2,302"No sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes."
- Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6
Chapter 1: Longbourn
Meryton, Hertfordshire, May 26, 1788
"Is there any news about Longbourn, Horace?" Margaret Gardiner asked her husband at dinner. "Is Mr. Collins to inherit?" Horace Gardiner, the Meryton solicitor, was in the process of locating the heir of Robert Bennet, the late owner of Longbourn Estate, who had suffered a fatal riding accident two days earlier.
The Gardiners had three children. Alice was 20 years old, a friendly and outgoing girl who was not otherwise remarkable. Frances, called Fanny by her family and friends, was by contrast very pretty, with a voluptuous figure even at 17. Her mother had dreams of her catching a rich husband.
Mr. Gardiner, on the other hand, had vested his hopes in his 14-year-old son. Edward was highly intelligent and applied himself diligently to his books - unlike his sisters, who barely knew which end of a book was up. It was Horace's long-standing plan that Edward would study the law and become his partner and eventual successor as the town solicitor. Edward was not so sure that he wanted to study the law; the idea of making his fortune in business was much more appealing to him. He had not yet divulged this preference to his father, hoping to keep the peace between them for as long as possible.
"As it happens, there is a great deal of news," Horace Gardiner said, smiling to himself as every female eye at the table turned to him with rapt attention. This was an unusual experience for him, for the women in his family usually found conversation about small-town legal affairs boring. But there was nothing boring about the sudden death of Robert Bennet. What was to become of Mrs. Bennet? And since she had no children, who would inherit Longbourn? A man named Collins had arrived in town today to stake his claim, but he was ill-favored, bad-smelling, and worst of all, married. Margaret had hoped for a young, handsome, single heir who would fall in love with Fanny and secure her future.
Horace looked at the eager eyes and spoke. "First, Mrs. Bennet has decided to join her brother's family in Canada. She expects to leave within the month."
"Oh, that poor woman. I hope she finds happiness there," said Margaret with sincerity. While it was potentially to her benefit that the Bennets had not had any children, she could still feel sympathy for Mrs. Bennet. Robert Bennet was known to be of mercurial temper and rumored to be violent when drunk, which was not an unusual circumstance for him. He blamed his wife for their childless state, and although she never complained, Mrs. Bennet often wore long sleeves even in the heat of summer. Mrs. Gardiner was eager to have a long talk with Mrs. Hill, the young housekeeper at Longbourn. Mrs. Hill was far too discreet to discuss the intimate affairs of the people who employed her, but perhaps she could be persuaded to confirm some of the rumors of violence once Mrs. Bennet left the country.
"Second," said Mr. Gardiner, "Collins is not the heir. You would not know this, Margaret, for he left the area shortly before we moved to Meryton, but Robert Bennet has a younger brother who is currently at Oxford."
"Oh! A student at Oxford! Then he must be unmarried!" cried Mrs. Gardiner. "Fanny, you must secure him! He will make the perfect husband for you - young and rich, what more could you ask for?"
Alice tried to hide the hurt she felt as her mother evidently gave no consideration to her as a possible match for this eligible bachelor, even though she was the eldest. Meanwhile, Fanny was indeed very interested in this development, and wanted to know more. "Is he handsome, papa?" she asked.
Horace smiled wryly at his daughter. "I have no idea. But according to the Bennet family Bible, which Mrs. Bennet loaned to me in aid of my duties, he is not all that young. Indeed, he turned thirty earlier this week."
"Thirty!" cried Mrs. Gardiner. "How could he be thirty and a student at Oxford? It must be a mistake!"
"I said he was at Oxford, Margaret, but I did not say he was a student. He is a scholar."
The effect of this information on his two daughters was markedly different. Alice perked up, while Fanny's enthusiasm wilted. Their mother, however, was undeterred. "Thirty is not so very old, Fanny," she said, still acting as if she had only one daughter. In truth, with Longbourn at stake, she would have unhesitatingly said the same about a man of any age below fifty, and would have been flexible even beyond that. "Besides, there is much to be said for the steadiness and maturity of an older man. He is much more likely to have outgrown the wild ways of youth."
Young Edward spoke for the first time. "If he is a scholar, I would imagine that he outgrew his 'wild ways' by his tenth birthday," he said dryly.
Horace barked a short laugh. "Yes, well, I am hopeful that we will soon see for ourselves, for I dispatched an express to Oxford earlier today."
