Page 4 of Miss Gardiner
Now, Uncle Edward drew out a second account sheet and handed it to his niece.
“My mother left almost seven thousand pounds as her legacy for her grandchildren. And I was made executor of the legacy in my mother and father’s wills but before I could invest the money, I had to have the approval of your father and your Uncle Phillips as the husbands of my sisters.”
“Seven thousand…” Lizzy said with interest as she traced the figures beginning with her first investments with her uncle.
“Who signed our contract on that Christmas Eve?” he asked.
“You, Papa, Uncle Phillips, and me,” Lizzy replied.
Her uncle nodded. “And with the contract to ‘invest Elizabeth’s money’, I have permission from your father and uncle to invest my mother’s legacy.”
“You lost a little money the first two years and then recovered… Uncle, this is almost twenty thousand now,” exclaimed Lizzy reading the balance sheet.
“Yes, and I want you to begin helping me keep the accounts for this money,” he said. “Each time we meet you, Aunt Maddie and I will go over the account and discuss investments.”
“Thank you, Uncle!”
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Elizabeth remained in London until October when Uncle Gardiner’s business interests grew sufficient to provide the funds to hire Nanny Spencer. The young woman was sad to leave her small cousins, her uncle and aunt, but glad to return to Jane, her parents and other sisters at Longbourn. With renewed interest, she turned her attention to her sewing and knitting. Three weeks before Christmas, Elizabeth was pleased with her efforts; she had knitted mittens for her sisters, mother and father as gifts. She had remade one of her mother’s old dresses to be her own gown for Christmas and MrsBennet praised her daughter’s needlework. And Elizabeth’s purse held almost three pounds to give Uncle Gardiner to invest in his business.
Working on a remade dress for Mrs Hill, Elizabeth focused on her sewing and only noticed how quiet the house was when she finished the waist of the gown. Mrs Hill and Mrs Bennet had similar body shapes though Mrs Hill was taller, and Lizzy would have to work some magic with her needles to drop the hem almost an inch.
“Hill, where are my sisters? Where is my mother?” the young woman asked when she walked into the kitchen.
Mrs Hill replied, “Mrs Bennet took your sisters into Meryton to the shops.”
“The shops?” Elizabeth asked. “But Mamma spent the last of her allowance last week.”
The housekeeper remained silent until Elizabeth asked, “Did Papa give Mamma more funds to buy gifts?”
Mrs Hill sighed and explained, “Miss Lydia brought your Mamma a purse filled with pence and shillings. Mrs Bennet declared she would buy fabric for gowns, ribbons and bonnets.”
“A purse?” Elizabeth asked before she turned and flew up the back stairs. When she reached the room she shared with Jane, she found it ransacked with clothes on the floor, books thrown about, and the box where she kept her purse open. She hid the box underneath their bed and never told anyone where it was. Taking the box in hand, Elizabeth went to her father’s library.
She knocked on the door, and when her father called ‘Enter’, she pushed the door open. With a few tears falling down her cheeks, she told Mr Bennet the story of her missing purse.
“Lizzy, why did you have three pounds?” Mr Bennet asked curiously. “How did you accumulate that much money this year?”
“It was my birthday money, and from my sewing for Mama and Mrs Hill, and you give me pennies when I complete the essays on the books I read,” Elizabeth explained.
“What were you going to do with that money?”
“It… I invest in the Morning Star with my Uncle Gardiner.”
Thomas Bennet smiled indulgently; his daughter’s investments must total almost thirty pounds now and he would not interfere; between her books and her sewing, Elizabeth was an obedient daughter who caused him few problems.
He asked, “And is that the money your mother took to Meryton?”
“Yes. Mrs Hill told me,” Elizabeth replied with tears on her face.
“She will spend every penny,” Mr Bennet replied with a finality in his tone.
“But Lydia ransacked my room and stole my purse!”
“I shall speak to your Mamma and to your sister when they return.”
“My money…”
