Chapter 7
Seven
Within the next few days, Darcy received reports from the investigators and from Darcy’s trusted valet, Stevens, who had unobtrusively gathered gossip from the servants.
So far, there had been no whispers in Derbyshire or in London about Darcy being engaged or about any lady with the last name Bennet.
However, there were many rumours flying around about the Duke of Lymebourne. That was not too surprising, given the rake’s propensities for gossip-worthy scandal, but the nature of the whispers was unprecedented and quite disturbing:
The duke was said to be determined to demolish the entire village of Shirethorpe.
It was, he apparently stated, an eyesore that partially blocked the view of Shining Tor that he had envisioned from his newly-constructed East Wing.
The villagers were understandably angry about the proposed demolition, but given the fact that their homes, shops, and church were built on one small part of the duke’s vast landholdings, they were powerless to stop the nobleman’s plan.
Of course, the duke planned to rebuild the village elsewhere—but, it turned out, quite near to Lambton, and that was causing a certain amount of disquiet among the residents of the bustling market town nearest to Pemberley.
What Darcy heard from Stevens concerned him enough that he postponed several meetings, made his excuses to Georgiana for missing luncheon and tea, and rode out to consult with Lambton’s vicar, magistrate, school headmaster, and several merchants.
Darcy heard firsthand many worries about the relocation of Shirethorpe.
First, because opinions of the duke’s character were so low, everyone Darcy spoke with assumed that the homes, shops, and church he would order built would be of significantly lower quality than what already existed in Shirethorpe.
The duke seemed to care only about his own purse, his own pleasures; he never spoke of benefitting others, nor even of care for his own legacy.
The man rarely looked past next week in his own life; he certainly was not wishing to build a village that would last more than a century.
Second, most of the people in Shirethorpe, after the village’s relocation, would be too far from their current places of work.
Almost half of the men who lived in Shirethorpe worked in a quarry that was part of Lymeston; the investigator had discovered that the rumours that the quarry might soon close down seemed likely, given recent output and the fact that the long-time manager of the quarry had abruptly left a month ago and had been replaced with a much less experienced man.
Aside from the quarrymen, many other villagers worked for Lymeston’s home farm, for two very wealthy tenant farmers, or for a local brewery.
The men Darcy consulted worried that the displaced workers would either compete for local jobs and drive wages down or become a population of idle, impoverished, and angry men.
Third, the rumours stated that the duke wished to create a new road that passed northwards through the new location of Shirethorpe; Lambton residents were anxious that the new road might syphon off a considerable amount of trade in their own town.
At the end of each meeting, Darcy promised that he would attempt to interview the duke on the proposed relocation, and that the Darcy family would always attempt to work with Lambton residents to help solve their problems.
Contemplating next steps, Darcy sent a message to the duke, requesting a meeting; the messenger returned with the reply that Darcy was welcome at any time, but only if the “beauteous Miss Bennet” accompanied him—which was an unacceptable requirement, to his mind, not to mention impossible at the moment.
The morning following all those meetings in Lambton, Darcy brought up with Morris the potential problems that had been discussed resulting from the duke’s decision to tear down and rebuild an entire village.
“Is there a way we could absorb some of the men who may soon live closer to Pemberley than to Lymeston?” he asked his steward.
Morris reported that two of Pemberley’s most affluent tenants needed farmhands, and there were at least a few opportunities for workers at the sawmill. Heartened by the news, Darcy asked him to make a list of possible positions.
Next, Darcy began to jot down random thoughts of businesses or organisations he could establish in order to create more jobs for Shirethorpe and Lambton residents.
He knew that small local newspapers were springing up all over England, so he contemplated starting a weekly periodical that would concentrate on the northern portion of Derbyshire, a valid counterpart to the Derby Mercury, which covered the southern regions of the county more thoroughly.
Founding a newspaper would require educated workers, of course, but the Lambton school Darcy’s father created more than a decade ago had resulted in a growing number of literate young adults in the region.
Many of them worked jobs that did not require literacy nor education, and Darcy could imagine that providing jobs that did have such requirements would allow openings that could be filled by relocated workers.
Quarrymen had skills that could be used in a millstone dressing enterprise. Highly skilled stone dressers could make millstones that would be required in high-end flour mills. Of course, another idea would be to found such a flour mill.
Darcy knew the textile mills that were so crucial to Derbyshire’s economy—especially in the Derwent Valley—unfortunately provided inadequate pay, brutal hours, and dangerous working conditions.
