That response answered precisely to one of Mrs Bennet’s biggest concerns. Lately, she had often complained about the deficiencies of their carriage, and every journey to London was accompanied by fears of accidents and broken wheels.
“Do you think he will allow us to borrow it?” she asked hopefully, remembering the handsome and spacious vehicle that had brought Uncle Thomas from London.
“Of course. Did you not hear what he said about the girls riding? I am sure he feels exactly the same regarding the carriage.”
They sat in silence for some time. It had been such an unusual day, and it was not yet over.
Just as Mrs Bennet was preparing to leave, there was a quick knock at the door, and Elizabeth burst into the library. She was a frequent visitor in the afternoons and often spent long hours talking with her father, but this time the subject was different. She began speaking before the door had even closed behind her, with an excitement that made both her parents smile. “He is wonderful,” she declared. “I am so happy about our decision. Do you think he has brought us anything?”
The astonishment of her parents was evident. Of all five daughters, Elizabeth was the least interested in gifts, fashion, or even money.
“No,” she continued, seeing their expressions. “I am not talking about ordinary presents. I mean things from Africa, from those Fulani people, their native objects. I should love to see the world and be like him.”
Though she sat in a room at Longbourn, her thoughts were already far away amongst the people she longed to know.
“How do you know about them?” her mother asked.
“I have read travellers’ memoirs. Ibn Battuta and others who travelled through that part of the world.”
Mr Bennet nodded with pleasure at his daughter’s knowledge. “Then I am certain we shall learn much more from Uncle Thomas.”
“Perhaps they are dangerous people,” Mrs Bennet said uneasily.
“How can you say such a thing, Mama? They are people like us. Have we not spent decades fighting wars throughout Europe?”
“I have no interest in this kind of conversation,” Mrs Bennet replied and rose to attend to her duties. “I only hope he has not brought any frightening pieces of savage art like those I once saw in a London shop. I am perfectly satisfied with our present decorations.”
“I would leave for Africa tomorrow if Uncle Thomas invited me,” declared Elizabeth, her imagination already ranging over its vast and distant landscapes.
“I do not doubt it,” said Mr Bennet. “But I doubt very much whether Uncle Thomas intends ever to return there. I have a feeling that he has come home for good. We are the last adventure of his life.”
Elizabeth laughed. “What possible adventure can he find in Meryton?”
“For him, it is an adventure. He has spent years amongst people whose habits and customs differ entirely from our own. He has probably not bowed in years, and Tom perhaps never has.”
“Yes, perhaps you are right. It does seem strange that anyone should leave such a life to return to cold and rather dull England.”
Mr Bennet smiled. “England appears dull to you because you possess something of the same spirit. The love of adventureclearly runs in the Bennet family. As for Uncle Thomas, our quiet life represents a change every bit as great as those he has already experienced. Perhaps he wishes for precisely what he has found here: a family and friends. Nobody compelled him to come. The choice was entirely his own.”
Chapter 4
They waited eagerly for dinner, but before the time came, Tom came to their parlour, again bowing in that funny fashion. Then he smiled, aware of his clumsiness, which made the young ladies like him even more. “Mr Thomas is kindly asking you to come to his apartment.”
They did not wait for a second invitation. Elizabeth knocked at her father’s door, and they hurried to their uncle’s rooms, using the garden entrance, as they did not yet dare use the direct passage through their own hall.
The room they found was slightly different from the one they had prepared. There were masks, swords, rifles, pottery and many other unknown objects deposited on tables and leaning against the walls, waiting for a place to be displayed. The girls discovered each item with astonishment, eager to understand its use or purpose. Uncle Thomas gave them ample explanations: a Bedouin sword, ceremonial masks from the Fulani people, unusual pottery from Morocco, and a plate with a bell-shaped cover.
“This is the pot they use to prepare one of their native dishes; both the pot and the meal are called a tagine. If my niece Jenny permits it, one day I shall cook.”
“Uncle Thomas!” ‘Niece Jenny’ answered, rolling her eyes in a manner her daughters had never witnessed before. “You are at home here. But how do you know how to cook?”
“My dear, a man living alone upon a savage continent must develop unexpected skills.”
Mr Bennet, who knew his wife exceedingly well, saw an expression upon her face that alarmed him. Mrs Bennet no longer had only five daughters to marry off but five young ladies and an uncle. He felt a little sorry for the man, but suspected that someone who had fought wild beasts in Africa would know how to defend himself against his ‘niece Jenny’.
Or perhaps not. Mr Bennet regarded the matter with the usual cynicism he employed when observing the world around him. His uncle had once been a free man, accustomed to vast spaces and master of his own destiny, yet he had abandoned it all to come to Longbourn. If, in consequence, he was subjected to a little discomfort, it was scarcely more than he deserved.
His eyes caught Elizabeth observing him, and he had the feeling that his daughter knew what he was thinking, the result of endless conversations they had enjoyed since she was perhaps eight years old, and of the countless hours she had spent studying under his watchful eye. Elizabeth was a free spirit, perhaps the only member of the family who matched Uncle Thomas’s love of adventure. In a way, he was sorry she had been born a woman. He could easily imagine a son with Elizabeth’s character leaving home at twenty and wandering the world in search of danger and discovery. He hoped that his dear girl would one day find a husband capable of appreciating her uniqueness and allowing her to fly as far as a woman’s condition permitted.
