Chapter 20

A s he could not even guess what James would write, it being a miracle in and of itself that he had written at all, Bennet knew what he needed to do. However before he broke the seal, he wanted the love of his life, his Fanny, with him. Bennet would have gone himself to request she join him, but he was not sure his legs would support him at that moment. Rather than chancing his legs giving way under him, Bennet rang for Hill.

Hill, who was normally stoic, was shocked to see the master looking pallid, and he felt his eyebrows shoot up. “Master, should I summon Mr Jones?” Hill enquired concernedly.

“Do I look that good?” Bennet quipped. “I am well, Hill; I received a letter I never expected to receive and was caught unawares. That is all which ails me. Please request my wife join me, and Hill, say nothing which will panic Mrs Bennet.” He did not miss the butler’s sceptical look. “I am not ill. Please have your wife send in a tea tray.”

Feeling somewhat assured, Hill bowed and left the study to execute his master’s requests.

It was not many moments before Fanny entered the study. “My goodness, Thomas, what ails you? I will send for Mr Jones…” Fanny stopped when she saw her husband raise his hand.

“This is déjà vu for me. Hill had the same reaction. I am well, Fanny. I was greatly surprised because we received a letter from James. After so many years, I was not sure he would respond to my appeal. He did not write when our parents were taken, so I did not expect him to do so now.” Bennet paused. “I hope he explains why, as I still feel some resentment for that non-response.”

“Well, my dearest Thomas, you know there is but one way to see what he wrote, do you not?” Fanny teased.

“Teasing woman. I know that, but I wanted you with me when I read it. Shall we move to the settee?”

While they still sat at the desk, Mrs Hill bustled in with a tea tray. Fanny poured a cup for her husband, and herself. They drank their tea with the letter sitting on the desktop between them. She felt greatly reassured when she noted how the colour in her husband’s face returned to normal. As soon as they had both had their tea, Fanny nodded.

With the letter in hand, Bennet walked to the front of his desk, then took his wife’s hand and led her to the settee. They sat, he took a deep breath and broke the faded seal. Each one held onto one side of the letter.

8 October 1811

Thomas,

I write no direction due to the fact my children and I should not be more than a month or two behind this letter. I mention that length of time as we will travel from my home to Montreal in the Canadas. With the increased tensions between the land of my birth and the one I have lived in for 25 years, fewer and fewer ships are sailing between the two nations.

“Thomas, James is coming home. I am sure he will assist you in breaking the entail. If not, at worst, one of his sons will be the master here, keeping a Bennet at Longbourn and not that buffoon Mr Collins,” Fanny stated excitedly.

Bennet, still not able to speak, nodded and they returned to the letter.

Brother, I need to apologise to you and Fanny most profusely. I was very wrong about everything. Fanny, I address this to you as I am sure you are sitting and reading this letter with Thomas. My accusing you of being mercenary and marrying Thomas for the wrong reasons was wrong in so many ways.

The truth I refused to admit to myself with my damaged pride was that from the very beginning you loved Thomas and never gave me any serious attention. I also know I did not love you. Yes, I was infatuated with the most beautiful lady in the area, but more than that, I felt jealous of Thomas and wanted what he had. It was not until I met my darling late Mattie that I could see the difference between love and infatuation.

Thomas, I beg your forgiveness for the childlike and hurtful letter I left with Hill to hand to you while I stole away like a thief in the night. It was aimed to cause you the maximum pain, and at the time my hope was I would cause you to withdraw and not marry Fanny. It was not only selfish but vindictive as well.

My stubborn nature would not allow me to admit this to myself or any other. When Father’s letter arrived, it had taken almost two years to find me. It was a miracle it did reach me as I had already met Matilda van Buren whose father owned a rather large farm in Duchess County near the town of Rhinebeck. (You know where I was thanks to Gardiner’s man.) Mattie called me a fool and told me to read the letter. Stubborn simpleton that I was, I did not follow my then fiancée’s advice. Had I, I would have returned to England many years ago. What a dunderhead I was, I had no idea Grandfather James and Mother left Netherfield Park to me.

Not long after we married, your first letter arrived, the one I now know informed me of the loss of our parents. Like I had with the first one, I told Mattie to destroy it. Like she had with the first missive, she did not listen to me, and kept them safe knowing that I would regret my decision one day.

Brother, there is nothing you can say that I have not said to myself about ignoring your letter and not discovering the knowledge of our parents’ death until shortly before writing this missive. Whether you will forgive me or not is up to you, but I am not sure I will be able to forgive myself.

“Of course I will forgive that stubborn donkey,” Bennet said as tears he was not aware of were falling.

Fanny leaned over and wiped her husband’s tears away.

Bennet kissed his wife’s cheek, and they both returned their eyes to the letter, this time fingers of the hands not holding the missive intertwined.

