Page 5 of Elizabeth is not a Bennet
On the Road to Netherfield
A Few Minutes Later
Darcy allowed his thoughts to wander as the carriage turned off of the Longbourn drive onto the road. His mind was back in the light-filled, book-stuffed library behind him. Mr. Bennet had amassed a truly fine collection, especially for being a mere country squire. The man was plainly well-educated, the books clean and cared for but obviously often read.
Nor had Bennet spared either expense or pains on the education of his niece. Miss Stowe was a remarkable woman, perhaps the most remarkable woman of his acquaintance. She had a magnetism to her, an irresistible draw that pulled him in. Yet it baffled him; never before had he felt such an attraction.
He knew where his duty lay. His cousin, Anne de Bourgh, remained at Rosings in Kent, awaiting his proposal. They had been promised to one another in their cradles by equally delighted mothers. Darcy was not remotely inspired by his cradle betrothal. Anne was a delicate, pale lady of indifferent health and unassuming personality. She would turn five and twenty in less than a year, and Darcy had yet to offer for her.
But despite his reluctance to marry his cousin, Darcy had never before met a woman who made him wish to cast off filial obligation. In the eight years he had navigated Society, no woman had aroused his interest any more than his colorless cousin ever did. He easily saw through their fine clothes and pearls and light conversation which hid the dullness within. He found himself dreadfully bored by gracefulness on the dance floor and vapid, extemporaneous discussion of the latest plays and operas and substanceless fluff.
Miss Stowe, he thought, was not without substance, nor was she light-minded. She did not flaunt her knowledge, as other young ladies hoping to attract a husband might flaunt their accomplishments. She was content more often to listen than to speak, despite her considerable wit and keen intelligence.
Darcy swayed as the carriage turned into the long Netherfield lane. The strident voices of his companions permeated his consciousness, thus rousing him from his abstraction.
“It is a great pity for the Bennets,” Miss Bingley said with specious sympathy. “The four Bennet daughters are really quite attractive, especially the eldest, but given that there is no money in the family and Longbourn entailed away, I expect they have not much hope of marrying well. As for poor Miss Stowe, well, it would be a desperate man who would marry such a woman for a mere ten thousand. That red hair of hers can be seen from a mile away, I daresay!”
“Oh indeed, Sister!” Mrs. Hurst declared with a titter. “I suspect we know where she received it from, her dearly departed Scottish mother...”
“Really!” Bingley interrupted. “I do wish you would stop denigrating Miss Stowe. She seems a pleasant young woman.”
“Moreover, I think she is extremely handsome,” Darcy said flatly.
This provoked a gasp of outrage from Miss Bingley, who said, “But what of that fiery hair, Mr. Darcy? Surely...”
“I find that her hair is one of her most attractive features,” he interrupted.
The rest of the short journey was completed with an enduring look of shock on Miss Bingley’s face and in complete silence.
/
Library
Longbourn
The door opened, and Elizabeth, who had checked with Mrs. Bennet to ensure that she was not needed for anything, stepped into the library and walked over to her uncle, who was now seated by the fire with a book of Christopher Marlowe’s plays in his hands.
“Uncle Bennet?”
“Yes, Lizzy?” Mr. Bennet asked absently, slowly turning the pages.
“Would you be willing to arrange for me to go to London, so that I may call on the solicitors?”
Bennet paused in his leafing and looked up in surprise. “London?”
Elizabeth sat down across from him and stared into the crackling fire, and for a moment, her lips trembled before she straightened her back and said, “Yes. I would ... I wish to know ... I have wondered about my parents, of course I have, but to learn that I have a half-brother...”
“I should have told you all,” Bennet said apologetically. “The truth is that I do not like change, and you belong here, and the thoughts of dealing with all the uncertainties, well, I just kept putting it off. ”
“Does Mrs. Bennet know about my stepmother and half-brother?”
“Your Aunt Bennet does not, and neither do your cousins. I told my wife that he was a distant cousin, which was not true. Well, I suppose we are all related to some degree, through Adam and Eve, but I thought it safest for everyone to believe you a distant relation. When you were brought here, she welcomed you with open arms, partly because she longed for another child, and partly because she knew how much your father meant to me. But I never discussed the other aspects of your history. I thought, with your father dead and the ten thousand pounds set aside for your care, that you would likely never have interactions with your family.”
“Especially since I apparently have an evil stepmother in the mode of poor Cinderella?”
This was said with a smile, and Bennet nodded with a relieved grin. “Quite. But given this letter, I entirely understand your desire to speak to the solicitors about the Scottish estate. Well, my dear, it is rather too late to journey to London today, so I will take you tomorrow.”
“You, sir?” Elizabeth said in open astonishment
“Of course, unless you would rather I did not?”
“Oh Uncle, I would be so happy to have you come with me, but I know how much you loathe London. ”
“I will survive, and I am confident that your Uncle Gardiner would not mind hosting us for two or three days,” Bennet replied, and then his eyes lit up. “If we must go to London, perhaps you would enjoy a visit to Hatchard’s? It is the finest bookstore in Town.”
“That would be marvelous!” Elizabeth said eagerly. “Thank you!”
/
Dining Room
Longbourn
Dinner Time
Elizabeth took an absent bite of ham, chewing and swallowing without much thought about the flavor of the meat. Mrs. Bennet always set a reasonable table, not skimping on the quality of the food she set before her family. There was not the great variety she would lay out for a guest, but at least two meats – ham and pheasant, tonight – and a few vegetables, and rolls.
