Chapter 25
Bennet and Lydia left the inn in Oxfordshire before the sun came up on Friday morning and turned down the drive to the Wrightfield School for Young Ladies by midday.
Upon arrival, they were conducted to Mrs. Olive Toppin, the headmistress, in her office.
“Welcome to the Wrightfield School for Young Ladies, Miss Bennet. I understand from the reports I have received from your father and stepmother your behaviour and attitude have improved significantly. Are those reports accurate, young lady ?” Mrs. Toppin asked after the introductions, as she looked at Lydia intently over her spectacles.
“Yes Mrs. Toppin, they are. I was on a path which would have ruined not only myself but my sisters. Thankfully, my family loved me enough to make me see the truth even though I was stubborn and silly in the beginning. Now I want to learn as much as I can to be as accomplished a lady as Gigi,” Lydia answered honestly.
“Miss Georgiana Darcy, Lydia’s new sister. My second daughter is now Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy,” Bennet filled in the information Mrs. Toppin did not have.
“I have been learning from Gigi, excuse me, Miss Darcy, how to behave more like a gentlewoman,” Lydia informed the headmistress.
“From what I can see, I do not expect any behavioural issues from you Miss Bennet. If I am correct, and I seldom err in my assessment of a student, you will learn what you desire to here, and we will be happy to welcome you into the Wrightfield Family,” Mrs. Toppin said as she rang a bell.
“Before I depart, there is one change I would like to make. Lydia has indicated her interest in learning to ride, so I would like to enrol her in that programme if I may,” Bennet added.
“Miss Bennet will be included with the beginners.” There was a knock on the door and a young lady entered when summoned by the headmistress.
“Miss Helen Jacobson of Janet’s Well in Surrey, meet your new chamber mate, Miss Lydia Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire.
Helen is one year your senior, Miss Bennet, and is one of our best students.
She will be able to show you around and answer any questions you may have.
Please show Miss Bennet to your shared chambers, Miss Jacobson. ”
“With pleasure, Mrs. Toppin. Please follow me, Miss Bennet.” Miss Jacobson stood back as Lydia hugged her father and then followed her out of the office.
“She will do well here, Mr. Bennet, of that I am certain,” the headmistress stated with surety.
“As am I, Mrs. Toppin.” Bennet bowed and returned to his carriage. After verifying Lydia’s trunks had been unloaded, he was on his way back to the inn where he had spent the previous night.
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On Friday morning, two carriages transported their occupant from Darcy and Matlock Houses to Portman Square, where both Hilldale and Fitzwilliam Houses were located.
The Countess, Anne, and Jane were with Andrew, while Charlotte, Kitty, and Georgiana were in Richard’s carriage accompanying Mary.
The distance was less than a mile but took a full twenty minutes, as the drivers had to wait for other carriages to move out of the way on one of the narrower streets.
When they arrived outside Hilldale House, Andrew pointed out Fitzwilliam House diagonally across the small green from his home.
The brothers’ townhouses on Portman Square were a little smaller than the Darcy and Matlock townhouses, but neither could be called small.
After Jane was introduced to the butler and housekeeper, the tour commenced.
The Countess and Jane accompanied her while Andrew kept Anne company in the drawing room.
After staying the night at Darcy House, Jane noticed the ballroom was about two thirds the size of the one at her sister’s and brother’s house, but she thought its capacity more than adequate.
The furnishings in the public rooms were similar to what she had seen at both Darcy and Matlock Houses—understated elegance.
Everything of the highest quality, but all designed for the comfort of its owners.
There had not been a Viscountess Hilldale since Lady Elaine had filled the office briefly before her father-in-law passed away within weeks of her wedding. Thus, the mistress’s suite had not been redecorated in over sixty years.
“I did not have a chance to see Hilldale house before Reggie’s father passed away and he became the Earl of Matlock, so you cannot blame me for the poor state of these chambers,” Lady Elaine explained.
“We will be travelling north for our wedding trip, so we will not be back in Town until early March. There should be ample time to complete refurbishment of these chambers,” Jane told the housekeeper, who took copious notes of what styles and colours would be used to decorate the soon-to-be mistress’s chambers.