Before I go on, let me tell you about your nephews and niece. Henry James, named for Father and Grandfather, will be 21 in April of 1812, and he and I will be more than happy to put an end to the entail and save Longbourn from the buffoon you described in your letter. Next is Maria Beth, named for her maternal and paternal grandmothers. She will be 19 in December of this year, on the 3rd of the month. Lastly Abraham Thomas, named for his paternal grandfather and one you know well, is 16, and will be seventeen in February of 1812.

“My goodness, Thomas. Look how close in age Henry, Maria, and Abraham are to Lizzy, Mary, and Kitty, or I suppose we must call her Catherine now as Mrs Doubtfire suggested. Even though he was estranged, James and his late wife named their children for many in the family he had supposedly rejected.”

“I did see that, but, Fanny, did you see James and his son will help me break the entail?”

Fanny nodded vigorously.

“I will write nothing to Collins until my brother is home.” The two returned their eyes to the letter.

My Mattie was taken in childbirth. We lost both her and our second daughter on that terrible day in December 1796. For some time I told myself it was His punishment for the way I acted when I ran away like a coward. My pastor reminded me that the Father is not a vengeful God, which is why he sent his only Son to save us, so at least I owned it was not a punishment from Him.

I am not sure if you know this, but Duchess County has a large population of people who used to live in the Kingdom of Holland. It is why you will hear my children call me ‘Pa’ and refer to Mattie as ‘Ma.’ Also, I am sure Maria and Abe will still call Henry ‘Henk’ which in case you are not aware, is a Dutch version of my eldest son’s name. Back to what led me to write to you.

What I did not know was in her wisdom Mattie kept the letters I had refused to read, and on her deathbed, she made Henry promise he would show them to me when the time was right. When your most recent letter was received, he and my other two children took it as a sign that the time was now. They added your newest letter to the other two and confronted me with them.

Starting with the letter from Father, I read all three. I had already realised I was a blockhead, but after reading your first letter I felt like horse excrement, many times over. Then I read the new missive. There was no question in my mind that I needed to return and attempt to make things right, but I refused to make that decision without input from my children.

All three agreed we needed to travel to England. One of them (Maria) even asked if we were related to royalty! It was not a hard decision to leave because the farm I have been working since my father-in-law went to his eternal reward belongs to my brother-in-law who cares not a whit about farming. He will sell it, and did not need us to dally. Hence we will be off soon.

I am bringing a family of freed African slaves with me—the Freemans. I only mention this so you will not be surprised when we arrive with more than four in my party.

Not to boast, but even without Netherfield Park, I am reasonably wealthy. I invested most of my legacy when I arrived here and have never used any of it, but only added to it over the years. I mention this so you know that if you need money to improve Longbourn, it would be my honour and pleasure to assist you.

While we travel east, I will pray for your forgiveness, both yours and Fanny’s.

With brotherly affection, your stubborn horse’s arse of a brother,

James

Fanny and Bennet looked at one another for some moments before either of them spoke. Fanny managed first. “We must tell the girls, including Lydia. I am not sure you have seen it, but I have seen a marked difference in Lydia since Mrs Doubtfire began to work with her. It is not as marked a difference as in Kitty, I mean Catherine, as she had begun to amend her character before that wonderful woman was employed by us. Since Lydia started to join us for a short time in the drawing room and some of the meals, all it takes is one look from Mrs Doubtfire to rein her in if she begins to be too exuberant.”

“I agree, Fanny. I too have noticed an improvement in our youngest. Would you please share the news with our daughters? If Bingley and Fitzwilliam are present, they may know too. I must away to see Phillips.”

“Now I understand why Mary and Richard were speaking in hushed tones before Hill asked me to join you. I did notice a few uncharacteristic blushes from our middle daughter. What did he say to you?”

Bennet gave his wife a short synopsis of the conversation. Rather than exclaiming about her daughter being a future countess, all Fanny cared about was Mary’s felicity. Bennet leaned over and kissed his wife soundly, which did not stop at one. After putting themselves to rights, he made for the stables to have his gelding saddled and she for the drawing room.

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

Phillips could not understand why his brother-in-law was wearing a face-splitting grin when he sauntered into his office. As soon as he read the letter Bennet handed him, Phillips knew exactly why Bennet was as pleased as could be.

“Collins will not be happy, especially as he walks about spouting nonsense about his birthright ,” Phillips declared. “It is obvious the man does not know the meaning of the term heir presumptive . How is it that the Collinses know nothing of your brother’s existence?”

“I believe once they became aware James had left England, they assumed he was no longer alive, and hence not a threat to them inheriting Longbourn,” Bennet opined. “What do we need to do to remove the damned entail?”

“As it ends with your nephew’s generation, once he is here, and on the day he reaches his majority, it is as simple as signatures on some documents,” Phillips replied. “I will make sure my clerk begins to work on them now. As I have all of the names and dates of birth, we have all we need to draw up the papers. Once they are signed and witnessed, then I will employ a barrister to present them to the Court of Chancery. Within a sennight they will issue a new deed naming you as the owner and not a lifetime tenant.”

