Page 3 of Ever After End

CHAPTER 2

E lizabeth Bennet was returning to her home at Longbourn in Hertfordshire after her morning walk to Oakham Mount. Her family was likely awakening and going about their morning now. They had all slept a bit late after having dined at Netherfield the night before.

The new young couple at Netherfield, Mr and Mrs Lockhart, were charming people, and Elizabeth looked forward to having them for neighbours. Mrs Bennet was still smarting from the blow that Netherfield was not to be taken by a single gentleman of large fortune. Fanny Bennet had, at least, refrained from being embarrassing about it in their company, and had been gracious with Mrs Lockhart.

As Elizabeth came down the hillside, she noted a carriage approaching Longbourn. It looked like her Uncle Gardiner’s carriage. Elizabeth wondered what could possibly be wrong to bring her uncle so far unannounced at such an early time of day. He must have left London before dawn. Could her aunt or the children be ill, perhaps? She hurried as quickly as she could to the house.

“Uncle!” she cried as she entered the hall from the back of the house. “Is everything all right? Are my aunt and the children well? ”

“Everyone is fine! Everyone is just fine,” Edward Gardiner smiled at all of his other relatives who had joined them in the hall with the same concern as Elizabeth. “I have some business with Thomas in his study, but first, I will join you all for breakfast if I may, and hear your news.”

“Of course, of course!” his sister crowed, allowing him to kiss her cheek. “Into the breakfast room, all of you! You may sit by me, Brother, and tell me what my sister-in-law has been up to in London. I am vastly excited about what Madeleine told me in her last letter about the new fashion for long sleeves!”

The family were all their usual selves as they spoke to and over one another at the breakfast table. No one questioned Mr Gardiner again about the reason for his visit, because when gentlemen had business together, it was none of the women’s concern. Elizabeth could not, however, help wondering what was happening, particularly because her uncle kept looking at her and smiling.

It was evident that Thomas Bennet was similarly curious, for the moment his brother-in-law laid down his fork, Bennet was hurrying everyone from the table, and encouraging them to go about their mornings. Jane had work to do in the still room. Mrs Bennet was to be at home to callers in the drawing room. Mary went to practise her instrument, and the younger ladies went upstairs to change the trim on one of Lydia’s gowns.

“Well, Edward, what is it?” demanded Bennet as they rose from their chairs.

“In your study, please, Thomas,” Gardiner insisted, and followed his host into the hall. He caught Elizabeth there, and hissed, “Do you still have it? The lottery ticket.” When Elizabeth opened the book she was carrying, and showed him the ticket she was using for a bookmark, he said, “You will want to frame it after today. Go to your father’s study.” He then went to the front door, whistled for his manservant, and bid him to wait outside the door of his brother’s bookroom, ensuring their privacy.

“Elizabeth, what are you doing here?” her father asked as she entered the room behind him .

“Uncle instructed me to come in, Papa,” Elizabeth said meekly. She had no idea how she could be concerned with the men’s business. Could it be possible that she had won the smallest prize of the lottery, just as her uncle had told her she might? What would she do with five hundred pounds?

Uncle Gardiner finally entered behind them, carefully closed the door, and embraced Elizabeth, spinning her about. “Lizzy! You won! You won the lottery!”

“Whatever can you mean, Edward?” said Bennet, rising to his feet.

“When Lizzy visited us for her birthday, I helped her pay for a lottery ticket as her present. I told her to have fun daydreaming about what she might do if she won. Lizzy, you won! You won the grand prize!”

“The grand prize!” Elizabeth cried. “Not the last one, Uncle? Surely you jest! Certainly it must be the last prize.”

“I cannot take it in, I must sit,” said Mr Bennet, shaking his head and falling back into his chair. “What lottery are you speaking of, and how much did Lizzy win?”

“It is the Grand City Lottery, Brother. Lizzy has won a brand new house, a freehold in London, and fifteen thousand, seven hundred pounds,” answered Gardiner.

“Fifteen thousand and a house?” said Bennet in surprise. “What sort of a house?”

