will understand,” Bennet told his mother.
“And if no one comes to claim her?” Beth enquired.
“Then we will keep her with us,” Fanny responded without hesitation. “You would not object, would you, Mother Beth?”
“Not at all, Fanny dear. I was hoping that would be the answer. I could not imagine you two being so cruel as to turn her over to a parish somewhere.” Beth asked about what they knew about the girl.
Fanny and Bennet related the little they had learnt. Having had the nightgown washed soon after they arrived, Fanny rang and asked Mrs Hill to bring the garment.
Beth took the item from Fanny very carefully. It was of good quality, something like a gently born family would have. She looked at the letters stitched on the upper right chest. “There is no hint as to what the ‘E’s and ‘W’ are for, is there?”
“We do not know, Mother,” Bennet owned. “It is safe to assume one ‘E’ is for Elizabeth.
Let us assume the ‘W is for the family name as it is larger than the other two letters. If one is for Elizabeth, then that would make the second one a middle name. When Fanny and I write out the information, we will mention initials on her nightgown, but not the letters. It will be another way, if they come to claim her, we will be able to identify her true family.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That evening Fanny, Bennet, and Beth wrote out notices with the information they were willing to share.
They made sure there was enough information that anyone searching for little Elizabeth, who Beth dubbed Lizzy, would know who she was.
Certain things were omitted, items they judged would only be known by those truly connected to Lizzy.
Once all of the copies were dry, Bennet summoned Sir Guy’s coachman to his study.
He handed over the funds, a letter for Sir Guy Gisborne explaining why his coachman had been delayed, and the notices.
There were sufficient copies to leave a few at each of the inns they had stopped at during their journey to the south.
The next morning Smithers drove his team away from Longbourn and commenced his northerly travel.