Chapter 5 #2
About a half mile before they reached the manor house, the coachman turned onto the drive which led to the dower house.
Louisa could briefly see the manor house out of the window closest to her, and there was no missing that it was far larger than she had expected based on what Harold had told her mother and Caroline.
Thinking of those two made Louisa realise how free she felt not to be in their pernicious company any longer.
The fifth commandment notwithstanding, Louisa saw the truth of her mother.
It was not disrespectful to feel thankful to be with her husband and not back in her childhood home any longer.
She would certainly miss Father and Charles.
She would write to both. The former would write back consistently; the latter would from time to time, and it would be a battle to be able to read his horrendous script.
The blots and crossed-out words did not make Charles’s epistles more legible.
Louisa was shaken from her cogitation as the coach came to a halt at the dower house.
It was smaller than the manor house for certain, but it was almost the same size as her father’s home.
She could see two storeys above the ground level, and the house seemed to be built in the shape of a rectangle.
“Mrs Adams, the housekeeper at the manor house, has made sure all is prepared for us. Kinford and Holcomb will be here at all times, and some maids will come from the main house to clean in the morning and the assistant cook will prepare our meals for us,” Harold told his wife while Biggs stood holding the open door after he had extracted the step from its recess.
He gave a look of anticipation. “No one will enter our suite without being invited in by one of us.”
The previous night Louisa had been given ‘the talk’ by her mother.
Had she paid attention to what she had been told, she would have been petrified of the marriage bed.
Thankfully Aunt Hildebrand, Uncle John Bingley’s wife—her father’s younger brother—had entered Louisa’s bedchamber after her mother swept out of the room.
Thanks to Aunt Hildebrand’s information, Louisa was in anticipation of marital relations. It was sad that God had never blessed her aunt and uncle with a child, but to Louisa, Aunt Hildebrand was a second and a preferred mother, although she would not admit it aloud.
After alighting, Harold turned back and handed his wife out of the coach. When they approached the entrance, he swept her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her over the threshold.
When a giggling and blushing bride was lowered back onto her own feet, she swatted playfully at her husband’s arm.
“If you are hungry, we may enjoy an early dinner, or if not, we may retire to our suite and call for food when we decide we need some.”
There was no missing the look of desire in her husband’s eyes, a feeling Louisa shared. “I think we should make for our chambers and eat later, as you suggested we may.”
Louisa Hurst learnt two main things, among many others, that first night.
First, her mother had not been correct, and Aunt Hildebrand had been.
Second, her husband had a very muscular body.
He was, however, extremely gentle with her and did not demand more of her than she was able to give.
She did not repine that they did not have much sleep that first night as a married couple.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The sennight they had set aside for just themselves flew by in the blink of an eye. In that time, their love had deepened, and they had become closer one to the other.
Rather than use the coach, they decided to walk to the manor house while Kinford and Holcomb supervised their packing. Biggs and Johns followed behind at a respectable distance, which would allow the couple to speak without being heard.
Even though it was very early in September, the month when autumn officially began, there was a bite of cold in the air as leaves in the trees around them were already changing.
Being this far north, the cold in the air was not unexpected.
It was barely a half mile to the mansion, and the walk helped to warm them.
They were met by the housekeeper and butler. As had been planned, the Monday after the wedding, the older Hursts had departed for London.
Once they had been divested of their outerwear, rather than leave his wife with the housekeeper for the tour, Harold conducted it himself.
About two hours later, they arrived at the suite which was to be theirs when they were at Winsdale.
It was smaller than the master suite, but it was almost double the size of the one at the dower house.
“We will share a bedchamber at night like we did at the dower house, will we not?” Louisa asked shyly, blushing furiously at her wantonness.
“It would sadden me greatly if that was not what you desired. I do not think I will be able to sleep alone and be comfortable again. When I have your body next to mine, all is good with the world,” Harold replied emphatically.
He pulled his wife into an embrace and kissed her senseless to make his point.
The kiss ignited their mutual passion. It was more than an hour later, after they each assisted the other to put their clothing to rights, that they emerged from their suite again.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Over the next month or so, Louisa was introduced to the tenants and to the duties of mistress of an estate.
Like she had tutored the older Mrs Hurst regarding her duties, Miriam Adams did the same for the new Mrs Hurst. For her part, Louisa was shocked by everything that went into being the mistress of an estate.
Planning menus, being a hostess for callers, and entertainment were all the things her mother, and by extension Caroline, thought were the only duties of a mistress.
These were the smallest part of her duties.
She realised that the teacher at her school had been correct.
At the time Louisa had not thought the information factual.
She enjoyed her interactions with the tenantry and was careful to listen to what they had to say so she could be informed of their needs.
When she learnt of her duties around the home farm, the chicken coops, and the home dairy, Louisa had to chuckle to herself.
She could not imagine her mother or younger sister calling on tenants, never mind performing the other tasks which were part of the mistress’s duties.
In Louisa’s mind there was a better chance of seeing the devil dancing in church[5] than her mother or sister doing any one of the tasks she was learning to perform.
As she had imagined, letters from her father were regular and filled with interesting anecdotes. Mother only wrote to try to glean information about the wealth and property of the Hursts, and so far, Caroline had not deigned to reply to a single missive Louisa had posted to her.
From what she could decipher, Charles was back at Cambridge for his final year of studies. How he ever passed an exam with his atrocious writing, Louisa had no idea.
In early October, Harold and Louisa made for London to join the older Hursts at Hurst House.
As it was already unseasonably cold, Harold had the older carriage follow their coach so that Biggs, Johns, and two other men who had been trained by them and Holcomb at Winsdale would not be exposed to the elements.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On the way, they made a brief stop at Pemberley to call on the Darcys.
Seeing how ill Mr Darcy looked and how worried his son and daughter were, they only remained at Pemberley for two days.
It was sad to see Georgiana, who would be eight in March upcoming, ready to cry for any reason because of her sadness over her father’s impending end.
The next stop was at Hilldale in Staffordshire, where the couple spent an enjoyable sennight with Hilldale. As the expected war with France had become a reality in May of that year, Hilldale was even more grateful for his brother serving as one of the liaisons between the army and the navy.
After departing Hilldale, Harold told his wife the truth of Fitzwilliam’s posting.
They arrived at Hurst House on the penultimate Friday in October and were warmly welcomed by their parents.