Prologue

Thomas and Jonathan Bennet were as different as brothers can be despite being raised together. As the eldest, Thomas knew from the youngest age that he would inherit their parents' estate, Longbourn in Hertfordshire. Knowing his path in life, Thomas enjoyed his childhood and years at school and university without the worries his younger brother, who would only inherit the twenty thousand pounds that had been their mother's dowry, had to deal with. When he was not even ten years old and his older brother had just started going to school, Jonathan decided to look at all the professions available for younger sons, and for the next three years, until he too went to school, he used his spare time talking to many gentlemen without estates as he could, as well as tradesmen and merchants, although he was more discreet for these discussions. The church was quickly discounted as a possible profession, as the family did not have any influence in it, and Jonathan did not feel any calling. The same came true a little later for the army and the navy, despite a close neighbour, a retired admiral who had purchased Netherfield Park, offering to sponsor the boy in the later profession. If he wanted to remain a gentleman, this only left the law as an option, so that would be his choice of studies. And as he had no prejudice against trade, Jonathan also planned to quietly start investing part of the generous allowance his father provided to both boys; over the years, more than half of his five hundred pounds per annum allowance would be invested with a Mr Cooper who owner warehouses in London and traded with most of Europe as well as India, and from time to time, even China. Mr Cooper was a friend of old Mr Lucas, the owner of Lucas Emporium in Meryton, having been at school together many years prior; Mr Bennet senior had approved his son's investment and signed the legal documents when the first fifty pounds were invested, shortly after Jonathan's eleventh birthday.

When Bennet senior passed away, only a year after his beloved wife, and Thomas became the master of Longbourn at the young age of six and twenty, he had developed a lackadaisical attitude and, never having been encouraged to work much, he spent as much time reading and enjoying his new place in the world as he spent working for his estate. Over time the income from the estate reduced from lack of care, and instead of the three thousand a year his father had earned, Thomas managed to get only a little over two thousand, despite having stopped his brother's allowance as soon as he took over the estate accounts; as his brother was working, Thomas felt he needed no more help from Longbourn.

Jonathan, at three and twenty, was the opposite of his brother and had worked hard at university and landed a very lucrative position working for one of the most renowned law firms in the City of London. His inheritance had been released at his mother's passing, and his own investments with Mr Cooper Junior, the son of his original partner who now owned the business, was performing better than he could have anticipated twelve years earlier, and between his contributions and the returns being closer to ten percent per annum, he already had over six and a half thousand pounds of his own, to add to the twenty thousand pounds invested in the four percent funds from his mother.

As his salary was sufficient to rent a small house close to his work and cover his day-to-day expenditure as well as invest nearly as much as he did before, he did not suffer from Thomas stopping his allowance and did not need to use any of the interest from his funds, allowing his fortune to continue increasing.

Two years later, Jonathan met Helen Jones, a cousin of the Coopers, at the theatre, and after a whirlwind courtship of less than three months, they married in London; Thomas declined the invitation as he did not enjoy London, and did not think a plain Miss Jones, with parents and indeed her whole family in trade, was worthy of a Mr Bennet of Longbourn, even with her generous fifteen thousand pounds dowry. Despite Thomas' disapproval, the young couple was very much in love and therefore extremely happy. They used a part of Jonathan's inheritance to buy a house in a nice part of town, finding a house in need of renovations in Audley Street for a very good price through some of their trade connections, and settled there in comfort, while continuing to save to buy a small estate for their family ten or fifteen years later. Helen's dowry would remain in the four percent with the interest reinvested to provide dowries for future daughters.

The couple retained cordial relations with Thomas, although they limited contacts to once a year when they would visit Longbourn for a week at Easter.

A year after his brother, Thomas wed Fanny Gardiner, the second daughter of Meryton's solicitor; his brother did not remind him of his comments about Helen as they were distracted by the arrival of their daughter Isabella, a month before Thomas' nuptials.

