Page 9 of Miss Gardiner
“Knowles? The steward at Rosings Park?”
Darcy nodded. “The man is reliable and honest. He has remained at Rosings Park for many years only at my behest. You are aware of the number of letters I send to Lady Catherine and to Mr Knowles each month attempting to manage the estate from afar.”
“Where will you place Mr Knowles?”
“He will live on the Romney estate. There’s a dower house I believe that will be suitable for my steward. The family that rents the large house is not affected, but the farms and tenants would benefit from a closer hand. Mr Knowles and his family will fill the dower house, and he can manage Romney and the propertiesat Gravesend.”
“Now, regarding the mortgage I have been saddled with… I have four thousand available without pulling from funds to pay for labour or taxes,” Darcy began. “That means I need to lay my hands on three thousand, four hundred pounds that are not obligated for other expenses.”
“We could sell a farm… or a rental property,” Clemmons suggested.
Shaking his head, Darcy replied, “What goods can I sell?”
“There is the third floor in Mayfair,” Clemmons offered. “Mr Banks remains concerned about the ceilings on the second floor. The weightof the items…”
“My mother’s hobby,” Darcy grimaced.
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Chapter 3.Lady Anne’s Hobby
Lady Anne Fitzwilliam married George Darcy for his great wealth and during the seventeen years of their marriage, she spent a great deal of his annual income. In the first two years of their marriage, she redecorated Pemberley and the grand house in Mayfair. After the birth of Fitzwilliam Darcy, the necessary heir, George Darcy raised his wife’s allowance, and she began purchasing items she would never use. When Mr Banks took delivery of the third set of new dishes in a single month’s time, Mr Darcy intervened and ordered the butler to store the items in the ballroom on the third floor which soon resembled a warehouse of delivery crates and barrels.
Lady Anne was an excellent hostess for dinner parties, but she never enjoyed the duties involved with hosting a ball and the unused space was perfect for storing her purchases. The entire third floor of the house was a ballroom with four small rooms just off the staircase for the ladies or gentlemen to refresh themselves, but the remaining space was one large room for dancing and mingling.
Now the room was crowded with bolts of cloth, chests of old spices, trunks of shoes, and rooms of furniture that arrived at the back door, and then were carried through the house and up the front stairs to the third floor. The backstairs, reserved for use by the servants, were too narrow and twisted to allow barrels and crates to be carried up to the third floor. Whenever Mrs Darcy was in residence in London, Mr Banks hired two additional footmen to manage the deliveries. But the goods were stored haphazardly, and crates of bottles of wine and port were added to the mix until Mr Darcy intervened once more and ordered the bottled wines and port stored in the cellars under the house.
When Lady Anne died during the birth of Georgiana fifteen years before, the purchases ended but George Darcy never dealt with the mountain of items stored in the top floor of his house. Once he inherited the estate, Fitzwilliam Darcy also ignored the ballroom in his London home as well; the accumulated purchases stored there were a good excuse to not host a ball for the members of the first circles.
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The morning after the meeting with the attorneys, Clemmons left the house in Mr Darcy’s coach to visit a knowledgeable man in business in London. Before noon, the secretary returned with a guest and introduced Mr Darcy to Mr Edward Gardiner saying, “For many years, Mr Gardiner has acted as a factor purchasing wool from Pemberley and your other estates in the north.”
“I believe we have been introduced in the past,” Darcy conceded.
Mr Gardiner bowed appropriately and replied, “Indeed Mr Darcy. My wife remembers your mother visiting the shop her parents run in Lambton and bringing you along to purchase balls, paper, and sealing wax.”
“Christopher Barnes… Yes, Mr Barnes has been a fixture in Lambton for three decades,” Darcy said. “I did not know you had married into that family.”
Clemmons interrupted and moved the conversation forward, “Mr Darcy, I believe that Mr Gardiner could aid you with the sale of goods on the third floor of this house.”
“There is a need for confidentiality,” Darcy stated. “There is a financial problem that must be resolved before Christmas.”
“We must raise approximately thirty-four hundred pounds before Christmas,” Clemmons explained.
“How can I help you, Mr Darcy?”
The three men climbed the many flights of stairs to the third floor and into the darkened ballroom. Once Mr and Mrs Banks were summoned to join Darcy and his guest, the couple spent several minutes pulling back draperies and opening shutters to let in the sunlight.
Edward gazed intently at the piles of crates and barrels, the bolts of cloth, and the boxes filled with dishes. There was dust on the items above the reach of the chambermaids. He noted the variety of cloth, the quality of the porcelain, and the trunks and barrels sealed away with hidden items.
After almost thirty minutes of examining the items stored in the room, Mr Gardiner came to master of the house and said, “This is indeed a treasure trove, Mr Darcy. The secret to obtaining the desired funds will be to release the goods in drips and drabs to the auction houses and to merchants.”
“What do you mean?” Darcy asked, dreading a long process.
Lifting the loose end of one bolt of cloth, Mr Gardiner explained, “This calico should be sold immediately; modistes are outfitting ladies with summer gowns.”
Then he lifted the end of another bolt of bright red silk and said, “The silks should be offered in October when ladies are ordering Christmas finery.”
