Page 23 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)
N otwithstanding Jane and Lydia never calling at the dower house to see him, Henry was more than satisfied with the time he spent with Lizzy, Mary, and Kitty. Lizzy had turned eighteen a few days past, Mary would be sixteen in April, and Kitty had turned fourteen in the previous February.
When he had moved in, Kitty had requested he allow her cat, Cleopatra, and two of her kittens, to come live at the dower house and away from Mama. Henry had agreed without delay.
As he had guessed, since the day Cleopatra and kittens had moved in, nary a mouse had been seen in the house. Unless Kitty was spending the night at his house, Cleopatra slept on his bed most nights. As she got older, the cat enjoyed more time sleeping in a warm place than exploring outside.
Lizzy, more so than her next two younger sisters, would spend time with him.
Henry was well aware that Mary and Kitty still had lessons with Mrs Bellamy and the masters who were employed, which was why they did not have as much time to be with him as Lizzy did.
The only master Lizzy still took lessons from was the music master, even though Signore da Funti had opined she no longer needed lessons on the pianoforte from him and that her contralto voice had been trained as well as singers who took to the stage.
Each day, Lizzy would come to read to him.
By Henry’s previous birthday, when he turned nine and sixty, his eyesight had weakened, and it had become hard for him to read the print on the pages of books.
Lizzy had simply volunteered to read to him.
Mary and Kitty took their turns when they called.
In the mornings before they broke their fasts, Lizzy would arrive to either walk with Henry or join him in the phaeton for a ride, which, thanks to his failing eyes, he had taught her to drive.
The longest walk they would take was to the base of Oakham Mount and back. Thankfully the land was fairly flat, so the mile or so distance from the dower house was not a hardship for Henry.
On his next birthday, in May upcoming, Henry would be seventy.
With each day which passed, he felt more aches and pains from his body, often in places he had not previously known existed.
As he, like all mortals, had no clue as to when God would call them to His side, Henry decided it was time to show Sherwood Dale to Lizzy and reveal his fortune to her.
At eighteen, he was sure she had the maturity to be able to assimilate what he had to tell her.
Intelligence she had in abundance, but without the maturity, she would not have the wisdom she needed.
Lizzy had chosen to come out locally the previous year when she had turned seventeen.
Contrary to her mother’s assertions that no male would want to associate with a woman more intelligent than themselves, a woman who read books when she was able, and a woman who rode or walked in the countryside like some sort of hoyden, Lizzy had no shortage of requests for dances at the local quarterly assemblies.
Henry remembered the first one she attended; he had been there to see her debut in society.
It was the first time he had seen envy in Jane.
It was not because some males showed a preference for Lizzy over her; it was because Lizzy had not been pushed out at fifteen.
Even with that, Jane would not tell her mother how she felt and never tried to intercede when Fanny would denigrate Lizzy away from their father’s presence.
Of course, Thomas had not bestirred himself to attend his second daughter’s first ball.
Hence, he had not danced the opening set with her. Henry had accepted that honour.
Now he just had to catch Thomas in a good mood so he would grant his permission for Lizzy to travel north with him.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Henry’s chance to speak to Thomas was presented to him when, two days later, he received an invitation to partake of a dinner at Longbourn.
Once in a while, Fanny invited him for a meal.
When he was there, it was not hard for Henry to see that she, nevertheless, greatly objected to his presence.
That told him that when he attended a family meal, it was not of Fanny’s own volition, and she had been forced to issue the invitation by her husband who was amused by his wife’s reactions to himself.
Whichever way it occurred, Henry was pleased to be at Longbourn. After the meal and the thinly veiled comments from Fanny, Thomas stood to return to his study as they normally eschewed separation of the sexes, seeing that it was only Henry and his nephew.
The ladies left the table for the drawing room. “Thomas, I would enjoy some port. What say you we retire to your study?” Henry suggested when they were alone.
Bennet had no way to refuse his uncle. All he could hope was that Uncle Henry was not about to lecture him on his perceived shortcomings.
Deep down Bennet knew that Uncle Henry had the right of it, which made it worse.