He wondered if he could help launch a luxury textile company with skilled weavers, dyers, and pattern makers to create unique fabrics while providing decent wages and safe conditions within the factory.
There had been quite a few servants from Pemberley who had resigned their positions in order to heed the call for workers in Derwent mills, only to return begging for any sort of job again because of the horrific situations offered by the mills.
That meant that there were people ready-to-hand with relevant experience for such an endeavour.
Another thing he considered, which would help the people of Shirethorpe and employ the young, educated adults of Lambton, was building another school—this one in Shirethorpe.
Darcy felt excited about furthering his father’s legacy by spreading literacy and general education amongst more and more people.
He worked very hard that day on fleshing out business plans, and he then made a careful copy. I really must hire a secretary, he thought as he painstakingly copied the last page of the twelve-page plan; he sent the cleaner copy to his man of business for opinions and possible investors.
Darcy knew that following his own passion was an excellent way of choosing projects that would succeed, so the next day he began reaching out to the men and women of Lambton who might be helpful in establishing a school for Shirethorpe.
That day, he learnt that construction of the new Shirethorpe buildings had begun, which none of the Lambton residents he had consulted the day before had realised.
The Smiths, the couple that gave him that news, loved taking long walks, and several days ago they had spotted a new road, of sorts—really, just dirt tracks created by horse-drawn carts.
The next day they rode horses to the tracks and followed them to an area where horses, carts, and workers were beginning to construct new buildings.
A worker had answered their questions by asserting that they were rebuilding Shirethorpe.
“Did it look as if the materials brought to the site were pre-cut stone from an older building?” Darcy asked.
Mr Smith nodded eagerly. “I even asked if they were demolishing buildings in the original townsite and rebuilding them here, and they confirmed my supposition. I do not know where the people are living in the meantime.”
Darcy arranged to have the Smiths show his head stone mason the construction site the next day. Davies was an expert in all things stone, including quarrying and the Peak District traditions of constructing stone buildings.
Later, he met with Davies and asked him to report whether or not the men hired to rebuild Shirethorpe were competent and if their pay or schedule would likely be inducements to cut corners.
Darcy said, “I do not know the best tactic to take if they are not doing good work, but I do know that I would not wish a series of needless disasters, caused by low-quality work, to occur—especially not so near to Pemberley.”
Davies said, “As you know, I have two men trained up to help with all masonry jobs here; but I have not yet informed Morris that I have identified another boy, Wilson’s second eldest son, who is strong and conscientious enough to do the job.
I should love a project that the four of us could take on, in which I can teach Jim Wilson the craft.
If you continue to pay us all our usual wages while we work on the new Shirethorpe, alongside the duke’s hires, I could almost guarantee that the town will be well made. ”
That seemed a valid plan, and Darcy agreed to it but warned Davies that he should keep the inspection and the offer of help as secret as possible—especially the fact that they were associated with him, and Pemberley.
His recent interactions with the duke had been problematic, and so he wished to maintain discretion about his involvement with anything connected to Shirethorpe.
Of course, Darcy kept in mind the itinerary of the Gardiners and Elizabeth.
He wished to send a report to their northernmost destination, and it would take his messenger half a day to travel there.
Even as he worked on his usual concerns, checking in with local gossip and the reports from his investigators, plus the nascent projects on behalf of Lambton and Shirethorpe, he watched the days tick down.
Finally he was able to sit down and pen a letter reporting that “the man of our recent concern” only attempted to visit “the lady” one time and seemed to be busy with other plans and tasks.
He wrote that no gossip had sprung up anywhere “regarding the matter we discussed.”
Darcy handed the sealed letter to Billy, the youth who had long proven his worth in courage and loyalty. Outlining the places where he would change horses, Darcy instructed Billy to hand it to Gardiner directly, and to wait for an answer.
“If Gardiner is not there yet, wait for him; if he has been and gone, try to follow him; if he has alerted the innkeeper that he would not be coming, after all, come back here.”
Billy nodded. The careful instructions were not terribly unusual; Darcy had many sensitive financial transactions which had been coordinated via messages Billy had carried.
Darcy felt almost giddy with happiness that he might soon be hearing from Elizabeth, via Gardiner, about her return.
He knew that they were not officially engaged yet—that she might have changed her mind, once free of the anxiety about the duke—but every part of him believed he could rely on her statement that she was positive she wished to marry him.