"But he is unmarried?" Mrs. Gardiner did not lose sight of the main objective.
"Mrs. Bennet believes so, although she said that the brothers were not close, so she could be mistaken."
That was good enough for Mrs. Gardiner. "Well then, that settles it, Fanny. You must secure him. Longbourn is the grandest estate in the area."
Mrs. Gardiner was well aware that Longbourn was in fact only the second grandest estate near Meryton, after Netherfield Park. But Netherfield's owner, the Marquess of Rutherford, was married, and he had never even been seen in Hertfordshire, though his wife lived at Netherfield with her infant son. The town gossips thought it strange that the marquess never visited her, and some even offered the scandalous conjecture that Lady Rutherford was no lady at all, but rather his mistress. No one had the nerve to ask her, however, and the stablehand at Lucas Lodge had received a sound beating when, in his cups at the local inn, he speculated on the subject within the hearing of some rather large Netherfield footmen.
Well, it did not matter. The salient point was that there were no bachelors at Netherfield, other than servants and an infant, so the new owner of Longbourn was far and away the best husband material.
UI
The next day, after making the rounds in town and scouring out every bit of intelligence she could find about the new master of Longbourn, Mrs. Gardiner again cajoled her daughter. "Fanny, you must catch this new Bennet. From what I have heard, he seems to be a decent man, not wild like his brother. A scholar! Men like that are putty in the hands of a beautiful woman like you. All you need do is pretend to share his interests, agree with everything he says, and show him what he has been missing cloistered in that university with no women around. God gave you ample assets; you simply have to make use of them."
Fanny Gardiner was not thrilled with the prospect of marrying a scholar. She loved to dance; she loved parties; she loved having fun. Nothing about a scholar's life sounded like fun, and she was not at all sure they would suit. But to be the mistress of Longbourn! Surely she would soar to the top of Meryton's pecking order. Lady Rutherford would technically outrank her, but Lady Rutherford was not pretty, not outgoing, and held no parties. A vivacious woman like Fanny who threw parties at Longbourn would easily become the de facto leader of local society.
"Well, mama, let me have a look at him first. If he is handsome, and not too dreadfully dull, we shall see what happens."
"Nonsense. You know the Bennet men are good-looking; his father and brother both were. And even if he is dull now, surely you can liven him up. Again, it is simply a matter of using your assets."
"But a scholar! What am I supposed to say to him?"
"How should I know? Ask your father, he knows about these things. Or ask your brother; he always has his nose in a book."
Fanny found Edward, who indeed had his nose in a book, in the parlor. "Edward, what do scholars talk about?"
Edward looked up. "What kind of scholars?"
"I do not know. Mama just said that the new owner of Longbourn was a scholar."
"Oh, him. Yes, I heard he taught classics at Oxford. So I suppose he talks about classics."
"And what are they?"
Edward fought the temptation to roll his eyes. "Latin, Greek, ancient history, things like that."
Fanny made a face. "Oh, splendid. How am I supposed to learn Latin and Greek in a few days?"
"That does sound rather ambitious," Edward said with a grin. "I take it that you want to impress him with your conversation?"
"I will impress him, never fear, but before I can do that, I must at least have something to talk about with him."
"Well, what is wrong with just talking about normal things? Scholars do not expect normal people to know what they know. You might even appeal to his vanity when you say you could never understand such things."
"Normal things? Like the weather?"
"Perhaps a bit deeper than that. Books, plays, that kind of thing. What was the last book you read?"
Fanny could not think of a book she had read in the last five years. She threw up her hands and began to stalk out, but Edward called her back. "Fanny, wait a moment. What if I told you there was a book about witches and monsters and daring sea voyages, and a handsome king who killed all the men who were pestering his wife."
"What does that have to do with Latin and Greek?"
"It was originally written in Greek, thousands of years ago, but of course it has been translated into English."
"Oh! Do we have it?"
"I am not sure; you can ask father. I know it is at the bookstore, though. You might ask Nicholas about it; he is interested in such things. It is called The Odyssey."
UI
Nicholas was the clerk at the Meryton bookstore. Tall, gangling, and earnest, Fanny had barely noticed him. That changed the next morning, when she dressed in a rather low-cut gown, put on her brightest bonnet, and undulated into the bookstore. She approached Nicholas and said with a stunning smile, "Good morning, Nicholas, how are you today?"
