As much as he would have liked to refute what his cousin said, Darcy could not. It was, after all, one of the many reasons he did not want the shrew in any of his houses. Still knowing that, rather than add his voice to his cousin’s, Darcy looked away and said nothing.
“She is not so very bad…” Bingley attempted to defend.
“Come now, Bingley, you know that is brown. Why do you not ask my cousin his opinion? He remains quiet so as not to injure your sensibilities,” Richard replied.
“Darce?” Bingley looked to his other friend. “What doyou think?”
“As much as I would like to disagree with Richard, I cannot do so and still remain honest,” Darcy responded. “We have both tried to tell you that unless you check Miss Bingley, things will not go well.”
Although he knew it was true before he asked the question, Bingley had been hoping Darcy would refute his cousin’s words. Darcy did not, so Bingley moved on, as was his wont when he did not desire to face a difficult subject. “Is it normal to only include the house and home farm? And what about the rules regarding the servants?” He did not mention the embargo on redecorating.
“When someone leases a property, the lessee will not care for the estate the same way an owner would, so I have seen several leases where they do not include more than is in this lease,” Darcy revealed. “As far as the décor, gardens, staff, and servants are concerned, if I were ever to lease one of my estates, I would do the same. The reason for keeping permanent staff and servants is that those employed temporarily are neither invested in, nor do they know, the proper way of running and caring for the manor house. Any landlord who cares for his property and the people who work for him would do the same.”
“From what I saw from the outside and the little I have so far seen of the inside of the house, it is in excellent condition. You should see the inside and the land first. For my money, I would look at it and make a decision based on those factors alone,” Richard recommended.
“I agree with Richard,” Darcy added.
“We would like to see everything,” Bingley stated when Mr Phillips returned to the drawing room.
The rest of the house confirmed the opinions about it being in very good condition. There was no dirt or dust to be seen anywhere. There were three floors of bedchambers. Thesecond floor was for family, while the third and fourth floors were for guests. Everything was tastefully furnished and designed with understated elegance which both Richard and Darcy preferred.
Horses were provided—the quality of the horseflesh impressed the cousins—and the steward joined the three men to view the home farm and the rest of the estate.
Like the house, there was nothing the two estate owners saw to critique.
They reached the fence which demarcated the border between Netherfield Park and the neighbouring estate. “That is Longbourn’s land,” the steward replied when asked. “It is the largest estate in the area.”
When Darcy heard the name Longbourn, it reminded him of something in the recesses of his mind, but he could not recall where he had heard of it before.
“Well?” Bingley asked once they had returned the horses to the grooms in the drive. “What think you? It is very close to London, and the rules regarding servants and an embargo on redecorating notwithstanding, it seems like a good place.”
“I think it will be perfect for you to get a feel for this life,” Darcy recommended.
“William has the right of it. This is not some distressed estate from which the landlord is attempting to suck every penny. It is anything but. I would take it if I were you. As long as you make sure your younger sister knows she may not abuse the servants and must live by the rules, all will be well,” Richard agreed.
Bingley ignored the words about his sister. “Then I will sign the lease.”
The three returned to Mr Phillips’s office, where he insisted Mr Bingley read the whole of the lease, initialling the bottom of each page to acknowledge he had read and understood all of the terms. The lease was signed, Bingley wasgiven the banking account information to pay for the lease, and the three boarded the coach for the return journey to London.
The Bingleys would take possession of the leased estate on the seventeenth day of September, less than a fortnight prior to Michaelmas.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
About eight days after the three men inspected Netherfield Park, a ship belonging to the Dennington Lines glided up the Thames, cutting through the early morning mist like a hot knife through butter.
Felicity Taylor, née Bennet, had never thought she would see the land of her birth again before she joined her beloved Roger in heaven. As the ship which had been home to her and her family for the last eight weeks kept moving forward and the mist faded, allowing London to come into view, she accepted that she had been wrong about that.
“Gammy, there are so many buildings. What is that one over there, with the domed roof? Is this where we will live?” Felix, who was fifteen, asked.
“Felix, we are to live on a farm; does this look like a farm to you? Are you barmy?” Dolores, aged seventeen, and called Lola, demanded. “This is London, is it not, Gammy?”
“Although it is not nice to call your younger brother barmy, yes, Lola dear, this is London.” She turned to her youngest grandson. “That, Felix dear, is part of St Pauls Cathedral.” She addressed all of her family again. “We will travel to the town of Meryton in Hertfordshire. It is about twenty miles from London,” Felicity explained. “As nice as it was for my brother to pay for us to travel first class on a ship only for us from New York City, I do not expect he will have someone waiting for us when the ship docks.” Felicity intended to scold her brother. He always was generous, but it must have cost him a pretty penny to pay for eight of them tosail to London. It was a few days into the voyage that Felicity realised they were the only passengers on the ship.
“I, for one, am looking forward to meeting my namesake,” Henry Taylor stated. “And Mother, you are correct; there is no need for Lola to call Felix names.”
“Sorry, Pa,” Lola said contritely.
“Now children, remember what Gammy told us; people in England, are far more reserved than you are used to,” Deborah Taylor reminded her offspring. She was Henry’s wife and was called Debby by him, her mother-in-law, and friends.