“A four storey modern brick home, with six bedrooms, and a goodly number of public rooms. It is in a neighbourhood slightly more fashionable than Cheapside, a very genteel location. The drawing was yesterday, and when I filled out the ticket with your name on it, Lizzy, I listed myself as your guardian, because I thought it would be most convenient. I had a feeling that you would win something, so I went to the guildhall yesterday when they drew the winners, and you won, Lizzy! You won the house and the money!”

“What must I do?” asked Elizabeth uncertainly.

“You do not need to do anything. Your funds are now in a trust in a bank in London, with myself as the trustee. The house is deeded similarly. ”

“That was slick, Edward,” said Thomas with an edge to his voice. It had been presumptuous of Gardiner to set himself up as Elizabeth’s trustee before anyone knew of the matter, and rather disrespectful to her father.

“With all due respect, Thomas, I will not be burdening you with the task of protecting Elizabeth’s good fortune from my sister. Now, there will be no way for Fanny to take the money, and no way for her to badger you into doing so,” said Gardiner firmly.

“Uncle Gardiner paid for most of the ticket anyway. Uncle you really ought to keep the money for my cousins. Would not that be fair? I could keep the house, and we will not be thrown to the hedgerows when Papa dies. Perhaps we could let the place, and put the funds towards something cheaper and easier to manage here in Meryton. A charming little cottage, with a little extra from the rent of the new house?”

“Lizzy, I meant it when I said that I could think of no one who would benefit from a freehold home and a sum in the bank more than you. I thank God that I was inspired to help you buy that ticket. You will be safe for all your days now. Even after marriage. No man will take all you own, for he must go through me, as your trustee, and I will see to your marriage articles, ensuring it. Do not get married without a proper marriage settlement approved by me. Promise me, Lizzy.”

“I promise, of course, but is it not unfair for me to keep the house and all of the money? If it is my money, I would be happier if we shared it between me and my sisters. Three thousand each. And later Mama’s portion will make it four. Is that not better?” Elizabeth protested.

“No, Lizzy, it is not better, and I will explain why. The interest on three thousand pounds will not be enough to keep you, not in that house, and barely at a respectable level even outside of the house if you rented it out and lived meagerly in the country. With the interest from your winnings, you can live in the house, though rather frugally if you have your mother and sisters with you, for all of your days, whether you are married or not. If you do this, you can help your mother and sisters, but if you split the money for your sister’s dowries, you will not have the necessary income to live in the house,” Uncle Gardiner explained. “It might seem unfair that such a good thing has happened to you and not your sisters, but that is the way of life. Life is about changing, Lizzy; nothing shall ever stay the same. None of you will have the same things as the others as you grow up. Some of you may marry rich men, others poor men, perhaps one or two may not marry at all. Some of you may die in childbirth as young women. The others might live until their ninetieth year. Nothing is ever fair or equal, my dear.”

“He is right, Lizzy,” her father said. When she turned to him, he said, “When Lydia won ten pounds at housey-housey last year, did she share it with all of you?” Elizabeth shook her head. “Did she even buy you so much as a ribbon?” Elizabeth shook her head again miserably. “Then you have your answer, my dear. I am certain that you will be much more generous with all of them than any of them would be with you, perhaps save Jane or Mary. You cannot beggar yourself to provide for them. Providing for them was my job, and the fact that I failed at it does not mean that you ought to suffer for it.”

“Thomas, I will not hear you sounding self pitying over a situation that you ought to have prevented,” said Gardiner sharply. “Perhaps we should go and tell the others, but first, Lizzy, do you want me to have the house let straight away? And I took the liberty of separating the seven hundred from the rest, in case you wanted to do something with a portion of the money now. I will hold onto it until you need it.”

“I am not Lydia, and nor am I mean or cruel, so I would like to do something nice for my mother and sisters,” said Elizabeth. “Might I have some funds now so I might treat them each to a new gown, a bonnet, and some slippers? And yes, if you think it is a good idea, please let the house. It is smart to let it earn something while it can, there is no reason for it to sit empty.”

“It will be harder to lease, considering it has no furniture or housewares of any kind, but I suggest that you rent it out anyway, and then set those funds aside to buy some furnishings,” said Uncle Gardiner sensibly. “You see things for sale in London by desperate people all the time; I shall keep an eye out for bargains that cannot be passed by, and I can store it all for you in my warehouses until you need it.”

