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“We cannot take too many,” Elizabeth said in a low voice. “Perhaps about twenty?”
“Aye. I shall give you a fair price, to be sure. I still miss your father at the whist table.”
Elizabeth seemed to be blinking back tears. “Thank you, Mr. Foster.”
Darcy was now confident that he would not interrupt a courting couple—to his immense relief.
Elizabeth glanced up and noticed Darcy approaching, starting guiltily as if she had been caught committing a crime. Even Foster seemed uneasy. Why would discussions of sheep provoke disquiet? “Miss Bennet. Mr. Foster.” Darcy nodded greetings.
The three exchanged pleasantries about the weather, but Foster soon excused himself and hurried toward the blacksmith’s shop. Silence fell between Darcy and Elizabeth; her eyes darted toward the road as if plotting her escape.
“You are purchasing some lambs?” he asked. He knew many estates where the landowner’s wife involved herself with the dairy, decorating the building and overseeing its operation. But he had never heard of any woman in a landowner’s family concerning herself with the estate’s sheep. Had Collins forced Elizabeth into this role?
She stiffened. “I do not know what business brings you to Hertfordshire, sir. But I very much doubt it concerns Longbourn’s sheep.”
“True enough. Still, I am a bit curious. I would not expect you to concern yourself with the purchasing of lambs. Is that not the purview of Longbourn’s steward?”
“Longbourn no longer has a steward,” Elizabeth said in a neutral tone.
“Indeed?” Darcy said. Longbourn’s estate was several times smaller than Pemberley’s but still large enough to require a full-time employee. “I thought your father had a man.”
“He did: Lincoln. He was not, perhaps, the best steward one might want, but he did an adequate job and my father liked him. Immediately upon his arrival, Mr. Collins encouraged the man to retire.”
Darcy said nothing. Under other circumstances he would not have hesitated to comment on the foolishness of such a shortsighted strategy, but it seemed indelicate to criticize Elizabeth’s cousin to her face.
“Lady Catherine apparently convinced my cousin that he could easily manage such a small estate himself.” Silently Darcy cursed his interfering aunt, who had not only a steward but also an under-steward to help run Rosings Park. She understood nothing about what a new landowner like Collins would need.
Elizabeth shrugged. “He sits behind the desk with his ledger books all day. No doubt the estate’s accounts are quite correct. But he has little patience for speaking with the tenants or the details of planting schedules and irrigation. When a momentous decision must be made, Mr. Collins writes to Lady Catherine, delaying any resolution by some days. And he always defers to her counsel.” Her tone of voice was studiously neutral, but Darcy had no difficulty discerning her real opinion.
Darcy managed not to roll his eyes, but Collins’s fecklessness was worse than he had first anticipated. “Does he ever visit the fields?”
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Occasionally, he will ride around surveying the land, but he does not appear to understand much of what he observes.”
Darcy knew landowners like that; their primary interest was how much money the estate could generate for their personal benefit. Such an estate might still thrive if it was under the care of a good steward, but with no steward at all…he was not optimistic about Longbourn’s chances of long-term success.
Still, Darcy was loath to criticize another landowner. The man was a fool and no doubt a terrible cousin. But it was not honorable to dispute how another man ran his estate, and he disliked gossiping in general. Occasionally he might exchange a few barbed comments in company with fellow landowners such as his uncle or cousin, but he would never otherwise indulge in such chatter. It was not gentlemanly. Longbourn was Collins’s by right, and he was free to operate it—even ruin it—as he chose.
Darcy offered Elizabeth his arm. After a barely perceptible hesitation, she took it, and he led her for a stroll along the street. Perhaps it would benefit her family if the good people of Meryton knew she had Darcy’s support.
He groped for something positive to say about Collins. “I am pleased he adds to his flock. That is a good investment.”
Elizabeth smiled enigmatically. “I pray you, do not mention the lambs to him. They are to be added to the existing herd shepherded by Mr. Maddox…and it is a bit of a surprise for my cousin.”
A surprise gift of sheep? When Elizabeth did not appear to have the funds for a new gown? How very odd…
Darcy scrutinized Elizabeth from the corner of his eyes. Her lips were pressed tightly together in a white line, and her fingers clutched his arm quite tightly. The subject of lambs obviously provoked great agitation.
Darcy’s attention was distracted as they passed two well-dressed older women, intimates of Mrs. Bennet’s. Their names eluded him at the moment. Both women nodded greetings to Darcy and granted him rather tight smiles. He expected Elizabeth would stop and speak with the women, but she ignored them. They, on the other hand, raked her with sneering looks before decidedly turning their heads away. Elizabeth quickened her step, a muscle twitching in her jaw. Good Lord, was this how the Bennets were treated? Darcy was simultaneously appalled and grateful that Georgiana was not with them.
Very well. His resolve hardened. He could ask for no more vivid illustration of how his actions had wronged her family. He now had an opportunity to speak alone with Elizabeth. He should grasp it, or it might not arise again.
“Miss Bennet, would you perhaps accompany me on a walk?”
She tilted her head to the side and regarded him with an amused expression. “Is that not what we have already undertaken? Or am I mistaken? Is this perhaps some new variety of swimming or flying that I do not recognize?”
Darcy could not prevent a chuckle. “I feel the need for some exercise and was hoping for a lengthier stroll in the countryside. I recall that you are fond of walking.”
She hesitated, almost appearing a little amazed by his request. But surely she recognized his interest in her—although perhaps she expected it had waned after two years.
