Chapter 9
Bennet, Jane, and Elizabeth stood beside Frank Phillips, with the second daughter between her father and uncle, as they waited on the stone steps leading up to the veranda in front of the double front doors of Netherfield Park’s manor house.
Elizabeth was bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation, proving that regardless of her abilities and intelligence, she was still a girl of twelve. Jane was standing serenely on her father’s other side, looking every bit a young gentlelady.
When the coach came to a halt, the Bennets and Phillips watched as two of the largest footmen they had ever seen sprang down from the back bench and one of them extracted the step and opened the door. As they looked on, they saw Mr Hurst alight and then turn to hand out his wife.
Harold inclined his head to Louisa. “It is a small world after all. Two of the Bennet family members are the ones we met, and the blonde is the girl I met the first time I visited Gardiner and Associates with Father,” he shared.
“It is good to see you again, Miss Elizabeth and Mr Bennet,” Louisa stated as she curtsied.
“Mr Bennet, will you introduce the gentleman to both of us and Miss Bennet to my wife, unless she does not remember meeting me?” Harold requested.
“I do remember you, Sir,” Jane said diffidently.
“In that case, Mrs Hurst, it is my pleasure to present my eldest, Miss Jane Bennet, Janey, Mrs Hurst. Mr and Mrs Hurst, my brother-in-law and the solicitor representing Mr Morris, Mr Frank Phillips. Phillips, Mr and Mrs Hurst,” Bennet made the formal introductions as bows and curtsies were exchanged.
“We are with Phillips because since Morris took up residence at his primary estate in Devonshire, I have seen to his estate for him and my two eldest,” Bennet cocked his head towards his daughters, “have filled the roles performed by an estate’s mistress.
Hence, Mrs Hurst, if you want to know anything about the tenants, they are the ones to ask. ”
“That is laudable that you have assisted your friend in that way,” Harold observed.
“If you will follow us up to the front doors, the butler and housekeeper, Mr and Mrs Nichols, are waiting there,” Phillips invited. “They have served in their roles for well over ten years, and Mrs Nichols is the younger sister of Bennet’s housekeeper, Mrs Hill.”
No one had noticed that Elizabeth had walked to where the two huge footmen were standing. “You do not look very scary to me,” she said, as she tilted her head back to see their faces.
“Only if we need to be, little miss,” Biggs responded with a ghost of a smile. He was impressed; the girl was fearless.
“Come, Lizzy,” Bennet called, “we are following your Uncle Frank into the house. You may quiz the small men once our assistance is no longer needed.” He shook his head, only his Lizzy.
Harold could not help but smile. Very few would approach Biggs and Johns without any hesitation like Miss Elizabeth had. She was an extremely confident and happy young girl. He watched as she skipped her way up the steps to where the rest of them were waiting on the veranda.
Seeing the way Mr Hurst was watching Lizzy; Bennet closed the distance between them. “Lizzy is very perceptive; had she sensed that your men were unfriendly, she would not have approached them.”
With her abilities, had she not been a young girl and the daughter of a gentleman, Harold would have brought her to his father’s attention.
That made him think of Louisa and her willingness to assist with his missions if having a wife with him would help his intelligence gathering.
Since the start of the war in May, his father’s department had identified more than a dozen French spies, in fact, he was aware that some of the men were closing in on a ring of traitors in Scarborough.
He had discussed it with Louisa on their journey into Hertfordshire.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when they were introduced to the butler and the housekeeper. “Mrs Nichols will conduct a tour of the house and once it is completed, I will make you known to the steward who will accompany you when you ride the estate,” Phillips revealed.
The house was about half the size of the one at Winsdale, but it was not small, and from what Harold had seen on their arrival and since, it spoke of a well-built and well-maintained structure.
After the Hursts had seen the music room, and Mrs Nichols had led them away, Elizabeth sat at the pianoforte and began to play one of the many pieces of music she had seen in the past. Jane seated herself at the harp and added the instrument’s sounds to what Lizzy was playing on the ivory keys of the pianoforte.
Unlike her next younger sister, Jane did not remember every piece of sheet music she had ever seen.
