Page 83 of The Engagement at Longbourn

"Miss Lizzy! Mrs. Bennet said you might come. Oh, Mr. Darcy, sir."

Her alarm made Darcy immediately uncomfortable. He bowed as well as one could with a cane. "Mrs. Parker." The woman bobbed a curtsy. Elizabeth stepped inside as though she had visited a hundred times. She probably had.

"How is Tom?"

"Better this morning. Fever broke before dawn."

Mrs. Bennet's broth was accepted. The flannel was for a jacket the oldest girl had outgrown. Elizabeth examined the child in question, declared that three inches of wrist were too much wrist, and promised to send buttons. Darcy stood near the hearth and watched. At Pemberley, he knew the names of every tenant farmer. He reviewed leases, crop yields, drainage, repairs, and rents. He knew which families had occupied cottages for generations. But Pemberley was large enough that much daily care passed through stewards, housekeepers, and agents. Mrs. Bennet possessed no steward for domestic charity. She had Hill, a basket, and a memory like a parish ledger.

On the road to Widow Clarke's, Darcy said, "Your mother knew the Parker girl's coat was too small."

Elizabeth glanced at him. "Mama notices clothes."

"I had noticed."

She laughed.

"But she also knew the boy was ill before you did."

"Mrs. Parker's sister works two days a week at Longbourn laundry. Mama hears everything."

"That used to be one of my objections to her."

"Only one?"

Darcy gave her a look.

Elizabeth smiled. He continued, "Information may be used for kindness as easily as gossip."

"Now you are becoming philosophical. Mary will be delighted."

Widow Clarke's chimney did indeed smoke. Darcy stood in the yard, studied the stack, and asked when it had last been swept.

"October, sir."

"Too recently for this much draw trouble."

He walked around the cottage slowly, then looked toward an overgrown yew almost touching the roofline.

"That branch may be disturbing the draft in east wind."

Elizabeth looked at him. "Do gentlemen with ten thousand a year know about chimneys?"

"Gentlemen with large old houses know too much about chimneys."

He sent a Longbourn labourer to cut back the branch. The smoke improved before they left. Widow Clarke thanked him three times. Darcy was embarrassed by the third.

On the way home, Elizabeth said, "You liked being useful."

"Most people do."

"Not everyone notices where usefulness is required."

Darcy looked across the fields.

"My father did."

"At Pemberley?"