Page 41 of The Next Mrs Bennet
S leep would not claim Elizabeth that night. Knowing Jane would wake if she were not still, she lay without moving for as long as she was able before she slipped out of the bed she shared with her dearest sister. Once she had wrapped her robe tightly around her, Elizabeth sat in the window seat, allowing the curtains to fall behind her back.
‘ It was my choice to protect Janey so I can never allow myself to resent her for the fact I will have to marry the brute on the thirtieth day of April, ’ Elizabeth thought to herself as she looked out of her window onto the park which was bathed in moonlight from an almost full moon and very few clouds blocking the light. She looked wistfully at the ancient oak in the middle of the park. Although the branches hid it, she knew the swing was hanging there, the one she and her sisters had enjoyed so much over the years, and now in less than a fortnight she would not see it again.
Elizabeth had no expectation the old man would ever allow her to lower herself to visit Longbourn once she was married to him. How she hated the fact one of the vows she would recite on that terrible day was to obey him.
At least she had gained a small concession in return for consenting to marry him, he agreed to have the wedding at the end of the month. He had wanted it in a few days and she had wanted to delay it as long as possible. Almost a fortnight was better than days, but all it did was delay the inevitable.
‘ I can only pray I bear him a son as soon as possible because then at least he will not need to come to me any longer .’ That thought made her think of the speech her mother gave her that evening.
Not long after she had joined Jane in their chamber for the night, Mrs. Bennet had called her to attend her in her bedchamber. She had explained what happened between a man and woman on their wedding night and thereafter. From books she had seen in Mr. Bennet’s study and living on a working farm having seen animals mate, Elizabeth already understood the mechanics of the act.
There was no doubt in Elizabeth’s mind about the glee with which Mrs. Bennet explained the pain which would be felt the first time, and more than likely thereafter as well. She was told to lie still and submit to her husband whenever he chose to claim his rights.
Only once she did her duty and became with child would her husband cease coming to her.
She resolved that each time he came to her, she would keep her eyes shut tight, she had no desire to see more of the disgusting man than she had already seen. It was a strong motivation to want to be in the family way as soon as may be so she would be able to be free of his attentions.
‘ Sisters I still have, but I am an orphan. Those who did not protect me from my awful fate cannot be bestowed with the honour of being called parents. I have been sold into slavery! ’
With this last thought the tears began to fall once again. Elizabeth had thought she had cried all of her tears earlier and there were none left, evidently there was an endless supply. Even though she made no noise, her body was wracked with sobs.
Her life as she had known it to that point, was over.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Gardiner carriage had barely stopped in front of Longbourn’s manor house when the door burst open and an infuriated Edward Gardiner shot out.
Hill did not miss the thunderous look on Mr. Gardiner’s countenance so he stood back wordlessly to give the master’s brother-in-law a clear entrance to the house. The Hills and all of the servants were beyond disgusted with the master and mistress for selling Miss Lizzy to an old man, regardless of the fact he was a duke. It seemed Mr. Gardiner shared their opinion of the matter.
Gardiner pushed the study door open with such great force it crashed against the bookcase behind it causing books to rain down from the shelves.
Bennet had been sitting with a book and some port, as was his wont, when the door flew open. It caused him to start, spilling his port over the front of his coat, waistcoat, shirt, and cravat.
He stood up just in time to see the fury in his brother-in-law’s face and before he could duck, Gardiner threw his right hand forward, his hand in a fist and planted a facer.
The force of the punch threw Bennet back colliding into a bookcase. He then crumpled to the floor as blood began to flow from his mouth, books raining down on his head. Gardiner was not a violent man, so why had he struck him in that manner? His answer was quick in coming.
“You selfish bastard! You are so far beyond contemptuous. HOW COULD YOU SELL YOUR DAUGHTER to a man old enough to be your father?” Gardiner spat out as he stood over Bennet ready to hit him again if needs be. “Maddie and I wanted to adopt Lizzy, but you wanted her here with you regardless of how much she suffered from my sister’s mistreatment. You are not a man; you are a weak shell of one. What have you to say for yourself you nodcock!”
Bennet removed his handkerchief from his pocket and while still seated on the floor wiped away the blood still trickling from his mouth. He was sure there were two or three loose teeth from the force of the blow Gardiner had delivered. His head ached from where some of the falling books had struck him.
“Lizzy was sacrificed for the good of the family…” Bennet got no further because Gardiner reached down, grabbed him by his lapels and lifted him.
It caused Bennet to cower as he suspected Gardiner was about to deliver another punch, or more than one.
“For your good, not the good of the family! Had you pulled your head from your arse after you married Fanny, and yes, I know she entrapped you, you would have given over her portion for me to invest for you and sent me some of your profits each year.
“But no, you have not the backbone to stand up to my sister and you allow her to spend you into oblivion, not to mention your extravagance on books and port! Now because you would not bestir yourself to take the trouble to plan ahead, you sell Lizzy to this horrendous man. Did you even check as to why he is seeking his next duchess here and not in London?”
