Page 50 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)
He rode back towards his house. He would wait there for the time to pass before going back to see his cousins, while making sure the buffoon was not aware he was home.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“I am sure my Bennet nephew is fit to be bound with rope to restrain himself,” Henry stated after Lizzy read the notes from both the first attempt to enter Purvis Lodge and Thomas’s foray to Longbourn’s dower house. Thomas had the right idea, just the wrong estate’s dower house.
“If that means Mr Bennet is very angry, I agree with you, Uncle Henry,” Elizabeth responded. “He loves to make everyone else the butt of his jokes but hates being in that position himself.”
“So far, everything is going according to our plan. I wonder how my husband is enjoying his cousin’s company with none of us there to be the foils for his attempts at humour?
” Fanny mused. “If he tries to hide in his study, I hope his cousin is too much of an oaf to realise Thomas is seeking solitude.”
“When will our father and this Mr Collins meet the guests? The ones already here and the others on their way?” Jane enquired .
“At the assembly, I believe,” Felicity responded.
“By then, your father will be angry enough that he will not see the trap, especially after we let it be known that you three older girls and Fanny will attend the assembly. Angry people are seldom wise, so your father will not think before he speaks and attempts to act.”
Fanny did not miss how Mary was sitting, her chin resting on her fist as she stared out of the window wistfully.
“Roger will come to see you as soon as my husband has made a fool of himself at Purvis Lodge.” She decided to direct her engaged daughter to another subject.
“Did you notice how Charlotte seemed to attract the bulk of one of the guests’ attention? ”
Mary looked at her mother and smiled. How different she was now. In the past not only would she have denigrated Charlotte’s looks in public, because Mama would not have stood for someone else attracting the attention of a very eligible man without pushing one of her own daughters at him.
“Yes, Mama, I did. I thought Jane may interest the other, but I think she may be too calm for him. It will be interesting to see his opinion of Elli when they join us for dinner later,” Mary speculated.
“As far as Jane goes, you are correct. I am only sorry it took me so long to realise that my girls would find men who valued them when the time was right, without my interference,” Fanny saw that Mary was about to interject.
“I know you are about to remind me I have changed, and I have, but when I think of the past, who should suffer but myself? It has been my own doing, and I ought to feel it. I was too blind to see and too deaf to hear what was said to me about how wrong I was.”
“Mama, you need to adopt part of Lizzy’s philosophy…” Mary began to say .
“Yes, I know, only remember the past, as that remembrance gives pleasure. In general, that is a good way to live, but in my case, I must remember the past, so I never repeat the same errors ever again,” Fanny insisted.
“That, I think, is a healthy way of considering the past for you. I suppose each of us must do what works for us,” Mary understood.
“Now, I want you to think of the near future with pleasure. Roger will be here before you know it,” Fanny stated and kissed Mary on the forehead before hugging her middle daughter.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
No sooner had the time elapsed that he would not be early; Bennet was on his gelding galloping towards Purvis Lodge.
At least he had not seen the buffoon for the short time he had been home.
Annoyed that this was his second call and sure his wife and daughters were within, Bennet was very short with the groom who took his horse, as he was with the butler who admitted him to the house this time.
The butler led Mr Bennet to the sitting room where the seven Taylors sat.
Taylor stood as soon as Bennet entered. “You were told that none of your kin are here; are you impugning my honour and calling me a liar?” He barked.
Bennet was knocked back. He was the one who was supposed to be the aggrieved party and put his cousin at a disadvantage, but here the man was doing that to him. Had the world gone insane?
“I-I never c-called you a liar,” Bennet managed as he began to sweat a little.
“Did or did not Mr Mercury inform you that other than we seven, no others are here? Nor have any others been here at any time today. For that matter, no one else has been anywhere on my property. Your coming here to seek them out, notwithstanding what you were told earlier, it seems to me to count as you calling me a fabulist.” Taylor reasoned.
He knew his next response may be the difference between being called out or not.
“Cousin, I do not doubt your word; it is only for my own peace of mind I make this request,” Bennet said in the most conciliatory tone he could muster.
“If you refuse, I will leave and accept your word.” Bennet was not sincere at all, but he did not think his cousin had enough intelligence to see past his apology to the truth.
