Chapter Twenty-Four
If the last four weeks were a test of Kitty’s fortitude and good intentions, they were nothing compared to tolerating Mr Bennet.
Kitty was the perfect hostess. The day after the funeral was Sunday, but being so newly bereaved, the household was not expected to attend church.
Mr Bennet ordered trays in his room, and so the house was peaceful.
Elizabeth knew he was absorbed by the book she had sent to his room when he arrived, and was thankful Kitty and Matthew had a brief reprieve from her father.
Breakfast on Monday morning was perfectly appetising and plentiful, without any of the waste shown by other homes, which the Dennys now must avoid as they navigated their estate back to its former prosperity.
“Your mother would envy your table, Kitty,” Mr Bennet observed as he seated himself at the table with a plate filled with salmon, poached eggs, and a heaping serving of bubble and squeak. “I thought that your house was attempting to economise.”
Matthew frowned. “I see nothing upon the table that Kitty would have ordered from London or even the village. Whatever other neglect the estate suffered, my father enjoyed a varied and plentiful table. We have access to the river, and the home farm and gamekeepers provide nearly all that we require.”
“I hope I will not be under fire for using rice and curry that is not from the estate tomorrow, for Mrs Philpot says there is more than enough salmon left for her to make a kedgeree,” Kitty worried, eyeing her father as she spread marmalade on a muffin.
“Please sample the preserves, Papa. Mrs Philpot never allows a berry on the estate to go to waste, and she is well-known for her jams and jellies.”
“How delicious.” Mr Walters helped himself to a second cup of coffee. “I do love a good kedgeree. And I do hope Mrs Philpot will not forget to send me with a basket as she always does when I depart. Her gooseberry preserves sustain me between visits to Hawthorne Vale.”
Mr Bennet did not seem to appreciate this. Elizabeth wondered what his motivation was in coming to Derbyshire and disturbing Kitty, besides his obvious hope of taking Elizabeth back with him to run Longbourn.
“I am gratified to observe that Hawthorne Vale has survived your first month of management, Kitty. That is no small achievement.” Mr Bennet regarded his daughter seriously from a few places away.
“But then you were impressively shrewd in bringing your most capable sister with you. Lizzy has always possessed the gift of arranging disorder into harmony. It is gratifying to see her talents still appreciated.”
“I have hardly done anything, besides be supportive. I have sat with Mr Denny in order to provide Kitty and Matthew respite when I could. Otherwise, besides perhaps embroidering a few dozen mourning handkerchiefs while I was with him, my contribution has not been significant.” Elizabeth shook her head at the suggestion that she was running Kitty’s house.
“It is true that I did help Kitty make a beginning in reviewing Mrs Chalton’s ledgers, but once she understood the task, she did it all herself.
The offending housekeeper left all of her own accord, and another presented herself for consideration with fortuitous timing.
I have done no more than any relation ought to do when visiting family that is caring for an invalid and preparing for bereavement. ”
“Truly, once Mrs Chalton left, it was a great deal easier, even for the short time before we received Mrs Hawes’s references,” Kitty said.
“The old housekeeper was making matters worse, but when she left rather than answer for her misdeeds while Mr Denny was ill, the other servants ceased to be so difficult.”
She spoke to her father candidly. “I will not lie, Papa. I have done little in the way of menu preparation or household arrangement. We have, as Lizzy reminds you, been caring for Matthew’s father, and attempting to learn what our most pressing troubles on the estate are.
Mrs Philpot encouraged me to leave the menus in her hands for a time and allow her to use her experience and skills with the crops and game from the estate, even for the dinner we held for Jane, and she has not disappointed me.
And James has proved to be positively instrumental in assisting me in the household.
So much so that when Mrs Hawes took up her place as housekeeper, I raised him to first footman. ”
Kitty bowed her head modestly. “Now that the funeral has passed, and my husband has a firm grasp on our plans for the estate, I will spend a fortnight or so in quiet seclusion, mourning and supporting my husband, and then I will begin the hard work of learning all there is to know about this house, and working with Mrs Philpot on our preferred menus. I hope that when I leave mourning behind, I will be prepared to take my place as the mistress of Hawthorne Vale properly.”
