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She laughed. “There are several paintings in the house.”
“Aunt. Should you not leave it to one of your husband’s relations?”
“My husband’s relations were Amelia’s children. Her eldest son has inherited the estate and title, and the younger was given a house in Town, as you well know. Not to mention that he is his mother’s heir. The girls were splendidly dowered and are well settled with wealthy husbands.”
“So you are giving it to me because you think I need it?”
“You do need it, but I am giving it to you because I care for you, and you are my favorite, as I have already said. In addition to all of that, we both know I would not be alive today were it not for you. You have made my latter years a pleasure instead of a burden, and I will never be able to thank you enough for that.”
“Aunt,” I said, pressing my hand over hers, “you know I would have helped you regardless. You do not need to give me money in recompense.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Elizabeth Rose Bennet, you can be awfully stubborn sometimes. This is the last time I will say it. I have made you my heir because I care for you. Do not make me question my own sanity.”
“Very well, Aunt. Shall you tell me all about it? I can tell you are dying to.”
She laughed. “You know me too well. There is the estate in Somerset, which is let out at the moment, as you know.”
I nodded. Wimborne Hall was a beautiful estate I had visited a few times as a child.
“And of course there is this house. I would recommend you keep the estate for your second son and sell the house in Town if your husband has one of his own.”
She gave me such a look that I knew she was referring to Mr. Darcy and I rolled my eyes, much to her amusement.
“There is some money in the bank and my jewelry of course, though I have split much of it up between your sisters.”
“Would you object to me giving this house to Jack? It would help him a great deal if he pursued a career in the law.”
“I have left Jack enough money to buy a commission or perhaps a cottage somewhere. Or he could invest it. Your sisters each have a little money to add to their dowries and some jewelry and furniture, though I imagine that will change as they marry and move out of Longbourn. I know your father has increased your and Jane’s dowries already, and soon Mary’s will be equal to yours, but now he can give the money set aside for you to your sisters. That will be helpful if Kitty finds a husband in her first Season. Of course, I will update the will accordingly.”
She had a point. My sisters and I would receive a thousand pounds on the our mother’s death, and our father had diligently added to that, but in order for his scheme to work, Kitty and Lydia could not marry until they were at least one and twenty.
“I wonder what my younger brothers will do. I have always thought Robin would do well in the church. He is kindhearted and generous.”
“He is. Henry would do better with the law, shrewd fellow that he is. I do not know about Jack, but since I thought the twins were destined for the law and the church, the army seemed like the logical place for him.”
“Aunt!” I laughed. “That is hardly the way to choose one’s path in life.”
She shrugged. “He is a pretty child. If he is half as handsome when he is grown, he may marry well and not need a career. Or perhaps he will go into business with your uncle Gardiner. The lines between trade and gentry blur more with each generation.”
“You are right about that. My uncle Gardiner earns more with his business than all of Longbourn brings to my father.”
She nodded. “As it will continue. Mark my words, Elizabeth. Trade is the way of the future. It will take some time for the stigma to fade, but if you are wise, you will invest into industry for your children, lest you become one of the impoverished gentry.”
“I will remember, Aunt.”
“Now, this is the awkward bit, but you need to know. I am keeping this house until I die, but I have instructed my solicitor to turn over Wimborne Hall to you on your twenty-first birthday.”
“What?”
She nodded.
“But that is next summer!”
“All the more reason for you to have it now. The house is let and you can invest the rent. Mr. Banks, my solicitor—he really is a very talented man—has put everything into a sort of trust. You do not own it so much as have the rights to it, as I understand it. He used some sort of fancy legal jargon. Don’t worry, I will make an appointment with him so he might explain everything to you. You will be able to choose who receives it after you, but you cannot sell it. I have done this to protect you in the event your husband is not the man he ought to be. This way, you will always have somewhere to go.”
I looked at her thoughtfully, watching her fingers tangle in her necklace and her eyes dim when she spoke of husbands.
“Was your marriage happy?”
