Page 12 of Master of Netherfield
Mary looked between her mother and her sisters but remained silent as Mrs Bennet explained, “Tonight, we have a guest coming for supper. All of your sisters will eat and retire about stairs. You can sit in Jane and Elizabeth’s room and read stories or play with your hair styles while your father and I have supper with our guest.”
“Who is coming, Mamma?” asked Jane.
“It is Mr Darcy, the new owner of Netherfield Park,” their mother explained. “He is a young man who just finished University, and we want to welcome him to the neighbourhood.”
“Mamma, will you tell him about Davie Hall at Lucas Emporium?” asked Elizabeth.
“If the situation comes up,” Mrs Bennet agreed. “But Elizabeth, you must not fight with boys. It is unladylike.”
“Elizabeth will have trouble becoming a lady,” Mary announced. “She does not like to sew or walk quietly or tend the garden.”
“What do you mean?” asked Elizabeth. “I worked the garden with Jane and Mamma all summer!”
“Girls! Silence!” Mrs Bennet ordered as she herded her five daughters into the dining room where their supper was laid out on the table.
Mrs Hill remained in the dining room to supervise the meal while Mrs Bennet retired above stairs to bathe and dress for supper. Mr Hill laid out Mr Bennet’s best coat and trousers and finally cajoled the master of Longbourn to retire above stairs to bathe and dress.
“Are you serving pheasant tonight?” Kitty asked Mrs Hill.
“No, Miss Kitty. It is months too early to have pheasant. Your parents and Mr Darcy will dine on mutton, fish, carrots and potatoes, wine, cheese and bread.”
“What does wine taste like?” asked Lydia.
“Like your glass now,” Mary replied.
“We have watered wine Mary,” Elizabeth said. “Mamma and Papa have wine without water.”
“Wine has a very strong taste,” Jane confided to her sisters. “I prefer the watered wine at supper.”
“What story shall we read tonight?” asked Elizabeth. “Would you like to hear about King Arthur again? Or shall we read Robin Hood again?”
**++**
Fitzwilliam Darcy rode the three miles from Netherfield to Longbourn with his footman in attendance on a second horse. Two miles further along was the small village of Meryton where he had ventured to locate a merchant for items needed in the household. His valet had gone with Darcy into the village, and they agreed that the master of Netherfield would have to travel into town for a suitable tailor, fine wine and furnishings for his home. The local blacksmith was a good man with a solid reputation.
Darcy believed his tenants raised sufficient oats for his stable of horses and the farmers were pleased when the master paid full price for the grain.
“I shall keep more of the oats from the homefarm this year,” he assured them. “I do not think my stable will shrink.”
He noticed immediately that the manor named Longbourn was less than half the size of Netherfield but the flowers in gardens along both sides of the house improved the look of the house. The windows were not as numerous but appeared to be sufficient to light the interior of the house. And he noticed that above stairs, the lights in several rooms threw shadows of children at play on the walls.
A man servant opened the front door and ushered William into the small foyer where his host greeted him warmly and introduced his wife, a handsome woman of some four and thirty years perhaps, at least ten years younger than her husband. Behind him he heard the servant direct the footman to the stables and then to the kitchens for his own supper.
“You feed the footman too?” William asked.
Mrs Bennet glanced at her husband for direction, but he merely shrugged so she explained, “Oh course sir. Your servant will be fed with our servants while we dine. That will allow him to digest his meal and be awake for your return home this evening. A grumbling, hungry footman would not be good company on a dark night.”
Darcy smiled and nodded his head as he was lead into the parlour where they sat for many minutes while Mr and Mrs Bennet asked after the developments at Netherfield.
At some point in the conversation, Darcy said, “Mrs Bennet, I understand you have five daughters.”
Smiling indulgently at her husband, the lady replied, “Indeed I do sir though they are all young and not out yet. Our eldest,Jane will come out this fall in Meryton at seventeen years. Our second girl, Elizabeth, will soon be fifteen and she will wait at least three more years until she is eighteen years as well.”
“And eighteen is not too old,” William said. “I hope to encourage my own sister to wait until she is thirty years to come out.”
“Mr Darcy! How unfair of you!” Mrs Bennet teased. “The poor girl will have sewn a thousand needle work cushions in all that time but not know how to dance!”
Mr Bennet and Mr Darcy joined in laughter at the lady’s response.