Taylor knew exactly what Bennet was about, but per the plan, it was time to allow the poltroon to think his cock-and-bull story had been believed.
“Mercury will accompany you. You may walk through the house, Bennet. I want you to be at peace and know Fanny and the girls are not here.” Taylor paused. “Have you mislaid them somehow?”
“Ehrm, no, I misunderstood where they said they would be this morning,” Bennet prevaricated.
The Taylors all nodded their supposed understanding.
It was everything they could do to school their features and hide their mirth until Mercury led Bennet from the room.
When the door was closed, only their hands covering the mouths of the three youngest Taylors stopped giggling and guffaws from being loosed.
As he was shown from room to room, every space in the house, including the attics, Bennet’s frustration and anger built. Not only were his wayward wife and daughters not in the house, but there was no sign they had been present.
In the end, Bennet stormed from the house and mounted his horse. He pushed Odysseus towards Meryton. He tied his horse to a wooden beam outside his brother-in-law’s law offices, flipped a penny to a boy so the lad would keep an eye on the gelding and stalked into the office.
“May I assist you, Mr Bennet?” The law clerk asked.
“I am here to see Phillips,” Bennet barked.
“Mr Phillips is not to be disturbed for another hour. I can leave a note to tell him you called, if you would like to tell me what you need,” the clerk proposed.
“Did my brother leave a document to be sent to me?” Bennet demanded.
“I am afraid not. Certainly nothing that I am aware of, and I scribe all legal documents for my employer,” the clerk responded.
“Inform him that I am here; he will see family,” Bennet insisted. Bennet ignored the fact that he had never treated Phillips like family before at any time. He needed the man’s attention, so it was convenient to remind Phillips of their familial bond at this time.
The law clerk inclined his head. He approached his employer’s door and knocked. When bade to do so, he entered. In no time the man stepped out and pulled the door closed behind him.
Bennet could not help smirking; he was certain Phillips would see him and more likely than not had berated the clerk for delaying him.
“My apologies, Mr Bennet, but Mr Phillips says he may not be disturbed. If you either wait or come back in another hour, he will be happy to see you. He said he will have ten minutes to spare you then,” the clerk articulated.
Was the world upside down? How could it be that not only had his wife and daughters vanished without a trace as if into thin air?
If that was not enough, now Phillips, a mere solicitor, had the temerity to make him, a landed gentleman, wait.
Nothing was occurring the way he had planned it.
Even worse, once he did see Phillips, Bennet would have to return to Longbourn and the bumbling fool who would demand to see his intended . What was he to tell him this time?
With no good cheer, Bennet threw himself into one of the armchairs for those waiting to see Phillips.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Why was I made to wait?” Bennet demanded peevishly when he entered Phillips’s office.
“Did you have an appointment to see me?” Phillips shot back.
As he did not, Bennet had no answer. “Even so, I am family; you should have accommodated me.”
“It seems you only remember we are related by marriage when it is convenient for you,” Phillips barked.
“I was working on a time-sensitive matter. As my client has paid for my time, I was obligated to do what he asked before I saw you, who, as you know, had not an appointment. My time is limited; what may I do for you?” He, of course, did not mention the work he was doing was creating a contract for Henry Bennet, one the man sitting across the desk from him would soon sign.
“Have you created the document I need to play my joke on Fanny?” Bennet questioned as he fought to maintain his equanimity.
“As I do not for one moment believe it is for an innocent joke, I will not. Would you have me ruin my reputation by creating a fraudulent document so you may discompose your wife? You may not care, but the repercussions for me could be arrest and gaol,” Phillips returned firmly.
“What is your true aim here? Has it something to do with that idiotic man who waited three hours before hiring a gig to take him to your estate so he could arrive on time? His name is Collins? The same name you want in the fraudulent contract. You can search high and low; you will not find a solicitor close to us who will risk his reputation so you may be cruel.”
Bennet was reeling. Surely, Phillips was not so intelligent he could see through the ploy to the truth of the matter? Yet he had. What was he to do now?
He would have to scribe a document himself. When he discovered his wife, he was certain she would not see through his gambit.