“N-No,” a much frightened Bennet managed.
In disgust, Gardiner released Bennet with a little push causing the man to fall back into his chair behind the desk. “You know not that not one member of the Ton will allow their daughters to marry him because both of his first two wives have been killed in suspicious circumstances. There was no one who would bear witness against him being he is a duke, but it is an open secret in Town.” Gardiner related what had caused the Duke’s late son to die.
By now Bennet’s pallor was decidedly grey. “How was I to know?”
“If you had taken the trouble to leave the confines of your study you would have been able to discover all with ease. It would have taken a letter to me, or even having Philips investigate. But no, I am sure you were reading a book you have read ten times before and were unable to leave your vastly important work to do something to protect your daughter.”
As Gardiner had struck at the truth of the matter, Bennet would not look him in the eye. He rather dabbed his mouth, which had all but ceased bleeding than try and defend that which he knew was indefensible.
“It is too late now; the marriage settlements are already signed. Besides that, the other four will eventually receive dowries of five and twenty thousand pounds each,” Bennet explained churlishly.
“You disgust me, Bennet. It would not have been too late if you had acted as an even halfway decent parent. When we leave here today, Jane and Lizzy will accompany us and thereafter, besides seeing our other nieces, all connection between us is broken. From my sister, I expected this sort of thing, but not you. I always thought Lizzy was your favourite. Evidently that all changed when you were presented with a way to break the entail with no effort to yourself!” He paused as he thought about leaving any children at Longbourn. “One thing, you will sign a document giving me guardianship over the remaining girls for as long as I see fit. Not even the younger ones should remain under your care.”
“I cannot,” Bennet began to reply and blanched as Gardiner seemed to get ready to strike him again. “Speak to Philips…” Bennet related the reasons to Gardiner.
“In that case, you will sign and permit me to keep the girls in the meantime. I will NOT leave my nieces here at your and my sister’s mercy. Who knows which one you will sell next if you need more books and port? Also, you will give me control of their dowries when the initial amount is paid.” Gardiner noticed the look on Bennet’s face and that he was about to object.
“You planned to use the interest for yourself, did you not? Not only will you not, but you will pay me forty pounds per month for their upkeep. You and my sister will not profit from what you have allowed!”
With a defeated look, Bennet wrote out his permission, agreed to the monthly sum to be paid for the girls’ upkeep, and signed the document.
With that in hand, Gardiner turned and marched out of Bennet’s study.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Sister,” Fanny exclaimed when Madeline Gardiner entered the drawing room. “Have you come to congratulate me that my most undeserving daughter is to be a duchess?”
“Congratulate you for selling Lizzy for your comfort. You and your grasping, mercenary ways disgust me,” Madeline averred with asperity.
In the hall outside, Jane and Elizabeth heard the words from within. Jane squeezed Lizzy’s hand.
When Jane had woken this morning, she had found the spot in the bed where Lizzy would normally be cold. Before Lizzy went for a ramble, she always woke Jane and told her what direction she was headed, and she had not done so this day.
As much as Jane would have sympathised with her, she did not believe Lizzy would have run away without telling her goodbye.
Jane had looked and found Lizzy’s clothing for that day still where it had been left before they went to bed and nothing else was missing from either her closet or dresser. Jane was at a loss as to where her beloved sister was when she noticed the curtains had a rather distinct bulge.
On opening them, it had revealed Lizzy curled up as tightly as she was able and asleep on the cushions of the window seat. As gently as she could, Jane had woken her younger sister.
Lizzy had explained she had not been able to fall asleep and came to sit and look out over the park to commit as much of it to memory as she was able. She did not remember lying down, but based on where Jane had discovered her, she had obviously done so.
Due to the fact Lizzy refused to sit at the same table with—as she now called them—Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Jane had asked Sarah to have two trays delivered to their chamber. If anyone asked, she was to say Miss Bennet was indisposed and Miss Lizzy was keeping her company.
Until they saw the Gardiner carriage stop in the drive, the eldest Bennet sisters had resolved to remain in their chambers for the rest of the day using the excuse Jane gave to Sarah as the reason.
They had readied themselves as speedily as they had been able which had brought them outside the drawing room in time to hear Aunt Maddie berate their mother.
For the first time since being forced into accepting the brute she was to marry, Elizabeth showed a ghost of a smile in reaction to hearing her aunt stand solidly at her side. She was about to enter the room when Jane placed a restraining arm on her wrist and shook her head. Elizabeth understood Jane wanted to hear what else was said. For her part she too wanted to know, so Elizabeth stopped and stood with Jane.
The three younger girls sat with gaping mouths at the way their normally mild-mannered Aunt Maddie had attacked their mother.
“How dare you speak to me in my house thusly. That ungrateful, disobedient girl will save this family, as it is her duty to do as she refused to be born a boy!” Fanny screeched.
