Chapter 14
“I have used crop rotation for many years,” Elizabeth heard her father say, as the three men re-entered the manor house, having been some hours walking the land.
“I use a seed drill in Pemberley to speed up planting.”
“Yes, that is all very well, but Pemberley is many times larger than Longbourn. I fear the expense would outweigh the increased yield,” Mr Bennet replied.
“But if you make an agreement with your neighbours, including Bingley, or whoever the future tenant might be, the machine and men could be hired for a time to plant all the neighbours’ fields.”
“Fine idea,” Elizabeth heard her father say and saw him clap Mr Darcy on the back in a gesture of bonhomie. “I will pass you back to the ladies,” her father said, arriving at his study.
The gentlemen did not see Elizabeth, given that she had paused some way up on the stairs, listening to their conversation with her father.
“It does not all add up,” Mr Darcy opined.
“What does not add up, Darcy?” his friend enquired.
“The gentlemen of the neighbourhood have said that Mr Bennet is well liked but is an indolent master of Longbourn. However, the lands of Longbourn are well cared for and appear to be diligently managed. And Mr Bennet is aware of all the latest advances in farming techniques, more so than many landowners with more extensive properties.”
“So, they are wrong,” Mr Bingley replied with a shrug.
“Yet before we left, I heard Miss Lydia taking instructions from Miss Bennet on the making up of a dress for her. If the estate is as well-managed as it appears, it should have sufficient funds for the ladies to afford a modiste, to make up dresses for them. But it seems their youngest sister is performing the role of seamstress. I cannot help but wonder where the income, which the Bennet family should be earning, is going.”
Elizabeth thought on it, she recalled a time when her father spent many hours in his study and few acting the part of steward of the lands of Longbourn or interacting with the tenants, but it had been many years since that was the case.
However, if anything, their pin money and the outgoings of the Longbourn family had been reduced.
Elizabeth had thought it had been to have the funds to engage Miss Farnsworth, but in the intervening years, she had learned more about sums. The reductions in the family’s outgoings would be many times the cost of engaging a governess.
She determined that she would question her father on this when next she had the opportunity.
But she also knew that Mr Darcy had at least misunderstood one aspect of life at Longbourn; Lydia did not act as seamstress to her sisters.
What a fine notion to have drawn from the overheard conversation.
The Longbourn ladies had dresses made by the local modiste, as did every other lady in the environs of Meryton, but Lydia had a great eye for fashion and also kept abreast of the London styles.
And under Miss Farnsworth, she had perfected her stitching, and she enjoyed altering their gowns to match the London fashions.
However, she only carried out the final additions of the most delicate work herself.
Sally, the housemaid, did all the larger alterations under Lydia’s direction.