Page 27

“Do you mind me asking if you resent Mrs. Mallory?”

“No, when it is just the two of us we can be honest. I do not resent her for the simple reason that she makes Uncle Gardiner happy. Everything else is secondary to that. She had known him through our church for several years. They had both lost their spouses. At least uncle can take the children and visit the gravesite of Aunt Madeline. Mr. Mallory was lost at sea, there is no grave to mourn at. I will confess to an occasional moment of wistfulness when I wish that they had waited one more year. I would have had significantly more options upon my majority. But really other than that I am happy for them.”

“How are you going to fill your days here in Hertfordshire?”

Elizabeth barked out a burst of laughter.

“No, it was not a silly question, rather it was an honest reaction. Because I have spent significant time thinking about that very issue and I have no answer. Once a week I am going to receive a package with the previous week’s newspapers. So rather than reading them every day for part of the morning it will be an intense day or so of catching up on all the news. The following week I will return them together with any insights I have gleaned from reading them. But other than that, I will have to remember how to be a lady of leisure.”

They both chuckled at that. Elizabeth and leisure were not words that went together.

“But all joking aside I will have to think about all that. Reading, thinking about the news within the context of Gardiner Import/Export, and maintaining my correspondence will take up, what, three days a week? So I will have three days to fill. One day a week in Meryton, time in the stillroom, it will be tough but I think I will get back into a routine.”

“How will Robert and I be treated?”

Another laugh.

“No idea. Robert will be easy for the most part and difficult at others. If I am at Longbourn Manor for much of the week then he will just be an additional body to assist the others. It will be when he stops doing as Hill directs but instead accompanies you and I when we are out the Manor that will be the issue. I will have to explain to Papa and Mr. Hill. It will be difficult without sounding all high and mighty. Uncle Gardiner has already sent a letter to Papa so I will see how he reacts when we get there. The big issue will me being singled out. That he accompanies me but not the others unless they are with me will aggravate Mama. If I am assured to be in for the day then he may accompany the others, that will lessen the situation.”

“And me?”

“As we discussed. Mama will be up in arms that I have a personal maid, you should be Jane’s maid as she is the oldest and prettiest. Again, Uncle Gardiner has sent a letter to his sister, but I doubt that she will take the news well. You are more my companion than maid and so we will have to navigate the waters of the Bennet family to see how everything plays out. I will talk with Mrs. Hill so that she knows not to try and assign you to other duties. But you will accompany me on all visits, be it to Meryton or to the neighbours. I hope that after a bit of fuss and bluster everything will settle down quickly.

“And to answer the question you cannot ask. You have been my closest companion for the last three plus years, Robert for even longer than that. You are not my blood family but you are family to me. I have always felt safe when accompanied by the two of you, and you have calmed me many times when I felt overwhelmed. You are being paid by Uncle Gardiner and I will not allow you to be reassigned while we stay at Longbourn.”

“Thank you, Miss Elizabeth. Your phrasing was careful at the end there, ‘while we stay’.”

“I know it will be difficult for everyone, and I think it would be most foolish to assume everything and everyone will return to how they were in ’07. I know I am a different person, a very different person. The people I remember will be equally different. Even with my limited knowledge, it will still be different.”

“How do you mean?”

“Sorry, I was being unnecessarily cryptic. Mary visited so frequently and regularly because I continued to maintain the ledgers for the Longbourn Estate for my father. His record keeping was not flawless and it made more sense for me to maintain them. Arithmetic has always been easy for me. So I can see how the family is living by reviewing the ledger. But it does not give the full story.”

“Can you explain, I am still not getting the point.”

Elizabeth pondered for a moment.

“When you live on an estate, or in our case in a house, you experience everything. For instance, Cook and her assistants prepare meals not just for the family but for the staff as well. You are around the kitchen every day, you eat the food, you see the foodstuffs being delivered, you can see that the meat or fish are fresh. In ledgers all I see are the bills, and the payments to the staff for their wages. I do not know whether the assistant cook is good, whether the scullery maid is lazy, whether the footman is cheeky. The numbers show none of that. That is what I mean when I say I have limited knowledge. The ledgers tell part of the tale, they are the skeleton. But they are only a modest part of the story. It is all the things I have talked about, and a thousand more, that flesh it all out.”

“I see what you mean. Thank you for explaining it.”

“This has been useful, it is helping me get ready to meet my family again.”

At that moment the carriage pulled into the courtyard of an inn. It was a convenient spot to rest the horses and also allowed all the occupants of the coach to refresh themselves and have a quick meal. Elizabeth alighted.

“I will request that the innkeeper send out a groom to assist you. Please take turns to visit the taproom for an ale and some food.”

The coachman and the second footman both smiled and nodded. They knew Miss Elizabeth would look after them. Elizabeth, Claire and Robert entered the inn and requested a table. Elizabeth relayed her instructions and the innkeeper did as she requested. The inn was moderately busy but their table was private, with no one able to eavesdrop.

“Would you prefer me to eat in the Taproom, Miss Elizabeth?”

“No Robert, sit here with me. I want a burly man at the table to discourage anyone from approaching.”

Claire smiled at her husband as he sat down beside her. They were going to stop for 30 minutes, for the horses more than for them personally, so there was time to order a small repast and hot fresh tea, although Robert preferred an ale. As they were quietly eating they heard a commotion from across the room. There was a party in a private room and with the door open they could hear an unpleasant nasal voice berating the server.

“I demand to see the innkeeper, you foolish clot. You nearly managed to spill food on my dress. Do you know how much this cost?”

The innkeeper hustled over to the room and closed the door behind him upon entering. Words could no longer be discerned but the noise from the occupant was still able to be heard, even with the door closed. When the innkeeper and server finally left they carefully closed the door. But Elizabeth caught an eye-roll and grimace before they returned to the kitchen.