“Let us pray my brother and his family survive the crossing. I say that not because I want the entail broken. Rather, it is because to have my brother back in the arms of our family after all these years will be stupendous. Added to that, I am gaining two nephews and a niece as well,” Bennet enthused.

“After the way he maligned her all because of irrational jealousy, it is good that he apologised to you, and especially to Fanny,” Phillips noted.

“There will be no recriminations, all of that is in the past, and there it will remain,” Bennet insisted firmly. He understood Phillips’s point of view. Fanny had been deeply wounded and along with her, Hattie, her late sister and Phillips’s late wife, had been just as hurt on behalf of her younger sister. “There is nothing to be gained by looking to the past, we will move forward, as a reunited family.”

Phillips said nothing more. He had said what he wanted to say on behalf of his long dead wife. Now he would make sure the entail would be set aside without any interference from anyone.

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

The Bennet sisters were all very excited at the prospect of meeting Uncle James and their cousins.

Lydia had been quiet throughout the whole of the revelation, and she had not missed the warning look from her companion to stop any possible jealous utterances before they were made. “Is it not strange how our late aunt birthed her children so close to each of us, except for Jane? Even the babe who died along with her was close to the date of my birth,” Lydia observed.

Mrs Doubtfire was happy her youngest charge had said nothing about her fifteenth birthday which was less than a sennight away and nary a hint about a party for her crossed Miss Lydia’s lips. It was just as she had thought. The older girls would see that since Lydia’s outward veneer had been pierced that she was doing very well.

“Lyddie has the right of it,” Catherine agreed. It had not taken her long to get used to being called by her name and not her nickname of Kitty.

“We do not know when Uncle James, his sons and daughter will arrive, do we?” Elizabeth asked as the door opened, Standing in the doorway was a shocked Charlotte Lucas.

“That is why you said that Mr Collins was fourth in line,” Charlotte gasped. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Your father owns Netherfield Park. Why can you not allow my fiancé to have Longbourn?”

“Charlotte, please come in and sit,” Fanny invited. “My husband is not the owner of Netherfield Park, whoever told you that was in error. As it will be public knowledge soon enough, my brother-in-law James Bennet is the master of that estate. He is also the heir presumptive of this estate, as are his sons after him. With three Bennets ahead of him, Mr Collins is not in the line of succession and never will be.”

“Unless something happens to Mr James Bennet and his sons,” Charlotte mused aloud. “Please pardon me, of course I wish them no ill.”

“None of us thought you did,” Jane assured their friend.

“What Mama means is my oldest cousin, Henry, will reach his majority in April of next year, and then he, his father, and ours will break the entail,” Elizabeth explained. “As we know not His plan, until that day, we will say nothing to Mr Collins. There is no reason to discompose him about something which may never occur.”

It was easy to see the logic in what Eliza said, and Charlotte knew the Bennets were being far more charitable to her fiancé than he had been, or intended to be, to them. “I will not mention this to another until the news becomes official,” Charlotte promised. “May I speak to Jane and Eliza?” she requested.

The three crossed the hall to the parlour where Charlotte issued a sincere apology for the way she had acted, and her mean spirited intent the day she had announced her betrothal. Her friends forgave her and Elizabeth asked Charlotte’s pardon for her initial reaction to the news. She also made further apologies for the way she would think herself in the right, when she clearly was not, and ignore the opinions of others.

The three felt their friendship had been repaired.

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

That evening after dinner and before he took his leave, Fitzwilliam requested to see Bennet in his study. “Thank you for recommending I speak to Miss Mary. She has agreed to an official courtship and owned to harbouring tender feelings for me. I suggested an unofficial one, but she was more than willing to enter a formal courtship. I did not overwhelm her and tell her the depth of my own feelings,” Fitzwilliam reported. “So that you are not caught unawares, I will bow to my parents’ wisdom and resign from the army and sell out while I am in London. Also, there is one member of my family about whom I must tell you—one who will object as she claims the distinction of rank must be maintained at all times.”

“You must be speaking of the inimitable Lady Catherine de Bourgh,” Bennet grinned. “Having heard your cousin speak about her briefly, I would guess the only power she has over your family is in her head.”

“It seems you have taken the old dragon’s measure without ever meeting her,” Fitzwilliam shook his head. “Each of us has at least one family member who embarrasses us.”

“If you do not hold William Collins against us, we will not make you accountable for Lady Catherine,” Bennet granted.

The men shook on their agreement. Bennet accompanied Fitzwilliam back to the drawing room where after Bennet announced the courtship to much approval, once he had explained why he may be away for a few days longer than planned, Fitzwilliam took his leave. Of course, most of his time was spent farewelling Mary Bennet.