Page 48 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)

She tried to offer him some of her womanly gifts, but like the footman, the groom had not accepted and instead had marched her right to Mrs Gilbert’s office.

It had cost her an additional two months of working as a maid in the morning, and for the duration of her punishment, she would wear clothing made from sackcloth.

Lydia cried herself to sleep each night, which for her was a short one, as she was woken at four each morning to begin her duties.

She was aware that each time she tried to shirk her duties or not do them correctly, it would add two days to her punishment time.

Hence, after two instances, Lydia had not repeated that behaviour again.

Now she had a quandary. How to keep from being punished in the future.

A little voice whispered she needed to follow instructions, behave, and take her lessons seriously, but Lydia was not ready to acknowledge it yet.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Bennet was in his study just before three when he heard the carriage arrive home, just like his wife had said. He was disappointed Phillips had not sent the fake document to him yet. He supposed he would have to wait until the finished copy was delivered.

He was not worried when he did not hear noise from his womenfolk.

Of late that was how it had been, which of course was one of the things he repined.

It took away something for which he could berate them.

Why had he been tricked into allowing Lydia to go to school?

The house was never so quiet when she was home, and it used to give him amusement.

A minute before four, Bennet heard the crunch of wheels from the drive. At last! His cousin had arrived, and the sport would begin. He put his head into the drawing room and did not see his wife or daughters within.

“Hill, summon everyone from upstairs. They need to be here to greet my cousin,” Bennet ordered when he saw the butler at his station near the front door.

“Who do you refer to, Mr Bennet? As far as I know, there are none upstairs other than a maid or two. Do you require a maid for some reason?” Hill enquired all the while maintaining his stoic mask while he was laughing on the inside, especially at the look on the master’s face.

“You are mistaken! I heard the carriage return!” Bennet insisted.

“Yes, Sir, it did do so. Except neither Mrs Bennet nor any of your daughters were within,” Hill related while he kept his mask in place.

“ WHERE ARE THEY ?” Bennet yelled.

“I did not ask the coachman,” Hill replied honestly. He knew full well where they were, but he had not said anything to Jack, the driver of the carriage.

By now, there was a rapping on the door.

Hill opened it to reveal a corpulent, sweating man in the garb of a clergyman.

“Yes, sir?” The butler asked while fighting to maintain his stoic countenance.

To call the man ‘odiferous’ was not close to the reality of the terrible way bad odour rolled off his body in waves.

Hill watched the man use an obviously drenched handkerchief to mop his sweat-saturated brow.

“William Collins to see Mr Bennet. It is unconscionable that I am treated thusly. I am the heir of this estate and have been left standing outside, and not one person to greet me. In his letter, Mr Bennet promised he, his wife, and daughters would all attend me on my arrival.”

“Come in, Mr Collins; I am your cousin, Thomas Bennet,” he stated.

“It, er, seems that I have mislaid the women of my home. It is an oversight which will soon be corrected. Allow the housekeeper to show you to a guest suite, and I will locate my wife and daughters.” To placate the heavy man, Bennet added, “I have a very pretty daughter picked out as your future wife.”

It had the desired effect, and the corpulent man trundled into the house. Bennet exited and made for the coach house. The driver’s room was empty. There was a note on the bed stating that he had accepted a much better position and had to leave.

There were only two places his wife and daughters could be.

Purvis Lodge or the dower house. The question in his mind was, why now?

Why had they seemingly disappeared today?

Surely, they did not know what his plans were.

No, that was impossible. Other than Lizzy, none of them had the intellect to divine what he was about.

He had not let anything slip, so Lizzy could not know what he was about.

He had a thought, and as much as he hated hurrying to do anything, Bennet made for his study and opened the drawer where the laughable letter from the buffoon who was now upstairs was kept.

He remembered it had been in its place when he had removed it this morning and then he had replaced it.

Of course it was there, just as he expected to see it. He could not fathom what had occurred.

He would have to exert himself if they did not return later and remained away overnight. If that occurred, he would ride to first Purvis Lodge and then the dower house in the morning.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

“My nephew came to you and requested you ignore your ethics and write the drivel that Lizzy just read to me?” Henry demanded.

“He did,” Phillips replied. “After reading the copy of the letter from the Collins man, I now understand why he wants the fraudulent contract from me. He really thinks we are simpletons.” Phillips took his leave to return to Meryton.

“Mr Bennet must be delusional if he thinks I will marry anyone of his choosing, especially not the blockhead who wrote the letter Mr Collins did.” Elizabeth huffed with frustration.

She knew she was safe, but the fact that her father was so very bad, she had not imagined.

As soon as she heard of his plan to marry her off to the simpleton, he ceased being Father and was now only Mr Bennet.

“Lizzy, I must admit, had this been before when I did not know the truth, I would have attempted to force you to marry such a man,” Fanny said with her head down.

“Mama, I do not judge you on what you may have done, only the way you are now,” Elizabeth assured her mother. “With the changes you have made, it is a pleasure to be known as your daughter.”

Jane, Mary, and Kitty all nodded their agreement.

“Lizzy dear,” Henry called her attention to himself.

“Your father has already made a fatal error in his plans to control you. He has broken one of the contract provisions he signed with me regarding you and your future. We need to allow this to play out for a little longer. Thomas needs to know that he has been irrevocably beaten and has no choice but to agree to our terms.”

Everyone in the room nodded that they approved of what had been said .

Mary was seated next to Roger, who made sure he spent time with her every day. She was counting the days until this charade was over, and she would be able to be recognised as Roger’s fiancée in public.

“Where do you think the first place your father will seek you in the morning is?” Henry asked. “He will not trouble himself today, will he?”

“No. I doubt he will stir himself to search for us this evening,” Elizabeth opined. She turned to her brother-in-law to be. “Will your father allow him to walk through the house at Purvis Lodge, or will Mr Bennet be turned away?”

“Pa will toy with him for a while but ultimately allow him to look in the house,” Roger reflected.

“I would pay to see my husband’s face when he arrives at Longbourn’s dower house and finds no one but a few servants.

” Fanny smiled widely at her husband’s soon-to-be consternation.

“Uncle Henry, I had no idea you had built another dower house at Netherfield Park. Of course, I suppose that is so because I had not a clue you owned the estate.”

The previous night Henry had, in broad strokes, revealed that he was far wealthier than many thought.

He had related that Netherfield Park was his and that neither Fanny—he had set aside thirty thousand pounds for her since her reformation—nor any of her daughters, married or unmarried, would ever want for anything.

Fanny had sworn not to mention anything to Hattie, who was still an inveterate gossip.

He had not spoken of the dowries for the Lucas girls, Sherwood Dale, his house in London, or the extent of his wealth.

It was the first time Fanny heard that Lizzy was his heir.

Rather than react as she would have in the past, all Fanny said was that Lizzy deserved whatever Uncle Henry left for her.

Charlotte and Maria Lucas joined them an hour or so before dinner.

With Uncle Henry’s permission, it was before dinner that Elizabeth informed Charlotte of her and Maria’s dowries.

Her friend was silenced for some time before she began to complain it was far too much.

Eventually, she thankfully accepted that it was the way things would be.

The two guests who were residing in Netherfield Park’s manor house joined them for dinner.