Bennet hated to look in the mirror and examine his faults.
He stood, nodded, and led the way to his study.
As soon as Uncle Henry seated himself near the fire, Bennet poured two glasses of port, handed one to his uncle, and then sat opposite him as he nursed his drink, determined not to say anything .
“Thomas, I would like to request something,” Henry said after a sip of the sweet libation. He placed the glass on a low table between them.
‘ At least he does not intend to harangue me about something, ’ Bennet thought. “Go ahead,” he allowed.
“I am to travel north to visit my home, the one I used to live in before taking up residence in the dower house, and I would very much like Lizzy to accompany me. You know of my failing eyesight and how much of a help she is to me. As the house will be hers one day, should she not see it?” Henry knew he was shading the facts, but there was nothing he had said which was not true.
If he felt he could trust Thomas, Henry would not have withheld the full truth of his wealth from his nephew.
Her intelligence was far more than he had hoped, and Bennet revelled in the debates they would have, which more often than not resulted in Lizzy winning most of them.
Add to that it was very seldom that Bennet bested her in chess, only when she was distracted by something else.
As much as he enjoyed his time with Lizzy each day, Bennet was aware that Lizzy would love to see the north.
If he refused, would she rebel against him and stop spending time with him for his entertainment? “Where will you be?” Bennet enquired.
“She will spend some time in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. We will be in and around the town of Lambton,” Henry replied.
“You remember that ever since Maddie told Lizzy all about her youth in Lambton, and my house being close by, we have both heard Lizzy say how much she would love to visit the town where her aunt grew up, have we not?”
“In that case, I bestow my consent for Lizzy to travel with you. What of Mary and Kitty?”
“They have lessons. I am sure they will have an opportunity to travel as well once they are out, like Lizzy.” Henry paused when he saw Thomas about to launch a complaint.
“I am fully aware of Fanny’s caterwauling when you would not allow her to put Mary out into society when she turned fifteen, and when Kitty reaches that age, I am sure it will be more of the same.
I thank you for not giving in to her tantrum and standing by your word. ”
He was not used to being complimented by Uncle Henry; Bennet simply cleared his throat. “When will you depart? And what if Lizzy wants Jane to accompany her?”
“To the first, we will depart on the twelfth day of April, the day after Mary turns sixteen. To the next, Jane would be welcome, but you well know she would not travel with me thanks to Fanny’s poisoning her against me.
” Henry held up his hand. “No, Thomas, I do not want you to order her. Do not forget she is of age, and none of us would enjoy the journey if she were forced to come against her will. It will be Lizzy and me, her maid, my valet, and footmen.”
Bennet was sure that his uncle had seen through his intention to have sport at his wife and daughter’s expense by threatening to order Jane to travel with them. His uncle’s words had taken the fun out of that exercise.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“We are to stop at Snowhaven! I will see Anna,” Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly on the second day of their journey when she and Uncle Henry had discussed where they would take breaks along the way. “Will we see Pemberley where she grew up?”
“No, Lizzy, we will not be calling at Pemberley. I understand from my friend that the master of the estate is in Surrey with his cousin. From what the Earl told me in his letter, they all visited Rivington for Easter. While Matlock, Lady Elaine, and Anna travelled north the Monday after Easter, Richard’s older brother, Andrew, Viscount Hilldale, and their cousin, William Darcy, the master of Pemberley, remained in Surrey for a while longer. ”
“Will we arrive at Snowhaven on the morrow? And I will see what remains standing of the castle?”
“Correct.” Henry sometimes forgot that no matter how much Lizzy had matured, she had always been excited about new experiences.
Not only would she see her friend on the morrow, but she would see the way the manor house at Snowhaven had been built in a way to use, and connect to, the remains of the castle.
“How come you have not told me more about your house which we are visiting? What town is it in? Does it have a nice large garden?”
Although Rouse was aware of Henry’s true situation, he preferred not to discuss it with Lizzy’s maid present. “Hold your questions until we stop for the night. You and I will have a detailed conversation then, I promise.”