Regular post amused Mr. Bennet of Hertfordshire. Since losing his favorite daughter to her stubborn will, the letters from his brother-in-law Gardiner rarely interested him beyond a glance. The latest letter, though, appeared to have significant heft to it as it sat, carefully folded upon his desk.
"Mr. Bennet! Mr. Bennet! Come quickly, a carriage has been spotted!"
Robert Bennet cast his eyes to his easily excitable wife standing in the doorway to his study. Francine Bennet had not ceased to speak about the impending arrival of their eldest daughter, now fashioned as Mrs. Charles Bingley, since breakfast. She now stood waving her familiar object of comfort, a lace handkerchief, beckoning her husband to leave his den of refuge.
"Mrs. Bennet, until the carriage has arrived and Mr. and Mrs. Bingley have been welcomed into our home, kindly allow me some peace."
"You have no compassion, sir 'tis a momentous day for any mother to welcome home a married daughter. A momentous day indeed!"
Despite her chastisement, Mrs. Bennet did manage to leave her husband alone to await the carriages arrival. Mr. Bennet poured himself a drink and considered the unopened letter from London. If the letter should prove upsetting, the visit of his most obedient and serene daughter, Jane, may alleviate any ill effects. Should the letter not prove upsetting, well, that was an unlikelihood Robert would not deign to expect.
Slicing the seal of the letter, a number of papers were folded with only the top letter in his brother's hand.
Brother Bennet,
Although your continued silence from the numerous updates I have sent regarding your daughter Elizabeth leads me to believe you are uninterested in her future, the father in me refuses to give up the hope that a reconciliation might still come to pass. My last letter explained my reservations concerning a suitor for Elizabeth’s hand, a Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Derbyshire.
I've had it confirmed through my sister Phillips that the man is indeed the same who nearly killed my niece with his reckless horseback riding. As the injuries to Elizabeth are not lasting, and she appears in fine health, I'm confident the accident has forged a rather strong bond between the two young people.
Mr. Darcy began to call on my family a number of times each week, by direct result, I am told, of Elizabeth visiting his town home without invitation to return a book lent to her during her lengthy recuperation at Netherfield Park. I did my best to dissuade the man from his interests in Elizabeth because I feared with such wealth, a man was unlikely to be honorable with his intentions.
While I cannot in clear conscience say I was incorrect, as Mr. Darcy's family has intervened to make him marry his sickly cousin in Kent, your daughter considers herself engaged to the man. And despite his difficulties in managing his family's expectations, Mr. Darcy has settled an extensive trust upon your unmarried daughter with his cousin and myself as trustees.
Robert Bennet’s heart clenched in his chest. How could his brother Gardiner be such an imbecile to not recognize a rich man providing for his mistress? If Mr. Darcy had such designs of marriage towards his Lizzie, there had been ample time for the man to come honorably to Longbourn and discuss such matters with her father. The very fact that this rich man had waited until his daughter was unprotected, in London, proved to Mr. Bennet no such wedding should ever occur between his favorite daughter and Mr. Bingley’s closest friend.
Lizzie has accepted the invitation of her friend, Mrs. Charlotte Collins, and recently left our home to go to Kent. I am apprehensive about her reception to the very estate where Mr. Darcy is expected to wed his cousin, but both my wife and niece dismissed my concerns. We both know Lizzie's will is ironclad where her heart is concerned, and I felt I had no choice but to assist her in her aims.
I pray these young people, including Mr. Darcy's cousin, know their business as their intentions are to switch Mr. Darcy as groom to their cousin, a Miss Anne de Bourgh, with the man traveling to Kent with Elizabeth, a Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam. I admire their pluck for the Colonel's parents, the Earl and Countess of Matlock, and Miss de Bourgh’s mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, are opposed.
Raised voices outside of his study alerted Mr. Bennet that it was likely the Bingleys had arrived. He frowned as he remembered the meddling nature of the woman when described by his buffoon of a cousin, William Collins, as his esteemed patroness. Even if such a scheme were truly intended by these rich men with Elizabeth in their clutches, there was no chance such a woman would allow her daughter to marry a Colonel instead of one of the wealthiest landowners in all of England. When had his bright and charming daughter become such an idiot to not see these men wished to play her false?
Should Lizzie triumph; our families shall see ourselves aligned with no less than an Earl and his family, a development I believe my sister would most relish. This is why I beg of you to consider reconciliation with your daughter in the interest of family harmony. And should Lizzie fail, the consequences of such an effort will ruin her place in society and she shall need the love and support of her relatives to survive. She will have plenty of resources should she lose her Mr. Darcy, the gentleman did mitigate that risk, but you and I both know Elizabeth Bennet could never live the life of an outcast.
Your servant,
Edward Gardiner
Inhaling sharply through his nose, Robert Bennet did not even look at the enclosed papers detailing a whore’s settlement upon his daughter. He crumpled every shred of parchment from London and stood up from his desk to toss the offending missive into the flames. In the back of his mind, he had considered inviting Lizzie home once the Bingleys were settled back into the neighborhood and his wife's anger dissipated. His own anger over her disobedience when he had wished nothing more than to never lose her as he nearly had when Mr. Darcy ran her over with that piece to his left his heart less than a month after she ran the London.
Tears welled in the eyes of the sixth heir of the Longbourn estate as he leaned against the mantle and observed the flames devouring the papers. With the futures of three more daughters to secure because of the blasted entail, his Lizzie's folly was too much. He used the poker to adjust the embers of the letter so that no scrap remained unburned. As his brother-in-law's request reduced to ashes, one truth remained. Elizabeth Bennet was little better than dead to her family.