She did, however, have an excellent ear, which enabled her to accompany her sister without having played, heard, or learnt the music before.
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The tour of the house only reinforced the impression that Harold had formed when they arrived at the estate. It was in good repair, there were no structural issues, the slate roof was as it should be, and it was very well cared for.
Like he had seen from the Adamses at Winsdale, Mrs Nichols was invested in the estate, and the house’s good presentation was a point of pride for her.
Unless he saw some very bad issues while riding the estate, Harold intended to recommend that his sire purchase it.
He agreed that it would be a very good investment and that if he and Louisa were blessed with a second son one day, this estate would do very well for him.
Thoughts of future children were natural given the news Louisa had recently shared. He knew it was early, but like his wife, he prayed that it was as she suspected, and she was with child.
At the end of the tour, as they approached the music room, very sweet music was heard. “Such technical proficiency for ones so young,” Louisa remarked.
“You would know, since your playing on the pianoforte is exquisite,” Harold stated.
They stood at the music room door unobtrusively so as to not disturb the two girls playing. “But not when I was twelve like Miss Elizabeth is,” Louisa said in sotto voce. “And note, she has no sheet music in front of her.”
“With her memory it is little wonder, but Miss Bennet has no need either,” Harold returned.
When the piece was over, the two eldest Bennet sisters blushed at the enthusiastic applause from the door. “We did not want to disturb you while you took the tour. Please pardon us,” Jane said contritely.
“You have nothing to apologise for. You in no way disrupted the tour; rather, your music enhanced it,” Louisa assured the girls.
“Thank you, Mrs Hurst,” Jane responded with a smile.
“Miss Bennet, if it is not too invasive a question, we know Miss Elizabeth needs not the music thanks to her memory. Do you have the same ability as you played the piece with no music before you?” Harold enquired.
Jane looked away, embarrassed. She was not one to put herself forward.
“My Jane can play by ear,” Bennet replied for her. “She hates to be the centre of attention, but we noticed her ability shortly after she began to play the harp.”
“It is nothing special,” Jane said softly as her cheeks burnt scarlet.
“We will not speak of it anymore,” Louisa interjected. “Harold, I will remain here and speak to the Misses Bennet about the home farm and the tenants while you join the men and ride the estate.”
The men took their leave. Louisa asked the sisters to join her in the drawing room to discuss what they needed to.
The three men walked out to the drive, where a man holding a horse and a groom with three more mounts waited for them. “Harper, this is Mr Hurst, who will be inspecting the estate. Mr Hurst, Mr Jeremy Harper, the steward,” Bennet introduced.
After bows, the men rode off, through the home farm first and then towards the tenants’ village.
Harold was pleased to see the cottages were all in good repair and that a previous master had had the foresight to roof them with slate.
From there, they rode across the fields until they reached the boundary with Longbourn.
“Netherfield Park used to be quite a bit larger; however, when he decided to sell the estate, Morris agreed to sell me land that a profligate ancestor of mine had lost to pay debts of honour. Thanks to an entail on Longbourn to heirs male, I will not annex the land with the six tenant families to my estate,” Bennet explained as they looked across the fence.
“My wife thinks I repaired the dower house, but the truth is I rebuilt it on the land which is mine and not part of the entail. That way, if the worst happens, and I am called home; my wife and unmarried daughters will always have a good roof over their heads.”
Phillips held his peace about his opinion that Bennet should have told Fanny about the land and house to relieve her irrational worries about the hedgerows.
“From the map I saw in the study, Netherfield Park is still a good size. Harper, am I correct that there are seven tenants remaining here?” Harold verified. He watched the steward confirm it with a nod. “Then, especially as a secondary estate, I think this one will do very well.”
“If your father purchases Netherfield Park, what will he do with it?” Phillips queried. “We know he wants his name kept secret, and none of us, my nieces included, will share it.”
“He will more than likely allow it to be leased. If that is his decision, may I tell him you would be willing to represent him in that, Mr Phillips?” Harold enquired.
“Indeed, I would,” Phillips averred.
The men took a slow ride back to the manor house. An hour later, the Hursts were in their coach on their way back to London.