AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The Brothers Bennet
One
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an alpha male in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of his omega mate.
Whether the alpha in question agreed with that sentiment was not something that would have occurred to Mrs. Bennet, and even if it had, it wouldn’t have stopped the plans, some might call them schemes, that began to blossom the moment she heard the news about the newest inhabitant of their village.
Elliot became aware of those plans when he opened the door to the drawing room and heard the tail end of Mrs. Bennet’s demand of her long-suffering husband. If he’d had but a moment’s warning, Elliot would have closed the door just as quickly and headed straight back outside, but his mother spotted him and turned in a rush to say, “Have you heard that Netherfield Park has been let at last?”
Elliot had not, but quickly gathered from their expressions that everyone else in the room had.
“I was just telling your papa and brothers,” Mrs. Bennet continued. “Mrs. Long was there, and she told me all about it. You know how she likes to talk and likes it even better when she can share news that I am ignorant of! It has been taken by an alpha of large fortune from the north.” Mrs. Bennet shook her head. “Don’t ask me where, for even Mrs. Long did not know, and even if she did it would mean little to me. You all know geography is not my strong point. He came down on Monday to see the place and was so delighted with it that he took it immediately. He intends to be settled in before the end of the month!”
Elliot looked around the room, curious to see what his family thought of Mrs. Bennet’s news. Stood by one of the two windows that dominated the far side of the room was Mr. Bennet. Even held at an angle with most of his back to the assembled company, Elliot could tell that his father would rather be anywhere than in this room, listening to Mrs. Bennet’s plans for the unsuspecting alpha. Sat on the various chairs and loungers were Elliot’s brothers, all four of them, ranging in age from just eighteen through to twenty-five. The younger three looked either excited or impatient but Jack, older than Elliot by a year, simply looked uncomfortable. Elliot was hardly surprised. If there was a new alpha in the area, Jack should be uncomfortable. If Mrs. Bennet had her way her older son would be mated and married to him before the year was through!
“What is his name?” Elliot asked because it was too late now to try to extricate himself from the situation.
Mr. Bennet turned slightly at his favourite son’s words, eyebrow raised, a slightly sardonic smile on his lined face.
“Mr. Bingley.”
“And is he mated or single?” Elliot continued.
“Oh! Single, my dear,” Mrs. Bennet said as if that should be obvious. “Single, of course. And as I was just saying to your papa, a single alpha of large fortune, four or five thousand a year they say, isn’t this just a fine thing for you all!”
“For us?” Elliot asked.
Mrs. Bennet sighed and picked up where she had clearly left off when Elliot had entered the room. “Yes, Elliot, do not be so tiresome. You must know that I am thinking of him mating one of you.”
“I did ask if that was his design in settling here,” Mr. Bennet said.
“Design!” Mrs. Bennet shook her head again before making her way across the room to sit next to Jack. She took the hand of the eldest of the Bennet children and smiled in what she clearly thought was an encouraging manner. “It is very likely he may find his chosen mate here from one of you.”
Elliot stifled a grin, and across the room he could see his father do the same. There was no question in Mrs. Bennet’s mind that if a rich alpha were to fall for one of her children it would be Jack. And not just because he was the eldest and now of mating age, but because—put simply—he was ridiculously handsome, and to Mrs. Bennet’s mind there must be a reason for that. From there it wasn’t a stretch to decide that reason must be that Jack would marry and mate an alpha, therefore elevating himself and the whole family.
“How do you know Mr. Bingley would prefer Jack?” Louis asked after a moment. At eighteen, and the youngest of them all, Louis was nowhere close to an age or a position to be mated, not that such things as years or conventions would stop him from going after what he wanted. Elliot had extricated his brother from enough scrapes to be aware of that. “For all you know he would prefer someone with a bit more…”
“A bit more what?” Elliot asked, giving his younger brother a look that he had perfected over the years when dealing with him.
Louis rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what Elliot’s look meant and reckless he might be, but Louis was no fool. “Someone a bit more…exciting,” he said after the briefest of pauses.
“Exciting?” Mrs. Bennet laughed. “Wouldn’t we all like a bit more excitement in our lives! Wouldn’t that just be a fine thing! But life is not about excitement. It’s about duty. About knowing our place in this society.” She paused for a moment to gather herself. “Now, I was just telling Mr. Bennet, he must visit as soon as the alpha arrives.”
“And I was telling your mother that I saw no occasion for it,” Mr. Bennet replied. “She and you may go if you so choose, or she can send you by yourself, which,” he added, “may be for the better, as your mother is just as handsome as any of you and who knows which direction this alpha’s desires might take.”
Mrs. Bennet blushed at her husband’s words, clearly delighted by them. “My dear, you flatter me,” she said. “I certainly have had my share of beauty, but do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown-up sons, she ought to give over thinking on her own beauty.”
“In such cases there is usually little beauty to be thought of,” Mr Bennet said but if he had thought his compliments were enough to steer Mrs. Bennet away from the demand she had been making when Elliot entered the room, he was sorely mistaken.
“It is certainly true that Mr. Bingley may choose a male or a female for his mate,” she said consideringly. “Mrs. Long confided that to me.”
“And how did she ascertain this?” Mr. Bennet asked.
“Who knows how she finds these things out,” Mrs. Bennet replied. “But she has always been a veritable fountain of gossip and…sometimes useful information, I concede! And you can be sure she is sharing this information around the village and in Meryton I do not doubt. Mr. Bingley will soon be inundated with visitors.” She dropped Jack’s hand and turned to face her husband across the room. “You must visit him,” she said. “If you do not, we cannot. Besides, Sir William and Mr. Lucas are determined to go, and they rarely visit newcomers. I dare say they fancy themselves above it, waiting for the visitors to come to them, but no…an alpha with a large fortune? He will call on no one, we will all be required to call on him!”
“You are overscrupulous, surely,” Mr. Bennet replied. “I dare say Mr. Bingley will be very glad to see you, and I will send a few lines to assure him of my hearty consent to his mating whoever he damn well chooses.”
Mrs. Bennet narrowed her eyes, the blush no more. “He will mate with one of our children.”