To say that Fanny Bennet found the situation unfair was an understatement. First she exclaimed, then she shrieked, then she was bewildered, then she raged like a banshee over the injustice that Elizabeth was to have fifteen thousand and a house in town, and Jane was not.

“With such a fortune, Jane would be married to a wealthy man, perhaps even a peer, in less than three months, Brother! Then she would have no need of the house, and we could all live there when Thomas dies. It is shameful to waste such gifts upon Lizzy, when they will do her no good!” Fanny ranted.

When her brother would not budge, she tried to negotiate. “Let Lizzy have five thousand then, if she absolutely must be so mean with her sisters. Then bestow seven thousand on Jane who will surely find a husband quickly with a proper dowry of any kind, and let the rest be shared between the other girls!” Fanny was adamant that Jane ought to receive the largest portion of the funds, being the eldest, the most beautiful, and, in Fanny’s opinion, the most likely to snare a wealthy husband.

Gardiner explained patiently to his sister that this was actually a blessing for the women of the family, and the solution to her fears, if she allowed herself to see reason. “You say that Jane is the most likely to wed, and perhaps that is so, I really could not say, Fanny. But you must allow that Lizzy is your cleverest daughter, and consider that perhaps she is not so clever for nothing. Elizabeth has the acumen to manage such a fortune and support you and the girls in London when Thomas dies, but we must be careful with the funds. Even with such a sum, you will need to live carefully in such a neighbourhood in London on the income in question with so many women. If the funds remain intact, then you and the girls are saved, and will live in comfort and gentility. If the funds are split between the girls, or spent, then you will not have enough to live on.”

Fanny Bennet was silent, considering the matter, as her brother continued. “I do not want to hear, after I am gone, Fanny, that you have been scolding or badgering Lizzy. She is not in charge of the money. Neither is Thomas; I would never have allowed either of you to take it from her. I am the trustee of Lizzy’s fortune, she could not give it to you or Jane even if she wanted to. And I assure you, as mean as you paint her, she wanted to. She tried to insist that it be shared equally amongst all of your girls, but that is not the way to save you all. Do not punish her for what has been my decision.”

“And I do not have to take my share of Mama’s dowry, do I?” asked Elizabeth brightly, hopeful that perhaps her mother might somehow be reasoned out of being furious with her. “Can that be done, Papa? Should we ask Uncle Phillips? That would give my sisters a little more for their portions. And I wish to tell you all that Uncle has given me a very small portion of my funds, and though it will not stretch to anything significant, there is enough for me to treat all of you, Mama, and all of my sisters, to an outing in Meryton or perhaps even St Albans. I think we might all manage a new gown and a bonnet. Will that not be nice?”

“Nice! Oh, it sounds like a lovely day; how kind of you, Lizzy,” said Jane, catching onto Elizabeth’s plaintive attempts to appease her mother. Jane eyed Mary and her sisters.

“Though I am not one for vanity, I look forward to an outing with Lizzy, and I am grateful that she so far seems to be amenable to taking us all in if something happens to Papa, and we are not married. We all know she does not have to. To be homeless is a fear we have all shared for years, save Papa, who is fortunate enough to be secure just by being alive, and I for one am thoroughly beholden to Lizzy for being a means to its end. Thank you, Sister. You are too good to us. I promise that I shall endeavour not to be a burden.”

“Not at all, Mary,” said Elizabeth in bewilderment of everything that happened that morning.

“It is not fair, Uncle, that you gave Lizzy a house and a fortune,” said Lydia. “I am sure that if any of us younger sisters were ever invited to visit you, that we should like to become as dear to you as Lizzy has.”

“Lydia Bennet!” her father chastised her.

Her uncle smiled. “I wish I could give each of you a house, and a fortune as well, Lydia. But I did not give them to your sister. I bought her a lottery ticket as a birthday present, and she won it by chance. But I should hate to be accused of having favourites, so I promise you this. From now until you are married, whether you are visiting us in London or not, I shall buy each of you a lottery ticket for your birthday, so that each of you has a chance. Will that suit you?”

Lydia and Kitty both jumped up and hugged their uncle and thanked him, Lydia crowing about the house in London that she would win, and Kitty insisting that hers would be every bit as grand.