“Darcy?” Elizabeth asked.
Miss Bingley took it upon herself to answer. “Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a very dear friend of ours. He owns an enormous estate in Derbyshire called Pemberley. I supposeyouhave never heard of it.”
“No, I have not,” Elizabeth said. “I have never been to Derbyshire.”
“We have been invited to Pemberley twice, and it is little short of a palace!” Miss Bingley was now clearly in raptures. “Yes, a palace! Hundreds of servants, attending to one’s every need!”
“Doubtless he has a good many tenants as well,” Elizabeth said, dryly.
“I know that he does,” Mr. Bingley said, earnestly. “And I also know that he takes his responsibilities very seriously.”
Mrs. Hurst put in, “And would doubtless expect his wife to do the same.” She shot a quick glance at her younger sister as she spoke.
Elizabeth did not miss that glance. Ah, so that is the way the wind blows, she thought. Miss Bingley has set her cap for this Mr. Darcy! Well, good luck to them both; it was no concern of hers.
“But you and your sister tend to Longbourn’s tenants? Not your mother?” Mrs. Hurst asked.
“Our mother certainly did so when we were younger, but such responsibilities were put into our hands as soon as we were old enough to execute them, as part of our training,” Mary said.
“So tell us, then – what, precisely, is involved?” Mr. Bingley asked.
Elizabeth began, “The tenants are dependent on the harvests for their economic success. If the harvest is good, then they generally have enough to eat, but if the harvest is poor, for any reason, it falls to the estate owner to provide food for the tenant family.”
Mary said, “The women can sew clothing, of course, but the fabric for that clothing is not always within their means. Also, if there are a good many children, the women are often too busy tending them to have the time to sit and sew. My sisters and I spend a good deal of our time sewing for the tenants and the children.”
Mr. Bingley, leaning forward, said, “Darcy sends food baskets to the tenants with some regularity.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Food baskets containing items that the tenants cannot grow for themselves are highly prized. It is nothing for the big house to put up jars of jam in the pantry, but such jars would be considered great treats to a tenant. Toys for children are highly prized luxuries, and are usually included in the tenants’ Christmas boxes.”
“Christmas boxes?” Mrs. Hurst asked.
“Well, you give gifts to your servants at Christmas time, do you not?” Mary asked.
Mr. Bingley and Mrs. Hurst nodded; Miss Bingley flushed and looked away.
Mary went on, “It is the same idea; the estate owner gives – well, it is usually baskets, not boxes, but in any case, each tenant is given an assortment of items particular to his own situation. A tenant family with a good many children would receive more in the way of toys and sweets, whereas a family with fewer children might receive fewer toys and sweets, but perhaps more in the way of ordinary foodstuffs and dress material.”
“The estate house also generally has a stillroom with various herbal remedies. The estate owner sees to it that these remedies are made available to the tenants as needed,” Elizabeth added. “I enjoy working with herbs, so I run the stillroom at Longbourn.”
“And in the absence of a landlord here at Netherfield, you have been doing all this for our tenants?” Mr. Bingley asked in amazement.
“We have done our best,” Elizabeth said, biting her lip. “It has been difficult, I will admit.”
“I can only imagine!” Mr. Bingley exclaimed. “Well, as of this moment, the responsibility for the Netherfield tenants is ours, not yours.” He shot hard looks at his sisters.
“We would be grateful,” Mary said, sincerely. “Mr. Bingley, if I may make so bold as to suggest, you should consider riding out to the farms and telling the tenants who to ask for at Netherfield when there is a particular need. And then make it a point to tour the farms at least twice a month to check on everyone’s well-being.”
“I shall, yes! Thank you both! Why, this has been near as good as having Darcy here!” Mr. Bingley laughed. “He was to come and teach me how to run an estate, but he has been delayed.”
“Delayed?!” Miss Bingley leaned forward. “You had not told me that, Charles.” She sounded quite cross.
“I forgot,” Mr. Bingley said, cheerfully. “Yes, some sort of illness amongst Pemberley’s tenants. We can only hope that someone had the stillroom stocked!”
Chapter Ten
Mr. Danbury addressed his hostess. “Mrs. Gardiner, Miss Bennet’s uncle has given me permission to speak with her alone. Might I beg your indulgence?”
Mrs. Gardiner slid a glance at her niece, and then rose, her sewing in hand. “I will give you ten minutes; the door will remain open.”
