Page 6 of When Elizabeth Said Yes

Dear Mrs Bennet,

We must convey our sincere condolences on the loss of Mr Bennet.

Your faithful servants,

The inhabitants of Netherfield Hall.

◆◆◆

Elizabeth was rather surprised to receive the note. Well, not surprised so much as she would have expected it to be from Bingley and not from the entire occupants of Netherfield. After all, Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley's sisters had not shown themselves particularly open to a connection with the Bennets.

Mama had left the note on the table, and Elizabeth read it and appreciated the sentiment, but wondered whether the fact that it was from all who resided there, rather than specifically from Mr Bingley to Jane, suggested a cooling of his feelings towards her.

Perhaps he had realised what was surely so apparent: that with their father gone, the girls' prospects, already meagre, had disappeared entirely. They had no chance of increasing their dowries, that was for sure, and that their situation in life was bound to change drastically very soon, and not for the better.

Perhaps Mr Bingley realised that, if he were to wed Jane, he would end up responsible for the whole Bennet clan – quite possibly with Mrs Bennet living with him.

She smiled a sad smile to herself.

That was something to make one shudder and reconsider, wasn't it?

Perhaps she was being harsh to her mother, but then her mother had been nothing but harsh towards her in these grim few days since their father had passed.

She wondered if her letter had yet reached Hunsford. Was Mr Collins celebrating in glee at his newfound position, come to him so much earlier than he had anticipated? Elizabeth was sure that Charlotte would not be so cold, although the truth was plain. Charlotte had come up in the world while Lizzy was dropping drastically.

Since she had refused Mr Collins, she had known that it would be thus, but she had not expected it to be so soon.

She returned, as she had done every night since his death, to her father's study, to sit in his chair, to look around at his books, to remember him.

Would Mr Collins arrive immediately, keen to turf out his cousins?

She did not think he was a cruel man, so perhaps he would give them some time.

Elizabeth was sure that her mother's brother, Mr Gardiner, would help them find a new home, although it would be much smaller, probably somewhere in London. Even her mother had to admit they could no longer afford to live the way they had done all these years.

Perhaps they had never really been able to afford to do so. For when Lizzy, as the only one with any head for numbers, sat down with the estate manager, she was rather shocked to find the financial situation was even worse than she had expected.

Of course, the house and the land went to the Collinses, but there was no money squirrelled away.

In fact, there were debts.

Debts that she had to hope her father's death would absolve, for they had no way to pay them.

Chapter Four

Three letters arrived the following week, piled up on the silver salver, waiting for someone to open them.

They were brought first to Mrs Bennet, who declared she could not face the post because of her nerves, and so instead the tray was brought to Lizzy, who took them with a word of thanks.

She rifled through them. The top one, she was sure, was from their Uncle Gardiner, and she was pleased, for they certainly needed to come up with a plan. The second was in a hand she did not recognise, and the third was addressed to Jane.

"This one is for you, sister," she said, handing it across.

Her younger sisters all looked up hopefully and then returned to their needlework, their faces dour, their skin pale against the black which they, of course, all wore.

Jane opened her letter, and Elizabeth turned to the two addressed to the family. She started with the one that she believed to be from her uncle and was pleased to find she was right – and that Jane had been right in assuming he would help.

"Our uncle means to find us a home," she said with a warm smile towards her mother. "He has looked at several properties and believes he has found something which we could afford, although I do rather suspect he intends to help with the rent, for the money we have between us is meagre indeed."