“Oh, Lizzie,” cried Mrs. Bennet, who pulled desperately at her daughter, trying to seat her once again on the gallery bench. Darcy swung around to them.
“Your pardon, my lord, I believe the lady has a direct interest in this case, but I will caution… Miss Bennet?”—she sullenly acknowledged him—“and your sister, perchance?”
“My mother, sir, Mrs. Bennet, wife to Mr. Bennet of Longbourn. I am her second daughter, Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
“A moment of the court’s time, my lord; some facts are missing from the depositions.” Darcy waited until Lord Finch acknowledged his request. He stepped closer to the women and spoke in a low voice so their communication would be private. “Ma'am,” he said, addressing Mrs. Bennet, “I implore you to restrain your daughter. Lord Finch is a misogynist, prejudiced, and mistrustful of women.
“But this may be to your advantage: he would enjoymaking you beholden to him for his generosity in the settlement. You cannot win this case because the law is against you, but you may win a reprieve while awaiting Mr. Bennet’s recovery.” Darcy paused; he could see his words discomforted the lady, but rather than descending to tearful despair, she sighed and acknowledged his position. He knew the law: she, as a woman, could only obey it.
Miss Bennet murmured, “De plus, il est dans l’ordre de la nature que la femme obéisse à l’homme—Moreover, it is in the order of nature that women obey men.” The quotation was fromEmileby Jean-Jacques Rousseau, published in 1762 and banned by the Catholic Church. Her fine eyes flashed with contempt. Darcy chose to ignore her.
“Can you tell me why you dispute the estate’s income? The previous year, it returned some five hundred and forty pounds per quarter, but following Mr. Bennet’s apoplexy, the return was only four hundred and thirty pounds. Thefactscertainly do not favour you.”
Miss Bennet harrumphed, “As I informed Mr. Collins when he inquired some months ago, we instituted a new cropping system based on a four-course rotation. Our farms follow the recommended cycle—wheat, then turnips, barley, with undersown clover and ryegrass, grazed in the fourth year. Until the rotation is established, farm yields are reduced, so the estate quite properly reduced the rents. These will be restored and repaid once the cumulative increase in fertility results in heavier cereal harvests. According to agriculturist Arthur Young, the same is done in other counties such as Derbyshire and Norfolk.”
“But surely the steward explained this to Mr. Collins. Indeed, my father’s estate at Pemberley uses the same rotation, modified for our harsher clime.” Darcy was surprised the young woman was cognisant of the detailed operation of their leasehold farms.
Once again her bright eyes rolled upwards, and her voice took a condescending tone: “There is no steward, sir. Mrs. Bennet and her daughters run the estate. We lease to good tenants, and we invest in keeping their houses and buildings in good repair as well as those of our cottagers. A steward would be an extra unnecessary expense, and, I daresay, without Mr. Bennet to oversee their activities, a dishonest or indifferent man could cost us dearly.
“Naturally, Mr. Collins chose to ignore us, though I believe his rejection was spiced by avarice because he covets the estate. As a clergyman, should I remind him of the scriptures—For the love of money is the root of all evil…and pierces them with many sorrows?”Her brow furrowed. “But what sorrow can there be in possessing Longbourn? It’s not to be borne.”
A flush crept across her cheeks; she turned away, embarrassed by her apparent weakness. As abruptly as she had turned, she swung back to Darcy. Her hazel eyes, flecked with emerald, locked onto his.
“A question, sir! Having lost her husband to paralysis, does my mother also need to suffer the ignominy of losing her home? This is why you are here, is it not? To make Mr. Collins easy with an estate that is not rightfully his own. You should be ashamed of abetting such a scheme.”
During court proceedings was the wrong moment to have an epiphany, but Darcy suddenly realised he was on the wrong side of this matter. His aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh of Rosings, had instructed him to act for her rector, Mr. Collins, to whom, only recently, she had awarded the nearby Hunsford living. Having met the man, Darcy recognised Mr. Collins was not sensible, and his deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society.
Lady Catherine enjoyed his fawning sycophancy until he progressed to making love to her daughter, Anne, who washeiress to the great Rosings estate and of rank and consequence far above a mere rector. She hoped to rid herself of the man through the entail on Longbourn.
In the Bennet ladies, Darcy saw a strength of character and, in Miss Bennet, a determination of spirit that never would bear to be frightened at the will of others. Clearly, they cared for the estate, its leaseholders, and cottagers. Their implementation of the four-crop rotation was recognised by experts such as Arthur Young and the Scot James Anderson as the best modern agricultural practice. To relinquish all this for Mr. Collins was a travesty; nevertheless, the law was on Collins’s side.
At this moment, a young boy stepped up to Miss Bennet and passed her a slip of paper. She unfolded it and read the message contained therein.
“Oh Mama,” she cried, “there is a landslip on the road to Meryton, and Mr. Phillips says it cannot be cleared until tomorrow. He is unable to get to St. Albans and must return to Meryton. He could detour by Redborne but still would arrive too late to be of any use.” She grasped her mother’s hands. “Mama, fear not, you and I are obstinate creatures; we persevere: de duivel op het kussen binden—obstinacy overpowers even the Devil himself!”
“My lord, we can resume.” