It was simple enough, only a few lines, but it was clearly signed by her and two witnesses, making it entirely legal. It only said that all her worldly goods went to Catherine Bennet.
The witnesses who signed it likely thought it was simply a sweet gesture but useless, since everyone knew that Mrs. Parker was the poorest person in the village. Catherine, however, knew otherwise, and apparently so did Uncle Phillips.
“You may be surprised to learn that Mrs. Parker was not the penniless person everyone thought she was,” he said. “In fact, she had about twelve hundred pounds in the funds. The reason everyone thought her poor was because she was strict with herself about living on only the interest, which was less than fifty pounds per year.”
It wasn’t surprising to Catherine, however Papa said, “I am not certain whether to be impressed with her frugality and strictness or to criticize her for not living to a higher standard.”
Catherine felt the need to defend her friend. “If she had used more than the interest, she might have run out of money before her life ended, and then where would she be. As it turned out, it wouldn’t have mattered, but she had no way of knowing that. Some people manage to live to be ninety years old.”
“You are right,” said Papa. “Well, I suppose now you are the first of your sisters to have a dowry other than your share of your mother’s money after she passes away. You must be rather pleased.”
“I am not pleased in the least,” said Kitty. “I would far rather have Mrs. Parker back.”
Uncle Phillips replied, “It is understandable that you would feel that way right now, but someday, you will be glad to have your dowry. In fact, by the time you are ready to get married, itmay even have grown to almost two thousand pounds, which is a highly respectable amount.”
Catherine thought otherwise. Mrs. Parker had two thousand pounds when her husband died, and she had spent the rest of her life in poverty, cooking her own simple meals, wearing only very basic clothing, and cleaning her own house.
She did not wish to sound ungrateful to her friend, however, so she said, “I am sure I shall appreciate it in the long run.”
~~~~~
Catherine’s new little fortune made no difference in her life whatsoever. The interest on it was not going to be used to buy her clothing or take trips. It would simply be rolled over into the principle and grow. Since Catherine was too young to understand much about money, it was all in her father’s hands, and that was what he decided was best.
Life continued as it had been. A month later, someone else moved into the tiny little cottage that had once held Mrs. Parker, but it was not someone new to the neighborhood. Instead, it was a newly married couple from another estate who needed a place to live while she took on sewing jobs and he hired out for general labor among the farmers in the neighborhood.
The young couple were just like most of their other tenants, and Catherine never got to know them very well.
A couple of months after Mrs. Parker’s death, a solicitor who was not Uncle Phillips showed up at the Bennets’ home. Catherine was sitting near the open parlor door, so she could hear what was being said in the hall. The solicitor asked after Mrs. Parker, but Hill, the housekeeper, said Mrs. Parker hadpassed away. The solicitor then asked who had executed Mrs. Parker’s will, and Hill gave him directions to Uncle Phillips.
Catherine wondered what that was about, though she expected she would never find out. She was wrong. Hours later, the solicitor returned, but this time he was in the company of Uncle Phillips. Catherine was called to the study shortly after they arrived.
Once she was seated among the three men, who all stared at her, Papa said, “Kitty, were you aware of Mrs. Parker’s sister? They had been estranged for decades, so I don’t know if Mrs. Parker even mentioned her.”
“Yes, I know of her,” said Catherine. “Mrs. Parker was planning to go live with her, but her heart gave out a week before her planned moving date.”
“Did you know her name?” asked Papa.
Catherine was confused as to why any of this mattered, but she answered the question. “No. Mrs. Parker only ever referred to her as her sister.”
The unknown solicitor said, “Her name is, or was, Linda Carpenter, Dowager Baroness of Slope.”
Catherine felt her eyes go wide. Mrs. Parker had said she came from a good family, but it had never occurred to her that her friend would be so closely related to nobility. “I see,” she said. Then she added, “Did you say ‘was?’”
“Yes,” said the solicitor. “Lady Slope died around the same time as her sister, a couple of months ago. Surprisingly, in her will, she left all of her fortune to her sister, and I have spent the last two months tracking down said sister.”
“Well, Mrs. Parker is gone,” said Catherine, “so I assume Lady Slope’s fortune will go to her children or other relatives. I don’t understand why you need to tell me this.”
The solicitor asked, “Do you know the exact day Mrs. Parker died?”
“I found her on September twenty-second,” Catherine answered. The day would be seared in her memory for as long as she lived. “I suppose she could have died on the evening of the twenty-first, but it couldn’t have been any earlier than that. She had spent that afternoon visiting her neighbors.”
The solicitor looked at Uncle Phillips and they nodded at each other.
“You see, Lady Slope died on the morning of the twentieth of September,” said the solicitor.
Catherine was becoming impatient. She did not like talking of Mrs. Parker’s death like this. She didn’t like talking about anyone’s death. She wanted to be done with this conversation. “I am sorry to hear of it, but I still do not understand why I am here. I am no relation to either of them, and I didn’t even know Lady Slope.”
“Ah,” said the solicitor. “Well, you see, when Lady Slope died, Mrs. Parker was still alive. So, even though it was never actually transferred to Mrs. Parker, Lady Slope’s fortune was officially Mrs. Parker’s. Then when Mrs. Parker passed on, it became yours.”
It took several moments for the information to truly sink in, but when it did, she suddenly stood up, saying, “What?” rather loudly.
Papa and Uncle Phillips chuckled, and even the solicitor smiled. Embarrassed, Catherine sat back down.
“Well, now that Kitty knows what has happened,” said Papa, “will you please tell us all what this fortune is? Most widows’ income is tied to their dower rights which die with them, so I imagine it is not much.”
“Lord Slope was a rather unusual man,” said the solicitor. “He did not wish for his son’s land to be encumbered in any way, not even by dower rights. So, in his will, instead of leaving Lady Slope with a right to a portion of the income of his estate, he left her a flat sum, the interest of which would allow her to live in the style to which she had become accustomed. I think he expected her to leave it to their son when she died. It apparently did not occur to him that she would disobey his intention.”
The man paused while he looked around the room at each of them. “That flat sum was fifty thousand pounds.”