Fanny was a very pretty girl of seventeen, twelve years younger than her new husband, who had used all her charms to attract the most eligible bachelor in the neighbourhood. There were rumours of indiscretions surrounding the marriage, however as she was pretty and he was rich, the gossips could easily forgive the couple.

Sadly, Thomas discovered within six months of his marriage that his new wife, while lively and outwardly charming, was uneducated, silly, and had no notion of economy, always overspending her allowance and the household budget. His love for her did not last much more than a year and the birth of their first daughter, Jane.

Over the first eight year of the marriage, Longbourn saw the birth of five healthy girls, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Lydia. After the birth of Mary, despairing of having a son to inherit their entailed estate, Thomas gradually became more distant with his family, with only Jane, as the eldest, and Elizabeth, as the brightest, managing to retain his affection and attention.

Jonathan and Helen suffered several losses after Isabella and did not manage to increase their family; they adored their daughter and ensured she needed for nothing in life, showering her with their full attention as often as was possible, and providing care and education as she grew up. When Isabella was five years old, Jonathan became a junior partner at his law firm, and within five years, his savings had grown enough to buy an estate. Taking a whole month off work for the first time in his career, he took his family to tour the country and visit several estates that met his budget and needs. As soon as they saw the manor house, Helen fell in love with Adlington Hall in Cheshire and the purchase was quickly completed as the former owner had pressing debts to settle. Over the next couple of years, the family would spend half of the year in Cheshire, using several full-time couriers to allow Jonathan to continue his work, and the winters in London, in the newly renamed Adlington House, journeying back via Longbourn at Easter to spend time with Isabella's cousins.

Two years after their move to Cheshire, in September during harvest, Jonathan left with his steward, Mr Morton, to inspect progress on some of the fields on the northern edge of the estate. Helen and Mrs Turner, Isabella's governess, were attempting to teach the girl a particularly complicated embroidery stitch when the steward came rushing back ahead of a farm cart bringing Jonathan home, severely hurt; a farm horse had been spooked by, they believed, a passing fox and had bolted, knocking Jonathan and the farmer he was helping, injuring both. While the physical injuries, a broken arm and large cut to his forehead, would have healed well enough given time, a fever took hold within a day of the accident, and less than a week later, Jonathan Bennet passed away.

Helen was desperately distraught, and her brother Anthony, who worked for a carriage-maker in Scarborough, moved to Adlington to support his sister and niece for a few weeks. The Longbourn Bennets visited for the first time as well, but they did not stay long as the harvest was also in progress in Hertfordshire, and even a negligent estate owner needed to pay some attention to the process.

Over the following few months, Helen's health slowly declined, and fourteen months after her husband, she passed away quietly in her sleep.

Isabella was now an orphan, at thirteen, and was left to the guardianship of her mother's younger brother Anthony. Her estate, London home, Dowry and the investments she inherited from her father would be managed by her uncle, with help from the housekeepers, butlers and Mr Morton, but as a single gentleman of only four and twenty Mr Jones could not take his niece in his home, so a month after her mother's funeral Isabella and Mrs Turner left Cheshire to take residence at Longbourn.

The coach had just started the long journey, and Isabella was feeling melancholic. She knew she was to live with her younger cousins, and she did like her cousins, but she was missing her mother, her father still as well, and she would have preferred to stay home in Cheshire with Uncle Anthony; Hertfordshire was only a place she came to for one week of holidays, not home. She thought about her cousins.

Jane at twelve was sweet, calm and good company, however she was not well read and would not make a good debate partner, Elizabeth, or Lizzy as she called herself, was a ten years-old bundle of energy, a proper tomboy, but with a keen intellect and a passion for books that rivalled Isabella's. The three younger girls were still too young to provide suitable company, Mary being eight, Catherine, called Kitty by her family, was seven and Lydia only five years old; the last time Isabella had been to Longbourn, the three girls had still been in the nursery, so while she found them sweet and would enjoy a few games with them, she hardly knew them.