There was little to do in the rest of the house as the Countess had supervised the redecorating at her son’s request some five years earlier, leaving the mistress’s chambers to the future occupant of that space.
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Richard’s house had only a skeleton staff, as the housekeeper and butler had both retired in the last six months. Lady Catherine had not moved to replace them, or other servants who left her employ in London, because she had not used the former de Bourgh House in the last few years.
Charlotte had the perspicacity to suggest that Gardiner’s man should meet them at Fitzwilliam House. Richard shared that he had never visited the London House, so Charlotte expected it would be decorated similarly to Rosings Park, given that it was done by, and in the taste of, Lady Catherine.
“This is what Rosings was like before you started making changes?” asked an amazed Mary. The house looked like someone with terrible taste had cast up her accounts all over the house.
“There is more of a concentration of gaudiness here than there was at Rosings Park,” Richard bit out in disgust as he looked around. “Please excuse my oversight, Mary; I should have known it would be like this and changed it before you saw it.”
“Do not be like William and try and take on that for which you have no culpability, Richard,” Mary soothed. “Charlotte mentioned her suspicion to me, and I agreed that she request my uncle’s clerk to join us.”
“It has been some time since I was at Rosings Park; I forgot how absurd Aunt Catherine’s taste was,” Georgiana stated as the group walked from room to room.
“My goodness!” Richard exclaimed as they entered the primary drawing room, “I should have expected this.”
The drawing room, other than in its dimensions, was a twin of the one at Rosings Park, from the throne-like raised chair to the room’s uncomfortable seating.
Thankfully, they had the foresight to bring notebooks, but Richard decided it would be premature to plan the redecorating.
He turned to Gardiner’s clerk, and said, “Please inventory everything, as it will all go. There is no need to move furniture out in stages as was done at the estate, for we will not be in residence here until it is completely redecorated. We have at least three options where we can be hosted if we are in Town before this house is ready for us.”
“If I understand you, Mr. Fitzwilliam, you want everything catalogued and then removed for sale, leaving a bare shell of a house?” the clerk asked.
“Exactly. The sooner you can have it emptied, the sooner we can plan what we want to do in each room,” Richard agreed.
“It is a capital idea, Richard,” Charlotte complimented, “this way Fitzwilliam House will be exactly what you and Mary desire from the first day you occupy it.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Benn—Charlotte. Sorry, I still have to get used to using your familiar name.” Richard turned to the clerk and sent him on his way. “Mary, the next thing we need to do is staff the townhouse. We have two footmen and three maids remaining.”
“As they have been loyal and remained when others left, are any of the maids capable of being promoted to housekeeper, and are any of the footmen capable of being promoted to butler?” Mary enquired.
“That is an excellent idea, Mary, let us summon the servants,” Richard enthused.
After talking to the five remaining servants, it became clear neither of the footmen had the experience to become the butler, but one of them had sufficient experience to become an under-butler.
There was better luck with the three maids.
One, a Mrs. O’Rourke, had served in the house for more than ten years and had more than the prerequisite experience, so she was promoted on the spot, much to her delight.
The new housekeeper mentioned her husband was the butler at an estate in Surrey and how they lamented the sparsity of the time they were able to spend together.
She was told to have her husband contact Mr. Fitzwilliam if he was interested, thereby doubling the new housekeeper’s delight, and gaining her undying loyalty.
On her recommendation, one of the two remaining maids was promoted to assistant housekeeper, while the other would be an upstairs maid. As soon as a butler was hired, the staffing needs of the house would be addressed in consultation with the new mistress.
After Richard told his driver to swing around the square, he and the four ladies made the short walk across the small green to Hilldale House, leaving behind much invigorated servants whose salaries had more than doubled.
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“William, this is delightful,” Elizabeth gushed as she saw Seaview Cottage for the first time. “I am glad you told me the word ‘cottage’ in its name was not apropos to the size of the structure. To me it looks a little bigger than Longbourn.”
“It is completely private, as we own all of the surrounding land that encompasses the secluded cove I told you about,” Darcy waggled his eyebrows in anticipation of their return during the summer.