“I did mention, Kitty, that Mr Darcy found offers of employment for the servants in question,” Matthew informed her.
“Are you making more changes to your staff?” Mr Bennet inquired.
“Since we arrived, Kitty and I have both felt that the maids and footmen might have a greater sense of loyalty to the house and family if their own families lived on the estate,” Matthew answered.
“Kitty managed to help James see the sense in pleasing her when we arrived, and because he values his position and senses what is coming, he has maneuvered the rest of the staff to be accommodating of Kitty’s orders, though that was not their first inclination when we came. ”
“James has certainly made himself indispensable,” Kitty agreed.
“Though they all have improved in their work, part of the agreement we struck with the tenants in order to keep them from leaving is that though we will have fewer maids and footmen for some time, when we do require them, we will hire them from the estate, for the farmers must find work for their families nearby. But we do not wish to send anyone away without employment when they do not deserve it, so Mr Darcy found good offers for the ones who will go.”
“How many will go?” her father asked.
“All of them,” Kitty said simply. “Except for James and Mrs Hawes. And of course the cook.”
“All? You are going to sack all of your servants? Have you thought this through, Kitty?” Mr Bennet laid down his fork and stared at his daughter.
“When there are fewer servants, the ones who are left will not be pleased to be taking on more labour than they had before,” Kitty said.
“There is no purpose in keeping unhappy maids. They will go to better employment, at houses who can afford them. We are arranging to hire fewer maids and footmen from the families living on the estate. There will be more work for everyone, including me, for a few years. We do not need five maids, at least not just now. Lizzy and I can make our own beds, and once there are no other visitors, housekeeping ought to be manageable with only two maids. Women will come from the farms twice a week for the laundering and be glad of the work. Lizzy and I can help one another with our hair and clothes, and Mrs Hawes is also competent in the duties of a ladies maid if Lizzy visits Mary or goes travelling with Aunt and Uncle Gardiner. And though James will stay as first footman, we will only hire one more man from the farms for now. James can train him while we are in mourning, and there is no reason why we should not get on perfectly with two maids and two footmen for some time, perhaps a few years, until the estate’s income has recovered.
If I wish to host a dinner for our neighbours, we can always hire more help from the farms for a night or two. ”
“That all sounds very well-planned.” Mr Walters complimented Kitty and Denny.
“I must give you credit where it is due, Kitty. You listened to your Mama, and proved that a sensible husband is the finest substitute for a practical education.” Mr Bennet was obviously not inclined to be charitable to his daughter, nor praise her resourcefulness as he ought.
“You are a living advertisement for the benefits of matrimony. It has taught you what no governess has ever managed.”
“Except that I never had a governess, nor was I ever offered any sort of teacher who might compel me to learn,” Kitty had listened to enough from Mr Bennet. “A child cannot learn from a governess who was never hired, never even advertised for.”
“Elizabeth learned without a governess,” Mr Bennet pointed out.
“Some of us learn on our own because we must,” Elizabeth ground through her teeth. “But self-instruction cannot be what is best for every child.”
Mr Walters gazed at first Elizabeth, then Kitty with compassion and understanding. “Indeed, some children might discipline themselves very well, but I would not consider abandoning the rest to their own devices. A parent has an obligation.”
“Do you have many children?” Mr Bennet asked sarcastically.
“Good heavens, no! An eternal bachelor, that is me,” Mr Walters laughed.
“My godson here is the closest I have to family. A physician must devote his life to his patients, and a family would be quite neglected, so I never had one. But I do hope that I would have been a diligent father, if I had ever taken up that task.”
“I hope you have five daughters in your next life.” Mr Bennet nodded to the man. “You cannot do a worse job than I have done.”
“The two daughters of yours that I have met are utterly delightful,” Mr Walters was obviously determined to take up the mantle of defending the Bennet daughters. “If I had five girls half so lovely, I should consider myself blessed.”
“That is because you have not met our Lydia. Though I am surprised, for Kitty usually behaves just like her. How is Lydia, Kitty? Is she dancing holes in the assembly room floors in Newcastle?” Mr Bennet drawled.