Chapter 3. Lady Anne’s Hobby
Lady Anne Fitzwilliam married George Darcy for his great wealth and during the seventeen years of their marriage, she spent a great deal of his annual income.
In the first two years of their marriage, she redecorated Pemberley and the grand house in Mayfair.
After the birth of Fitzwilliam Darcy, the necessary heir, George Darcy raised his wife’s allowance, and she began purchasing items she would never use.
When Mr Banks took delivery of the third set of new dishes in a single month’s time, Mr Darcy intervened and ordered the butler to store the items in the ballroom on the third floor which soon resembled a warehouse of delivery crates and barrels.
Lady Anne was an excellent hostess for dinner parties, but she never enjoyed the duties involved with hosting a ball and the unused space was perfect for storing her purchases.
The entire third floor of the house was a ballroom with four small rooms just off the staircase for the ladies or gentlemen to refresh themselves, but the remaining space was one large room for dancing and mingling.
Now the room was crowded with bolts of cloth, chests of old spices, trunks of shoes, and rooms of furniture that arrived at the back door, and then were carried through the house and up the front stairs to the third floor.
The backstairs, reserved for use by the servants, were too narrow and twisted to allow barrels and crates to be carried up to the third floor.
Whenever Mrs Darcy was in residence in London, Mr Banks hired two additional footmen to manage the deliveries.
But the goods were stored haphazardly, and crates of bottles of wine and port were added to the mix until Mr Darcy intervened once more and ordered the bottled wines and port stored in the cellars under the house.
When Lady Anne died during the birth of Georgiana fifteen years before, the purchases ended but George Darcy never dealt with the mountain of items stored in the top floor of his house.
Once he inherited the estate, Fitzwilliam Darcy also ignored the ballroom in his London home as well; the accumulated purchases stored there were a good excuse to not host a ball for the members of the first circles.
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The morning after the meeting with the attorneys, Clemmons left the house in Mr Darcy’s coach to visit a knowledgeable man in business in London.
Before noon, the secretary returned with a guest and introduced Mr Darcy to Mr Edward Gardiner saying, “For many years, Mr Gardiner has acted as a factor purchasing wool from Pemberley and your other estates in the north.”
“I believe we have been introduced in the past,” Darcy conceded.
Mr Gardiner bowed appropriately and replied, “Indeed Mr Darcy. My wife remembers your mother visiting the shop her parents run in Lambton and bringing you along to purchase balls, paper, and sealing wax.”
“Christopher Barnes… Yes, Mr Barnes has been a fixture in Lambton for three decades,” Darcy said. “I did not know you had married into that family.”
Clemmons interrupted and moved the conversation forward, “Mr Darcy, I believe that Mr Gardiner could aid you with the sale of goods on the third floor of this house.”
“There is a need for confidentiality,” Darcy stated. “There is a financial problem that must be resolved before Christmas.”
“We must raise approximately thirty-four hundred pounds before Christmas,” Clemmons explained.
“How can I help you, Mr Darcy?”
The three men climbed the many flights of stairs to the third floor and into the darkened ballroom. Once Mr and Mrs Banks were summoned to join Darcy and his guest, the couple spent several minutes pulling back draperies and opening shutters to let in the sunlight.
Edward gazed intently at the piles of crates and barrels, the bolts of cloth, and the boxes filled with dishes. There was dust on the items above the reach of the chambermaids. He noted the variety of cloth, the quality of the porcelain, and the trunks and barrels sealed away with hidden items.
After almost thirty minutes of examining the items stored in the room, Mr Gardiner came to master of the house and said, “This is indeed a treasure trove, Mr Darcy. The secret to obtaining the desired funds will be to release the goods in drips and drabs to the auction houses and to merchants.”
“What do you mean?” Darcy asked, dreading a long process.
Lifting the loose end of one bolt of cloth, Mr Gardiner explained, “This calico should be sold immediately; modistes are outfitting ladies with summer gowns.”
Then he lifted the end of another bolt of bright red silk and said, “The silks should be offered in October when ladies are ordering Christmas finery.”
Now Mr Gardiner moved to an open barrel with stacks of dishes packed in straw.
He picked up a large bowl and flipped it over before saying, “I suggest we get the different barrels of dishes into the market immediately. With many weddings coming in the months of May and June, customers will be seeking complete sets of tableware as gifts for newlyweds.”
“I do not know what is stored here in my home,” Darcy admitted, and the other two men nodded in agreement.
“We need an inventory,” Gardiner stated simply. “The first task is to create a comprehensive inventory as all the items are moved to my warehouse.”
“How do you suggest I obtain such a document?” Darcy asked.
“We need someone who can be here at your house in Mayfair for many weeks without drawing attention,” Gardiner said.
Mr Darcy nodded in agreement but added, “I prefer someone who can come and go without attracting attention.”
After a moment or two, Mr Gardiner said, “I have a niece who is twenty years. She is excellent with sums and understanding inventories of cargo ships as well as being well-read and intelligent. I believe she will be the best candidate if she is interested.”
Not certain he understood Gardiner, Mr Darcy queried, “If she is interested?”
Gardiner glanced at Clemmons who remained silent, so the tradesman explained, “Sir, my niece is an obedient child, and she is much beloved by my wife and I. She is a woman-grown who is making decisions how her life will unfold. I will not ‘order’ her into this project if she is uninterested.”
He added, “I can only imagine the resulting conversation with my lady wife if I attempted to do so.”
Darcy remained unimpressed until Mr Clemmons whispered, “Remember the times you did not listen to Mrs Reynolds at Pemberley or to Mrs Banks here in Mayfair, sir. You regretted your thoughtlessness for disregarding their counsel for several days.”
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It was only the previous month that Darcy ignored a specific warning from Mrs Banks.
He interviewed and hired Mrs Young to be Georgiana’s first lady’s companion without the housekeeper’s review of the lady.
Mrs Banks was clear in her disapproval of Mrs Young, but Darcy chose to ignore her.
After just two weeks in Mrs Young’s company, Georgiana broached the idea of an extended visit to the shore at Ramsgate for the summer with Mrs Young as his young sister’s only chaperone and Darcy, distracted by business, was giving the notion serious consideration.
In the meantime, Mrs Banks made inquiries with the housekeepers of the two references Mrs Young provided, as well as with her counterpart at Pemberley.
After only ten days, a letter arrived from Mrs Reynolds in far-off Derbyshire, revealing that ‘Mrs Young’ came from the town of Lambton and she was a known confederate of George Wickham, the most disreputable man to have once been associated with the Darcy family and Pemberley estate.
Mr Banks sent footmen to follow Mrs Young on her next day off and the woman led the men directly to an inn in London where she met in private with George Wickham. One footman followed Mrs Young when she returned to Mayfair while the second remained at the inn and observed Wickham.
At the Darcy house in Mayfair, two additional letters arrived from the housekeepers of the ‘references’ Young provided when she applied for the position as a lady’s companion.
Mrs Bank’s correspondence proved that footmen or chambermaids could intercept and replace letters to the master of any house.
Mrs Young was confronted with true letters from the references–the first lady had never heard of her and the second lady had dismissed the woman for stealing.
Mrs Banks and a maid packed Mrs Young’s belongings, and she was shown the street through the kitchens.
While packing the woman’s clothing and brushes, the housekeeper recovered three silver forks, six silver teaspoons, and three silver butter knives.
Remembering the situation uncomfortably, Darcy directed Mr Gardiner, “Speak with your niece as soon as possible. If she is interested, bring her round tomorrow and I shall interview…I should like my housekeeper to speak with her before I allow her control of the third floor.”
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