Fanny Bennet was unhappy; her husband's niece would arrive today, and she had been told that she would have no say in her education as her governess was also coming to live at Longbourn. Mrs Bennet had refused to employ a governess for her own daughters, and, when she was honest with herself, she was worried about having an educated gentlewoman living with them, and judging everything she did. Her only comfort was the news her husband gave her earlier that day: Isabella's estate would provide Fanny with four hundred pounds per annum to add to the household budget to pay for Isabella and the governess' board and lodging. She knew full well that was above what was needed, leaving her with more to spend on the house or on her beautiful daughters, Jane and Lydia.

In his library, which also served as his study, Thomas Bennet sighed. He was genuinely sad for his niece, but the letter from her uncle Jones had shamed him. Bennet's younger brother, without any of the advantages of the first-born son, was leaving his daughter with a fortune of just over thirty thousand pounds, as well as an estate bringing over four thousand a year, twice as much as Longbourn, and a town house in Mayfair.

Thomas had let the estate fall into partial disrepair, and he knew it was partly down to himself that he only managed to bring in a little over two thousand pounds per annum, and he had saved nothing for dowries for his five daughters. Longbourn was entailed to a male heir, and he had only daughters, and despite his pride when they were young men, he had not married as wisely as his brother, all his daughters could claim was a share of their mother's dowry; one thousand pound each upon the death of their mother was not an attractive enough sum for most gentlemen.

He decided that it would be better not to tell Fanny about Isabella's financial situation, only that they received enough for her care; he had already told her about the increased household budget, and the fact that Isabella's pin money and Mrs Turner's salary would also be paid by Jones, so that she would accept Isabella in her home. Fanny did not need to know that the amount Jones would send was in fact one thousand pounds per annum, so even with Isabella having two hundred pounds of it as pin money, Thomas could save the remaining four hundred pounds. He vowed to do better and perhaps he would even invest that money with Fanny's brother, Edward, who had warehouses in London and was already a very successful businessman. For a few months, he genuinely tried to become a better estate manager; his natural indolence limited his efforts, however and by the time Isabella came out of mourning, eleven months after coming to Longbourn, Thomas was back to his books and port, and the estate remained uncared for. By the time Jane reached her majority, his savings had not reached more than three thousand pounds, which, while helpful, was still far from sufficient for his girls.

Isabella settled in Longbourn well enough in the end and stayed with her Bennet uncle for five years; she never understood, nor was fully accepted by, her aunt Bennet, however the constant presence and attention from Mrs Turner gave her the maternal care she needed to remain content.

As the house was smaller than Adlington Hall, and as Mrs Bennet still resented having to provide a room for the governess, Isabella started sharing a room with Lizzy once the younger girls moved out of the nursery. Neither cousin minded that arrangement, despite the three years difference in their age, they had become close friends and near constant companion, thanks to Lizzy's keen mind and love of learning. Nearly as soon as her cousin had joined their household, Lizzy had asked if she could join with Mrs Turner's lessons, and being a fast learner, she had done extremely well at most of the skills that lady was able to teach her charges; Lizzy's drawing and painting would never amount to much, and while being able to learn enough, she disliked mathematics, but she played the piano and sang very well, spoke French and Italian fluently, could embroider better than any of her sisters, and had a good understanding of current affairs, history and geography. As both girls were enthusiastic readers, Mrs Turner was constantly getting books delivered from the library in Adlington House.

The governess' offer to also instruct the other girls was soundly rejected by Mrs Bennet, who had already tried to forbid Elizabeth's participation in the lessons but had been overruled by her husband, and in the end, only Mary joined, and even then, mostly for music and languages.

Being the widow of a gentleman, Mrs Turner was also able to instruct Isabella and Elizabeth on the duties of the mistress of an estate and house, and, as Mrs Bennet had never understood there were more duties than simply managing the household, Elizabeth had started visiting tenants and looking after the poor in the parish on behalf of the Bennet family, with Isabella's help and sometimes financial support.