Elizabeth barely noticed any of it. Her thoughts were far away in Scotland, dwelling on a brother she had never met and an estate she had never seen. It astonished her that she could inherit an estate which she had not even known existed, as well as have a long-lost brother. It truly sounded fantastical, like a novel from the library. She hoped that her visit to the solicitors would shed some much needed light on the entire affair and remove her sense of surrealism.
Elizabeth’s silence was unnoticed by the other women in the room. Mary, who was usually very quiet, was eating steadily, Mr. Bennet was habitually taciturn at the table, and Jane was offering only the briefest of mild remarks. Kitty and Lydia were bearing the preponderance of conversation with youthful ease, waxing enthusiastic over the recent influx of handsome red-coated officers. A regiment of the militia was to be quartered in Meryton over the winter, and already the colonel had sent ahead several of his officers to obtain lodgings, arrange for provender, and begin making friendly connections among the townsfolk and local gentry. Certainly these forerunners had made a favorable impression with the younger ladies of the area, if Lydia’s giggling and Kitty’s blushes were anything to go by.
Mrs. Bennet, sitting at the far end of the table, was quieter than usual, not joining in her youngest daughters’ eager chatter. A thoughtful look graced her pretty features, and after a final bite of peas, she lay down her fork and broke her silence .
“Jane, my dear, I think it is obvious that Mr. Bingley admires you very much. If the weather is good on the morrow, we ought to call on his sisters, and I hope he will be there as well. We had best strike while the iron is hot!”
“I am sorry, Mrs. Bennet,” her husband said. “Lizzy and I will be traveling to London tomorrow, and therefore, the carriage will not be available.”
This provoked cries of astonishment from the younger Bennets, and Mrs. Bennet exclaimed, “Going to London with Lizzy? Why on earth?”
The Longbourn patriarch hesitated and then said, “I received a letter a few days ago from the solicitors overseeing Elizabeth’s dowry; she will be one and twenty next year, you know, and we must arrange for the appropriate transition of her dowry.”
Mrs. Bennet stared at her husband in disbelief. “Nonsense, Mr. Bennet! Nonsense! There is all the time in the world to arrange for that; Lizzy will not be one and twenty until next May! And Mr. Bingley said that he is prone to changing his mind quickly, and he might leave Netherfield Hall at any time. He simply must fall in love with Jane as promptly as possible!”
“Perhaps we could go post, Uncle?” Elizabeth suggested hesitantly .
“I refuse to journey by post,” Bennet said immediately. “I dislike traveling a great deal, you know, and far worse to be traveling post. Nor can you possibly go by yourself, Elizabeth. Be at peace, my dear wife, Mr. Bingley will be here when we return in a few days.”
“A few days?! A few days ! Mr. Bennet, surely you would not … Lizzy, my dear, I believe you understand. I love you dearly, as much as my daughters, but you have a fortune of your own, and my poor girls will be cast out of Longbourn, and me with them, when Mr. Bennet dies. Mr. Bingley is the best hope we have ever had of…”
“I may inherit an estate in Scotland next May,” Elizabeth blurted out, silencing her aunt and bringing gasps from her cousins, along with a grimace from her uncle.
“Lizzy,” Bennet said, “we do not yet know…”
“I know we do not. But Aunt Bennet, the letter said that I am to inherit an estate called Ravenswood south of Edinburgh, and my uncle knew nothing about it. I wish to learn more about the situation.”
Mrs. Bennet turned a wide-eyed stare on her husband. “Mr. Bennet, you truly knew nothing about this?”
“Nothing at all, upon my honor, my dear wife. As you know, Elizabeth’s father died when she was little more than an infant, and as far as I was aware, her entire inheritance was ten thousand pounds. But I know that Lizzy’s mother was a Scottish lady, and it seems possible that the estate comes from the maternal side of the family? In any case, I agree with Elizabeth that we need to get to the bottom of the matter.”
“Yes, and if I have inherited, I promise that you will always have a home with me, Aunt Bennet, and my cousins as well.”
“Oh!” Mrs. Bennet said and smiled. “My dear Elizabeth, that is very kind of you.”
“What is Scotland like?” Mary asked.
“Well, I do not know,” Elizabeth confessed. “It is a long way north so probably quite cold.”
“Moreover, I must impress upon you that this whole situation is quite uncertain,” Mr. Bennet said sternly. “We know nothing about Ravenswood; given that eighteen years have passed since Elizabeth’s father died, it may have been sold off to repay debts long ago or is completely uninhabitable. I would advise that you not count your chickens before they hatch, Lizzy.”
“I will not, but I wished for you all to know why I am so eager to go to London, and I am grateful to Uncle Bennet for being willing to take me. ”
“Yes, I quite agree,” her aunt said. “Perhaps you have inherited a great estate, my dear Lizzy, and will live like a Scottish queen!”
Elizabeth nodded as her eyes met Mary’s, and the younger girl lifted her gaze skyward. Elizabeth, who knew that Mary was interested in history, was quite certain that both of their minds had turned in the same direction. One of the most famous of the Scottish queens was Mary, Queen of Scots, who had spent much of her life imprisoned, and then had been executed by Queen Elizabeth. Elizabeth certainly had no desire to be like that Scottish queen!