Nicholas, who had long admired Fanny from afar, would have looked behind him to see whom she was addressing if she had not called him by name. "M-Miss Frances, I am well, thank you."
"I can see that you are," she said, giving him a look that made his heart skip. She tried to find something about his appearance to compliment, and when she could not, she fell back to the old standby. "Your eyes seem so wise. I suppose it is because you read so much," she cooed.
"Well, I do like to read," said Nicholas, turning red as a beet. He had never had this kind of attention from any woman, let alone one so pretty as Fanny, and was quite at a loss.
"Oh, I love to read, too," said Fanny, lying through her teeth. "I am looking for a book that is exciting, with witches and monsters and daring sea voyages. Do you know of one?"
"Well, of course, there is the Odyssey."
"Tell me about it," Fanny purred, looking deeply into his eyes.
Balliol College, Oxford, May 26, 1788
"Happy Birthday, Bennet!"
Thomas Bennet looked up from his soup and smiled as his friend sat down across from him in the dining room. He was about to inform him that his 30th birthday had actually occurred two days earlier, but stopped himself. Haskell was his best friend at Oxford, and in some respects, his only friend. The other lecturers were more colleagues (or even acquaintances) than friends, and would not have been able to guess even the month of his birth, let alone the day. Bennet attributed this to jealousy, as he considered himself the most brilliant scholar among them. He was unaware that the true reason was his unpleasantly acerbic wit, of which a little went quite a long way.
"Thank you, Haskell, turning thirty is quite a milestone, though not necessarily a welcome one."
"Come, Bennet, you are far too young to think you have reached your apex."
"Indeed, I have nothing to repine, though I could wish for better students. Most of them fall into one of two categories: wealthy fops who spend far more time carousing than learning, or future clerics who dutifully grind away but learn only by rote. I despair of finding students who have both the intellect and the desire to truly understand the classics."
"Surely you are not reconsidering your career?"
"No, I am content. As the second son of a minor estate, I could be much worse off. I am not inclined toward the church or the military, and I have no desire to be anywhere near my brother's estate, for we have rubbed each other the wrong way since childhood." Bennet's thoughts momentarily turned bitter as he recalled his outgoing, boisterous older brother constantly disparaging Bennet's bookish ways. "I suppose I might make a decent barrister, but I would much rather study the classics than involve myself in some strangers' petty squabbles."
Haskell shared Bennet's enthusiasm for antiquities, and they easily fell into a discussion of recent excavations of Roman ruins around England. They were about to order dessert when a messenger entered with an express for Bennet. After paying the man, Bennet broke the seal and read the missive quickly, then reread it more slowly. "On my very birthday," he muttered to himself. "Who would have thought?" The bemused expression on his face made Haskell curious.
"I hope it is not bad news?" his friend asked.
"That would depend entirely upon your point of view. It is not bad news for me. It seems that my dear brother has given me a birthday gift after all."
"What sort of gift?"
Bennet smiled more broadly. "Nothing much. Only an estate, and a life of leisure. My brother broke his fool neck racing horses, and I have inherited Longbourn."
UI
Thomas Bennet used the excuse of having to finish the term at Oxford to avoid meeting with his brother's widow before she left for Canada. He had always shunned conflict, and he had no desire to pretend to share her grief when in fact he had no love whatever for his late brother. Had he known that she was glad to be free of his abusive brother, they might have become friends, but he did not know, and that was that.
He therefore did not arrive at Longbourn until nearly a month after receiving the news of his inheritance. During that interval, he had exchanged several letters with Mr. Gardiner regarding his assumption of Longbourn, and had come to appreciate his competence and efficiency. Mr. Gardiner had his own reasons to become friendly with the second-largest landowner in the area, and so it was not surprising that Mr. Bennet was invited to dine with the Gardiners shortly after his arrival.
"Mr. Bennet, welcome to my home," said Horace Gardiner as he met him in the parlor. "Please allow me to introduce my family."
Mrs. Gardiner and her daughters liked what they saw. As Mrs. Gardiner had observed, the Bennet men were handsome, and Thomas Bennet looked young for thirty, possibly because of his easy-going approach to life. He lived for the moment, and gave little thought for the morrow, avoiding strife, worry, and, if he were honest, responsibility. For his part, Bennet was extremely impressed with the assets of Fanny Gardiner, especially when she gave a low curtsy upon being introduced.
