Page 9 of Great Uncle Henry (Pride & Prejudice Vagary)
F anny was not happy that her husband mocked her because she had been wrong about the sex of their fourth child.
It was not her fault God was punishing her for some unknown reason. She could not imagine what she had done to displease Him in this fashion, resulting in four daughters and no son.
While she suffered with her nerves, Miss Lizzy was living in comfort at Netherfield Park.
Fanny did not care that her second daughter was not in the house, just as she did not care about the next two—even if little Catherine was blonde like herself and Jane.
No, it was that Fanny resented that her daughter was living in what she perceived to be the lap of luxury.
The truth was, she simply did not know what the situation was at Netherfield Park.
Uncle Henry had invited her to come see her daughter, which would have allowed Fanny to inspect the house.
For the same reason she did not like him to visit Longbourn; she was not comfortable visiting him at Netherfield Park.
In fact, she was just not comfortable in Uncle Henry’s company.
No matter what she tried—and she did not try very hard—she could not shake the picture she had created in her mind’s eye of her husband’s uncle consigning her to the hedgerows as soon as Thomas was called home.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Bennet was meeting with his uncle in the study.
It was October 1795, and Uncle Henry had just returned from one of his journeys to see to his business, although Bennet had not a clue of what that business comprised.
He had tried to ask once a few years ago, but all he had received was a vague answer, and Bennet had got the sense that his uncle did not want to be questioned about his private affairs, so he gave up asking, preferring not to have an argument with his uncle.
Henry visited from time to time to see if his nephew had questions about Lizzy and to keep some sort of contact with him, Thomas never asked about his second daughter’s progress.
As he had desired, Henry’s nephew had not an inkling of the vastness of his wealth.
Over the years since his return to England a little more than a decade earlier, Henry had made, and continued to make, many charitable contributions.
They were done through Gardiner so that his name would not be connected to the donations.
This way, Henry had funded schools in several locations; Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire were among them.
In addition, he subsidised physicians and apothecaries so they were able to establish practices in small market towns which otherwise would not have been able to support such men.
One of the towns was Meryton. Gardiner had approached a Mr Jones, a man who was both a doctor and apothecary, and with help from an anonymous benefactor, the man had been sent to Meryton.
Jones, like the practitioners in other locations, would notify Gardiner of their actual income; Gardiner would then send funds to make up the difference between the earnings and the minimum decided upon before each man took up his post. This arrangement allowed the practitioners to adjust or waive their fees privately and based on their own judgment.
As Henry had intended, when word spread that the local medical man was flexible with his fees, many who otherwise would not have requested help, did so.
After living in India and seeing the ways those lower in the caste system were treated, especially those who were deemed untouchable, and the sore lack of availability of education and medical services, he was determined to take active steps to change things using his wealth.
Henry had charged those who worked with him in India, who had been enriched through his efforts, to make sure to help those less fortunate.
However, he could not control what they did, which increased his determination to be intentional in putting some of his fortune to good use.
He made sure that his assistance was both generous and wise, in order to lift the recipients up and not make them dependant on his assistance.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Henry had requested a meeting with his nephew because Lizzy was approaching the age of five, which meant that in one year, in March of 1797, once she turned six, Lizzy would be returned to Longbourn per an agreement with Thomas.
Although his nephew had never shown an interest in any of his daughters, on a fateful visit to Netherfield Park, Thomas had met Lizzy.
She was four and one half, and his nephew had been captivated by her vivacity and especially by her intelligence.
Until that point, Henry had been about to renew his fictitious lease for three more years to keep obscuring the fact he owned the estate.
Lizzy had not known that she was not supposed to shine the way she had in front of her father. Henry had never tried to make Lizzy anything she was not. On that day, Thomas had been dazzled by his daughter.
Indolent he was, but Thomas was also intelligent, and it took him no time to see the same in Lizzy.
He had wanted her to come home with him right away, but Henry had struck a bargain with him.
Lizzy would remain at Netherfield Park until she was six before she would return to Longbourn.
There were two points on which Henry was adamant, and as they would not affect him or cost him any money, Bennet agreed .
One was that Henry would make sure Lizzy was educated.
That meant her governess would remain with her, and when she was old enough, he would pay for masters and anything else deemed necessary for her education.
The second one was that Thomas would allow Henry to have the dilapidated dower house at Longbourn renovated and renewed.
Even though Thomas had not grasped why Henry wanted the dower house made serviceable again, as it would not cost him a penny, his nephew had agreed to the terms. They had had Phillips come and draft an agreement.
When he was done and both uncle and nephew signed it, Phillips had the decency to look ashamed when Henry told him no copies would be kept at the Phillips law office.
“Thomas, per our agreement, if I hear that you have not stood by the terms of what we signed, and you allow Fanny to impede Lizzy’s education, I will come and remove her permanently.
You are free to have her sisters join her lessons if Fanny will allow it.
It is up to you to make sure that your wife understands that any mistreatment of Lizzy will result in her permanent removal,” Henry reminded his nephew.
“Do not forget; I will buy Lizzy’s clothing and gifts from time to time.
Do not allow me to hear they have been given to any others.
If your wife allows it, I am more than willing to bestow gifts on all of my great-nieces. ”
“I will remember that. This agreement we signed could end up causing me more trouble than it is worth, but it has been signed, and there is nothing I can do now unless you agree to cancel it,” Bennet responded.
“Which you know I will not do. If you think it will be so much trouble, why not give me guardianship of Lizzy now, and you will not have to be bothered with any of this?”
“I will not do that. I have seen how intelligent Lizzy is, and I will need someone in this house whom I can speak to about subjects none of the other silly females will grasp. I am sure she will be a bibliophile like me, so when she begins to read serious works, she and I will debate and discuss books. Also, as you have begun to teach her to play chess, and she is catching on so fast, I will finally have someone who will be able to challenge me.”
Henry felt nothing but disgust at Thomas’s speech. He cared not a whit what was good for Lizzy; it was all about what he wanted and what was good for him. The man was selfish in the extreme! Now he regretted he did not push for more concessions when they had negotiated the agreement.
For a moment, Henry wondered if it was worth revealing his true wealth to Thomas and to essentially buy Lizzy from him.
He pushed that thought away as fast as he had it.
He hated with a passion the buying and selling of human beings as practised in so many places, including in the so-called civilised world.
He could not, he would not buy Lizzy or anyone else.
Rather, he refrained from saying anything about his vast fortune or the fact that he was the wealthiest non-royal in England.
“As long as you do not contravene our agreement, I will not act to remove her from this house permanently.” Henry paused. “On a different subject, have you mentioned anything about the dower house to your wife? My men will commence with the renovation in a sennight.”
“I will not for now. If Fanny hears you are rebuilding it, she will think it is so you will be able to push her out of this house as soon as may be.” Bennet gave a sardonic grin.
“It is what she will think; I never said it was logical.” He of course did not tell his uncle that he wanted Fanny ignorant for his own sport.
Other than when he essentially forced his nephew to explain the workings of the entail to his wife, Henry had kept himself out of their personal relationship, and he was not about to change that now.
If it were him, Henry would use the renovation of the dower house as a way to assure the woman that she would never be without a comfortable home.
He was fairly certain Thomas would announce the news to Fanny when he could gain maximum amusement from doing so.
Without further comment, Henry stood and took his leave. After all, there was a little ball of intelligent energy waiting for him at Netherfield Park.