Chapter Two: A Different Longbourn

Mr. Bennet sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Life at Longbourn had settled into a comforting routine. Thomas always broke his fast, as he read the morning paper. Then he would take a brief ride to the fields if the weather allowed. By the time his daughters had woken and began their lessons for the day, he would be settled in his book room where he would be for the rest of the morning. He would bury himself in checking the account books and responding to business correspondence. As the afternoon hours approached, Mrs. Hill, the place’s elderly housekeeper, would quietly knock and discuss needed purchases for the day. She would show him her receipt book, which he would insist was unnecessary, and she would smile and shake her head. Then before she left she would ask if he would be joining the girls for tea. He always affirmed that he would. Thomas would then make a quick trip to the stables and check on a few things before he would head to the garden where his angels were waiting. Yes, a comforting routine indeed, and it had been just so for the last six years.

It hadn’t always been so, in fact it was more trying than he anticipated after Fannie’s passing. The girls were still full young, and he nor his staff were equipped to care for both a toddler and a baby. He had written to the only person that could have helped and she arrived just a short two weeks later. He never thought he would be so relieved to see her carriage again. She swept into the house as elegantly as a woman of her age could and demanded to see the children at once. When she was shown to the room where the whole of the family was awaiting her, she simply nodded with a smile and said, “Do not fear my dears, for your grandmother is here.” Yes Thomas was never so pleased to see his mother in all his life.

It was an adjustment having her back at the house with him, having just recently convinced her to move to London to be nearer her friends and his newly married sister. However, Thomas and the staff were relieved to have her. She saw to the hiring of an additional nanny and a new wet nurse for Elizabeth as her last one was no longer in the condition to work, and also took up the duties of the mistress of the home. With the children under the watchful eye of their grandmother Thomas was able to turn his attention to other matters. He focused solely on improving his estate, his wealth, and his standing within the local society. It certainly hadn’t been an easy task.

While Thomas hated to think ill of his late father in any way, it was clear that he had done very little for the estate itself in his last years of life. It appeared that a good deal had to be done and Thomas set to rectifying things immediately. He needed to see that his children never had to bear the brunt of his ill preparedness. At the behest of his mother he made immediate improvements to the manor house, starting with simple maintenance and repairs, but soon the money ran thin. Though a practice typically frowned upon by those of the upper circle, Thomas took part of his remaining savings and invested in several local businesses, and soon he began to collect from their profits. Thomas then focused on taking on more tenants, he made sure that their residences and fields were well maintained. Taking weekly trips to the homes of his farmers became a part of life.

However, a thought that was never far from his mind was the entail on the property. Until it was resolved there would be no assurance of his daughter's security at Longbourn. The entail itself enacted by a relative long dead, who for a reason, unknown to any living Bennet, had wanted to prevent the property from descending in the female line. Never before had this been a problem. Until now there had always been a direct male heir. The Bennet’s had always been quite prompt in producing the needed male child. Though it was always possible that the heir would be produced at a later date, this was not enough of an assurance for Mr. Bennet. His sister could give birth to a son who would inherit, but that would still leave his children reliant on the good graces of a relative yet unknown and that did not sit well with him.* He needed to seek out his Uncle, whose son was two or three years Jane's senior and would be set to inherit. Thomas did not hold out much hope for the visit though, Up until his death his father had quarled terribly with his brother, and for the last years of his life the two did not even speak. 

His trip was more successful than he hoped. Though an end to the entail was not possible until or if Thomas ever had a natural born male child, the sour relationship between he and his brother had been weighing heavily on the elder Mr. Collin's mind since the death of the eldest Bennet. Though devout study of the good book, he had realized that his anger at his brother had steamed from jealousy. They had not parted on the best of terms and he wanted to make amends to the son. So they drew up a contract, one that would ensure that if or when Thomas did produce the needed male child that either Mr. Collins or his sons would go through the needed steps to end the entail on the Bennett property, and should Thomas' death come to pass before he produces a male heir then Collins would be honor bound to shelter and care for any dependents that Thomas left behind. It was more generous than Thomas had even hoped for. Though not an end to the entail at least assurance that his little girls would be cared for was enough, for now. 

