Page 3 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)
F anny Bennet estimated that she was about five months into her increasing. The thought of the entail, which to her was akin to the sword of Damocles hanging over her head, was a constant worry for her.
Had she been aware before she accepted Thomas Bennet that she may one day lose her home to some distant cousin because he was a male, she may have refused him.
As much as she was enamoured with marrying up to a member of the landed gentry, the knowledge of the entail would have negated any advantage she thought she would have had.
She admitted that she had been so keen to secure Mr Bennet that she had not shown him the truth of who she was.
She had allowed him to believe she enjoyed reading the type of drivel he read, that she was reasonably intelligent, and that she was not a gossip.
Until she realised he had not shared the truth of his estate, that it was not his, but he was rather a lifetime tenant, she had felt a little guilty for being disingenuous.
That was until she understood there had been deception on both sides, which assuaged her guilt.
Indulgently, she rubbed the swell of her belly. This child she was carrying had to be a son! It was the only way her future would be secure. She did not marry Thomas Bennet just so that she could end up in the hedgerows when he died.
Just then, Fanny saw the drawing room door open, and in walked her husband.
She was taken aback. In the more than one year since they wed, Thomas never joined her in the drawing room unless there was no choice.
That was when she noted an older man had entered with him.
Although the man was about the same height as her husband, he had streaks of silver and grey in his hair.
Fanny did not miss the similarities between the man and her husband, even though the older man was of darker complexion than Thomas.
“Mrs Bennet, I present to you my late father’s younger brother, our uncle, Mr Henry Bennet.
Uncle Henry, my wife and your niece, Fanny.
” Not one to forgo teasing his wife, Bennet had a brilliant idea.
“As my uncle is a closer relative, he is ahead of any other as far as the entail goes. If, as you claim, you are carrying a son, that child will become the heir apparent.”
Knowing that his nephew could relieve his wife’s worries regarding the entail right now, Henry was not impressed with the way that Thomas instead chose to make sport of her concerns.
Seeing this, which to him smacked of cruelty, Henry decided that Thomas Bennet would never be his heir, or even a beneficiary of his.
He may leave something to his niece, but time would tell if she was more worthy than her husband.
It did not take long before he began to lean towards not including her either.
“Have you come to see your future house so you may throw me out if I do not bear a son?” Fanny shrieked. “You will not be gratified; I carry the heir right here.” Fanny patted her belly.
“Mrs Bennet, I know not where these erroneous opinions originate, but consider this. I am more than five and twenty years your husband’s senior,” Henry pointed out.
“Why would you think I would be in the mortal world after my nephew has gone to his reward? No matter what you think, I have no interest in gaining Longbourn as my property. If he chooses, your husband can explain the order of inheritance and who is, and who is not eligible.”
Bennet held his breath. He had thought that his uncle would spoil his fun and tell Fanny the truth regarding the entail. Thankfully, he did not. He would still be able to make sport of his wife and her worries about the entail.
Fanny Bennet had the problem of only hearing that which fit with her preconceived notions. Hence, she heard not what their uncle stated to refute what she had said regarding himself and the entail. All she saw was one more who wanted to rob her of her home.
As no offer to spend a few days in his childhood home was forthcoming, Henry departed for London an hour later. He was singularly unimpressed by his niece and nephew.
All he could do was hope that they would bear one or more children of good sense and character who could possibly become his heir.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day after his journey into Hertfordshire, Henry met Edward Gardiner. He was greatly impressed and more than pleased that the man had no similarities with his vulgar, rude, and unintelligent sister.
It did not take long before Henry decided to invest with Gardiner.
Henry sold some of the smallest of the caches of gold stored at one of the banks.
The amount he invested with Gardiner was enough for the latter to purchase ten of his own ships, which improved the speed of shipping while reducing the costs of said transport of the goods.
When there was room in the holds, they would be able to carry things for others, thereby reducing the cost of the shipment as a whole.
The one non-negotiable term of the agreement between Henry and Gardiner was that the latter would not mention his name to anyone outside of his wife, when he married one day, and especially not anyone at Longbourn.
Gardiner was able to live with the stipulation, as the influx of capital exponentially accelerated the growth of his company.
Less than a sennight after visiting his ancestral estate, Henry departed for Sherwood Dale. He had to smile as he left. There were rumours swirling around London that a man with wealth to rival, or exceed, the richest dukes, namely Bedford and Hertfordshire, was in London.
Members of the Ton were salivating to learn who the mysterious man, with more money than any but the royals, was. They cared not how he looked or how old he was. All many wanted was for him to marry their daughters.
Thanks to his threats to the banks that if any personal information of his was made public he would close his accounts, ruin the bank, and move his money and gold, Henry trusted that no one at the banks where he had accounts would risk angering him by breaking his confidence.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When he had purchased Sherwood Dale, there had only been a small percentage of the staff and servants remaining with the estate thanks to the former owner’s inability to pay their wages.
Even though his father had only taught James how to manage an estate, Henry was not deficient in his knowledge.
Thanks to his years of owning and managing Longbourn East, he had learnt much from his overseer, and he had read books and taught himself all there was to know about managing a farm.
Yes, his farm was not an English estate but a farm in the middle of the Indian state of Karnataka, however, Henry knew he could apply many of the same principles.
He missed Gadhavi and had tried to induce him and his family to come to England with him. Perhaps if he had not made his former overseer so wealthy, the man may have agreed, but the Gadhavis had not wanted to leave their native country, and Henry had respected their decision.
Steward was one of the many posts Henry needed filled on his estate. He would ask some of the fellow landowners for recommendations once he began to meet them.
It did not take long until calls were made as word spread that the new master of Sherwood Dale was in residence.
The estate was large. In fact, its western border was the line between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
To the estate’s east was the massive Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame.
Strangely enough, thanks to the forest, the nearest market town was Lambton in Derbyshire.
The town of Sherwood was a little more than twelve miles distant, while Lambton was less than seven miles away.
Henry had been told that the nearest large estate to his was to the west in Derbyshire.
His estate bordered a smaller estate to the southwest. The large one was Pemberley and owned by one Robert Darcy.
The two estates shared a common fence of about two miles which ran along the border between the shires.
Mr Robert Darcy was one of the men who came to call a few days after Henry arrived at his estate.
He was accompanied by his brother-in-law, Lord Reginald Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock, whose estate, Snowhaven, was about seven miles from Henry’s in Derbyshire. The gentlemen affected introductions.
“Welcome to the area, Mr Bennet,” Lord Matlock stated.
“I thank you, my Lord. I much prefer the country to Town which is why I jumped at this opportunity when it came available,” Henry replied.
“I would feel sympathy for the previous master, but it was his choice to play games of chance for high stakes. It was not like he was forced to make the poor decisions he did. In my mind, gambling is a quick way to separate a fool and his money.”
“You have the right of it,” Darcy agreed. “Do you have family with you at Sherwood Dale?”
“I do have family, but none here with me. My nephew is the master of the family’s estate in Hertfordshire.
I was a second son who went into the world to seek my fortune,” Henry revealed.
He felt comfortable with the two men. Just then a memory came to him.
“Lord Matlock, your family name is Fitzwilliam, is it not?”
The Earl allowed it was so.
“My late brother married an Elizabeth Rose Fitzwilliam. As far as I knew, she was not from a noble family,” Henry related.
“She was a third cousin to me. I did not realise she had married a Bennet in Hertfordshire,” Lord Matlock responded. “The branches of our family were not very close. I assume there was a child, or children, from the match, as you are not master of your ancestral estate.”