“So you sold Lizzy to the worst kind of man because of that nonsense you hold onto, that Lizzy, or any babe has the ability to choose the sex it will be born,” Madeline shook her head at Fanny’s abject stupidity and ignorance. “Following your logic, why is it you do not blame any of your other four daughters for not being sons? And what of Lyddie, it was her size which made it impossible for you to birth any more children. Should we blame her for that over which she had no control as well?”
“Mama, the bible teaches children are a blessing from God, so how could Lizzy determine to be born a boy or girl?” Mary, who had turned fourteen a few days previously, pointed out.
“Hold your mouth! What do you know? A girl as plain as you has no room to talk about anything!” Fanny bit out at her middle daughter nastily. She turned back to her sister-in-law. “And you miss hoity-toity, you are just jealous my daughter will be a duchess and I will move in society much greater than the wife of a tradesman…”
Fanny Bennet had always been jealous of her brother’s wife. Madeline had been raised a gentlewoman whereas she was the daughter of a solicitor. Everyone liked Madeline and she was too intelligent for a woman; hence Fanny disliked her.
“ NO YOU WILL NOT !” Elizabeth, who had slipped into the drawing room unnoticed, insisted at the top of her voice. “If you think you will ever be in my presence again after I leave this home, you, Mrs. Bennet, are delusional.”
“Do not dare to speak to me in that fashion, I am your mother!” Fanny screeched as she began to stand intending to slap her rude daughter as hard as she was able.
“Fanny Bennet, if you attempt to harm Lizzy in any way, I will do the same and worse to you,” Madeline threatened.
Fanny did not like the determined look in her brother’s wife’s eyes so with no good cheer, she sat back into her chair.
“You and Mr. Bennet are no longer my parents,” Elizabeth retorted once her aunt had said her piece. “Anyone who is willing to sell their daughter into slavery cannot be considered such. We both know if the Duke had not for whatever his unknown reasons are, chosen me, you would have been quite happy to sell Jane to him. You have always professed your love for Janey, yet you would have consigned her to the terror I am to endure as his wife. Is that how you would have demonstrated your love for Janey, marrying her to an old man who has the makings of being a brute?
“So no, Mrs. Bennet, you will not join me in Town, you will never be invited to any of my husband’s houses or estates. Once I leave this house I will never know you or Mr. Bennet again.”
“Lizzy, what do you and Aunt Maddie mean that Mama and Papa sold you to the Duke?” Lydia asked confusedly.
“You know your sister tells tall tales,” Fanny tried to hedge.
“It is nothing but the truth, Lyddie,” Jane spoke up. “If he had not wanted to marry Lizzy, Mama would have put me forward, in fact, she tried to have him take me instead.”
“Jane, how could you,” Fanny averred with put on sadness, her hand over her heart.
“Because it is the truth, and you know it is,” Jane shot back.
Now it was Elizabeth’s turn to squeeze her sister’s hand in support.
Just then Gardiner entered the drawing room and nodded to his wife. “Girls, go and pack as much of your things as will fit into two trunks, the rest will be sent to you on the morrow,” Gardiner instructed. His wife placed a restraining hand on his arm.
“Of what do you speak? MY GIRLS ARE NOT LEAVING ME ! I suppose you can take Mary and Kitty, and of course Miss high and mighty Lizzy. The sooner I never see her again the better,” Fanny stated disdainfully.
“Lizzy, after what you have been through, we do not want to take more choices away from you than has already been done.” Madeline, ignoring Fanny, looked directly at Elizabeth. She turned to address the other four girls. “We would like all of you to come live with us, you until you marry Lizzy, the rest of you for the time being. Your father has given his permission, in writing .”
“The sooner I am away from Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, the happier I will be,” Elizabeth accepted.
“I feel the same,” Jane added.
“Me too,” Mary agreed.
Jane looked at the two youngest Bennets. “We will not leave you two alone here. I promise you this is a very good thing.”
The three youngest Bennets stood and headed for their chambers to pack while Fanny stared at them with her eyes wide-open, and a gaping mouth. She was about to tear into her husband’s study to demand he rescind his permission if he had in fact given it. Before she could stand her second daughter addressed her with ice in her voice.
“When my fiancé or one of his despicable men come seeking me, send them to Gracechurch Street.” Elizabeth turned and cut her mother and she and Jane went up to pack.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“How dare you send my Lydia away!” Fanny screeched as soon as she pushed the study door open.
The door slammed against the bookcase for the second time that day and Bennet flinched thinking Gardiner was returning to beat him again. He was almost relieved it was his wife instead.
“It is done and done for the best,” Bennet stated as he returned to his book.
“You tell them you have changed your mind, NOW !” Fanny screamed.
“Yet I will not, as I have not,” Bennet averred evenly. “You may caterwaul all you want; it will not change the facts. We will have an estate with no entail one day, but no children.”
Bennet did not explain anything to his wife who stood staring at him as if he was mad.
Fanny screamed at him for so long that by the time she tried to stop her brother from removing her children, she was in time to see the retreating Gardiner carriage.