Thomas soon began the more extensive improvements to the manor itself. More than half a dozen rooms had been added in the past four years, an entire new wing now housed the family rooms and the first floor now included a large well stocked library, a music room in which his daughters would receive lessons by the best masters, and several very well situated sitting rooms. Yes indeed, he was proud to say that it was now quite a handsome home. However, Thomas still loved the out of doors. So the house itself was surrounded by a well maintained park and beautifully blooming gardens in which his little girls now play.

He could not help but smile as he saw them. His two daughters were very much a study of contrasts. Jane, his eldest, looked very much like her mother. She was tall for her tender year of seven and very thin. Her blonde hair was straight and hung to the middle of her back and her bright blue eyes were very striking in her pale face. Elizabeth on the other hand was far shorter than her elder sister, though only one year separated them in age. She was very much her sisters opposite in coloring and personality. Elizabeth had inherited her father’s dark curly hair and the stormy gray eyes from her maternal grandmother. Thomas’ mother always said that watching Elizabeth was like watching her daughter once again. Where Jane was quiet and reserved often to a worrisome degree, Elizabeth was precocious and never shied away from giving her opinion on whatever subject was being discussed. Both his girls were attended to by both a nanny and a governess, though the latter was just a recent addition to the staff. Mrs. Bennet had decided it was high time for the girls to be under stricter supervision and instruction than Mrs. Hill or Nanny Emily could provide. So, Miss Hamilton came to stay with the Bennets.

She was a nice enough woman, Thomas supposed, if not a little bit snobbish at times. She was obviously very well brought up and came with excellent references, so Thomas had no reason not to take the woman on. She was here only on trial, but if the girls responded well enough Thomas supposed she would stay for the duration of Jane and Lizzy’s education.

“Papa!” Elizabeth called out, having finally seen him approaching. She immediately broke from her nanny’s grasp and ran toward him.

Thomas scooped her up with a large smile, “There’s my Lizzy-bear.” He started to tickle her little tummy. Jane gently pulled on his pant leg and smiled up at him. “And there’s my little angel,” he said bending and kissing her cheek. Jane blushed and took his hand and they walked to the tea table. “Mother,” he stated in greeting as he leaned down to kiss her upturned cheek. Mrs. Bennet would then pour for them and the girls spent time with their beloved papa.

His relationship with his daughters wasn’t typical, to be sure. In fact many would frown and whisper about how they behaved below their station, but Thomas could not find it in him to care. He loved his daughters and wanted them to never doubt it. Though he tried to insure that his girls never wanted for anything, Thomas knew that something was missing from their lives. Though having their grandmother was a blessing. He also knew that his mother missed the company that town provided. Though they were not exactly isolated they very rarely left their home, even in Hertfordshire.

Though they had received invitations to attend functions after that first year, he had never been able to bring himself to attend many, and his mother had acquiesced to his wishes. Social gatherings always seemed more a trial, than an enjoyable experience to Thomas. Whether this was because of how his last experience on the marriage market had ended or because he simply didn’t trust his own judgment when it came to women, Thomas couldn’t know. Looking now at his little girls he knew that he had to do this, not for himself, but for them. Reluctantly he excused himself from table as their tea time was ending, and went to write his brother a letter. It seemed a trip to town was in order.

Though I don’t think I will be writing a great many of these foot notes I felt like this one was unavoidable. *the entail was something that I really didn’t understand when I read the book, so I have done my own research. The process dates back to the feudal times in England however in the Regency and Georgian periods it was mainly used to ensure that the estate wasn’t broken up into pieces by any one person therefore ensuring the estates longevity, and ranking. This meant that it limited the inheritance of the estate generally to the eldest male heir. If no heir was present then the estate was broken up and divided among the female descendants of the line in equal parts. In Pride and Prejudice, though no heir is in the immediate Bennet family, their cousin Collins was close enough to qualify for the entail as stated by the law. Although all he had to do to break the entail was state that he didn’t want it (and since he was a clergyman and already had his own living with the Great Lady Catherine I really think it was bloody greedy not to renounce). If no other male heirs were present then the entail would be broken and Mr. Bennet would be able to do with Lonbourne as he saw fit. It was a common practice to entice the rightful heirs into renouncing the entail via any means necessary, often this was monetary. While I have been since informed that this may or may not really be true...I've already decided that this is what I'm going to be sticking with at least for this stories purposes.