Charlotte Lucas, the daughter of the recently knighted Sir William Lucas, and granddaughter of the shop owner who has helped Jonathan many years prior, joined in the lessons on managing a household and looking after tenants, and the three young ladies had become good friends despite Charlotte being four years older than Isabella.

Mrs Bennet, while powerless to intervene, was unhappy with the closeness between her least favourite daughter and her niece, whom she still saw as a burden. She had been unhappy when Elizabeth was born because she had wanted a son; her second daughter inherited her looks from the Bennet side of the family, as did Isabella and Mary, being shorter than Jane, Kitty or Lydia, with dark brown hair and dark eyes, which Fanny did not consider pretty at all; Elizabeth's intelligence and the lessons she was receiving made her a bluestocking like her cousin, in her mother's mind; the tenant visits and constant rambles and walks were unladylike and, she believed, meant both girls were nothing more than hoydens.

Mrs Bennet disliked both girls nearly equally and constantly berated them; not one day went by without criticism of their looks, their speech, their manners or their behaviour. Mrs Turner spent many hours reassuring the two young ladies that their behaviour was indeed appropriate and that their looks, while different from the Gardiner blond locks, tall slender figure and blue eyes, were equally beautiful. This was not quite enough however, and their self-esteem was impacted by the constant abuse coming from Mrs Bennet, as was Mary's, from her mother's neglect at first, then for the lady's contempt when she started to help Elizabeth with some charity endeavours.

Once a year, after harvest was done, Isabella would spend a month in Adlington Hall with her uncle Anthony, and sometimes with her cousin Elizabeth as well.

Jones would also visit Longbourn for Easter for two weeks. He was a faithful correspondent, ensuring Isabella was kept fully informed in all the happenings at her estate.

When Isabella turned eighteen, she asked her uncle Jones for permission to set up her own establishment in Adlington House in London with Mrs Turner as her companion.

Jones agreed, planned a schedule of work and visits he felt were appropriate for the young heiress, and a few months later, with several guards and a second companion in place, Isabella moved to Audley Street permanently. She asked her three eldest cousins to visit often in the first year; Mrs Bennet only allowed Lizzy to go as she did not want Jane to be under the influence of her detestable niece and her overbearing companions. In the end Isabella hosted Lizzy twice a year, while Jane would stay with the Gardiners in Gracechurch Street. Mary was only allowed two visits in all, and due to the Gardiner's expanding family, she never visited Gracechurch Street. Once Elizabeth turned seventeen, Mrs Bennet prohibited any further visit after her daughter came back with too many presents from her cousin.

After Isabella's departure, Elizabeth's relationship with her older sister Jane deepened, as did the relationship with Charlotte Lucas; she also became Mary's only protection against their mother and taught her many of the duties she had learned with Mrs Turner, without the rest of their family knowing; in time Mary fully took over the visits to poor parishioners with the blessing of the vicar, while Charlotte and Elizabeth carried on working with the tenants.

All the while, Elizabeth remained a faithful and frequent correspondent to Isabella and both cousins still held the other as the dearests of sisters in their hearts. When Mrs Bennet spitefully declared the household could not afford so many letters now that the extra funds provided for Isabella had ceased coming, Charlotte Lucas and her father acted as an intermediary, so that Elizabeth could continue receiving not only her precious letters, but also some regular funds for her and Mary to use as needed in and around Longbourn and Lucas lodge. The Bennet parents never discovered any of this, and the local community, including Lady Lucas and her other children, simply believed Sir William had taken charge of the endeavours of his daughter and her friends and covered the expenses. Despite being quite a gossip himself, although he would claim his skills were nothing to his wife's, the former shopkeeper and mayor of Meryton, now a landed knight and the local magistrate, never let anyone suspect his support of the girls and their work; he knew the importance and value of that work for the whole neighbourhood and had no wish to jeopardise it in a few careless words.