Page 54 of Resilience

“Even at half of its size, it would still be an impressive amount of silver.” Matthew smiled tenderly at Kitty. “Besides, my pride will come from providing for my family as I ought, not from possessions I inherited.”

Kitty beamed at him as Elizabeth sought to change the subject to anything innocuous. “Mrs Philpot outdid herself again today. The game soup is delicious.”

“Indeed, this is quite impressive.” Mr Bennet said as he stirred his soup. “You appear much improved, Kitty. Your servants seem admirably composed and efficient. Either they are exceptionally disciplined, or they have learnt to govern themselves. Or does your sister manage everything for you? You were clever to claim Lizzy’s assistance and lure her away from Longbourn, when you knew your father had need of her.”

“There was no danger whatsoever of my staying at Longbourn once my majority passed, whether I went with Kitty or not,” Elizabeth interrupted.

“Of course, you planned to run away to your uncle,” Mr Bennet replied. “Jane wrote to me and expressed her concern that you are overburdened here in Derbyshire. I must admit, you appear overworked to me, Lizzy.”

“And you leapt into your carriage and traveled three days north to rescue me?” Elizabeth was unimpressed. “So that I may do what, return to Longbourn and play steward for you? Keep Mama distracted from bothering you? That sounds like a great deal more work than what I undertake here. This house is in mourning, Papa. I have taken my turns sitting with Mr Denny as we awaited the funeral for days. Everyone in the house is tired, that is perfectly understandable. If I appear unrested, it is due to that and nothing else.”

“I assure you, Mr Bennet, though we are grateful to Elizabeth for her support and friendship to her sister and to me these last weeks, we hardly have any intention of using her as a beast of burden. She is a welcome relation in our home, and a balm of comfort to both of her sisters here in Derbyshire.” Matthew, who tread the waters of his own father’s disapproval for years, regarded Mr Bennet impassively.

“I was told that a housekeeper has already left without notice,” Mr Bennet observed.

“My father was old and sick. We had more than one senior servant who took advantage,” Matthew practically growled. “Mrs Chalton left before she could be dismissed for theft, and has already been replaced by Mrs Hawes, not by my new sister.”

“Well, I look forward to seeing Kitty’s miraculous management of her new home.” Mr Bennet settled back in his chair as Elizabeth seethed and the footmen took away the soup to be replaced by the cold collation and an appetising trifle that Mrs Philpot had not been able to resist supplying.

1 In some English traditions, a “bidder” or funeral inviter was sent house to house to notify others of an impending funeral, often with the delivery of funeral biscuits, as a community token of remembrance. Favors such as handkerchiefs or rosemary sprigs tied in black ribbon were often expected by attendees.

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.”