“I know the master and the young lady would like far simpler meals, but it is her ladyship I have been told to obey.”
“Now you have a different mistress. The food can be far simpler and the majority of the household would be pleased. Also, there is a good deal of it. I think we could cut all this in half and it would still be enough. Unless – hold, I do not wish to make an error here. I assume the leftovers go to feed the staff?”
“They are, but no one below stairs needs food fit for the Queen.”
Elizabeth laughed out loud. “Mrs. Thurston, you are clearly a woman of sense. Please write up the menus you think would best serve the situation, as you know the preferences of Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy. I want everyone to be well-fed, of course, but I prefer that you not be put to the trouble of creating a great number of extra dishes if they are not generally enjoyed.”
Mrs. Thurston nodded, enthusiastically. “Yes, ma’am! I will do that directly.”
“Oh, one more thing, Mrs. Thurston. Mr. Darcy has a particular fondness for your blueberry tarts, and was at great pains to tell me that he would like to enjoy them more frequently.”
Mrs. Thurston now could not be happier. Her tarts had been praised, her opinion sought, and the new Mrs. Darcy was clearly a woman of good sense. “Yes, ma’am, and I thank you, ma’am!”
“No, I thankyou, Mrs. Thurston. And I hope you will let me know – through Mrs. Reynolds, of course – if there is anything I can do to help the kitchen run more smoothly. I believe Bonaparte has observed that an army marches on its stomach, and though I do not want to be known to agree with him on anything, I cannot help but believe that a household is much the same. Mrs. Reynolds, perhaps you might remain?”
With a good deal of curtseying, Mrs. Thurston left the room, smiling hugely.
The two women looked at one another. Mrs. Reynolds said, frankly, “Well, you did an excellent job of winning Cook over.”
Elizabeth replied, equally frankly, “Good; that was certainly my intent. But truly, too many people in this country do not have enough to eat, and the idea of food being wasted! Well, it is a sin, is it not?”
Mrs. Reynolds then had a traitorous thought: Lady Anne had likely never encountered people who had not enough to eat. Perhaps this Mrs. Darcy’s background would better serve – and then she shut the thought down before it could flower any further.
“Mrs. Reynolds, I asked you to remain so that we might discuss the account books. Is it you or Lady Anne who has been keeping them up to date? I ask because it appears that the last account book in the office is dated three years ago.”
Mrs. Reynolds looked away.
“Mrs. Reynolds?”
“Her husband died, you know,” she began, and then she stopped.
Elizabeth understood in an instant. “So she has not kept the books since her husband died. I see. Dare I hope that you stepped into her shoes in that regard?”
“I did.”
Elizabeth breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heavens. Mrs. Reynolds, I am capable of keeping the household accounts, so I will relieve you of that task. Might you have one of the footmen bring up all the books from the past three years? They should be in this office, of course; then you and I can review the most recent one together. But if this is not a good time, we can do it tomorrow.”
Mrs. Reynolds nodded, and said, “I will speak to Robert; he is just at the end of the corridor here.” She rose, curtsied, and left the room.
Just outside the mistress’ door, she leaned against the hallway and let the tears fall. She had been Lady Anne’s devoted servant these past many years, and she was now forced to help the new Mrs. Darcy take Lady Anne’s place. But worst of all was her suspicion that the new Mrs. Darcy would do very, very well as mistress of Pemberley, and was such a thought not a betrayal of Lady Anne?
***
Lady Anne was in the Ruby Room, composing a letter to her sister. She wrote fast and furiously, the words spilling out.
Dear Sister,
The most dreadful thing! Fitzwilliam married, actuallymarried, that Elizabeth Bennet! The marriage was accomplished before I was even aware of it! And he has brought her here, to Pemberley, to replace me! She forced me to give up my own bedroom, which has been my own these thirty years, and she sat in my place at the table.
But, sister, you know that I am not one to give up easily!
And she poured out all her plans and ideas, all designed with one goal: to send Elizabeth Bennet running away from Pemberley.
Chapter Forty
Elizabeth was pleased with her progress. She had made her mark in the kitchen, and had taken over the account books. Mrs. Reynolds could not admit it, of course, but her look of relief upon seeing Elizabeth’s familiarity with the account books could not be mistaken.
She had found time to go outside into the gardens and had spoken with the head gardener, who was delighted with her appreciation of the beauty around her. They had talked at length about the different blooms that flourished here in the northern part of England, many of which she was not familiar with.