Bennet contrived reasons to visit Mr. Gardiner's office almost daily to ask after one legal detail or another. By an amazing coincidence, Mr. Gardiner's office was in the same building as his residence, so Bennet and Fanny happened upon one another frequently. It was not very many days before he found himself smitten. Fanny was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever spoken to, and it thrilled him that she gave every indication of regarding him favorably. It was not just her face and figure; she was genuinely interested in him, and asked reasonably intelligent questions about his field, particularly Homer. She enjoyed accompanying him to the bookstore, which he found surprisingly well-stocked for a small town even though the clerk seemed somewhat confused, and in listening to his ideas on almost every subject. In short, she was the first person he had known who appreciated his intellect as fully as it deserved. And as a delightful bonus, she showed in various ways that she was also physically attracted to him.
He was deliriously happy when she accepted his proposal only a month after meeting him, and his hand in marriage a month after that. But a month after that, Bennet realized his mistake. Suddenly, his wife was no longer interested in bookstores or history or, really, almost anything he was interested in. She was interested in having dinners and parties, and shopping for gowns and bonnets and lace, lots of lace. She seemed to assume that owning an estate meant that you could buy as much as you wanted of whatever you wanted, and had no thought of a budget.
Although her affection for her husband had been almost totally feigned, Fanny did not truly dislike him until November, when she discovered to her horror that she was with child, and that all of the new gowns she had bought no longer fit. For whatever reason, she considered it his fault that they no longer seemed to have any shared interests, even though he had made it very plain what his interests were when he was courting her. With possibly more justification, she considered it his fault that her gowns no longer fit, that her waist was no longer small, and as the weeks passed, that she was nauseous, that her ankles were swollen, and eventually that she had to waddle more than walk. Even her bosom, once her proudest asset, was now a hindrance as it grew uncomfortably large.
All was temporarily forgiven, however, when Fanny had an easy labor and delivered a beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed daughter. They named her Jane Margaret Bennet, after her grandmothers, and she was as sweet as she was beautiful. Although both parents had been hoping for a son, it was impossible to regret having such a lovely daughter.
The truce broke down when it became clear that Fanny was not going to get her pre-marriage figure back. She was still a handsome woman by any standard, but in a more matronly way than she liked. She had always pictured herself as remaining forever in the bloom of youth, so she resented Bennet for what she perceived as ruining her looks.
For his part, Bennet was not at all averse to her enlarged bosom and softer curves, so he maintained his enthusiasm for the physical act, although his resentment toward what he had come to realize was her deception while they were courting severely damaged the other aspects of their relationship. Fanny would have been content to never have relations again, but after several explanations by her father about the entail on Longbourn, she realized that she needed to bear a son before she could call a halt to Mr. Bennet bothering her. Consequently, Fanny became pregnant again less than two years after Jane was born.
This time, they both prayed for a son - Fanny so that he could be her last child, and Bennet so that there would be someone in the house who could provide intelligent conversation, his opinion of women seriously damaged by his experience with Fanny.
Fanny was therefore bitterly disappointed when Elizabeth Mary Susan Bennet was born. She was not blonde, she did not have blue eyes, and most of all, she was not male. Fanny never bonded with her.
Bennet was also initially disappointed, but something touched his heart when Elizabeth first opened her eyes and looked at him. Perhaps it was those big brown eyes, or perhaps it was his awareness that this daughter had been rejected by Fanny and so all the affection she was going to get had to come from him, but he felt a connection with Elizabeth even stronger than he had felt with Jane.
But he was wrong about being the sole source of affection for Elizabeth, for there was another in the house. When Jane first saw her baby sister Elizabeth, she immediately fell in love. She wanted to be nowhere but by her sister, and as soon as Lizzy was able to crawl, they became inseparable.
A/N:
Comments and criticism are welcomed. Unlike some of my favorite authors here, English is my first language, so feel free to be ruthless in pointing out even small errors in grammar, punctuation, or spelling, along with phrasing you find dull or repetitive, historical errors, out-of-character behavior, confusion about the sequence of events, etc. I promise to read and consider all reviews or PMs, though my real-life schedule may prevent me from answering. For the same reason, I am able to write only on weekends, so I don't expect to post nearly as often as some writers here. Thank you in advance for your patience.
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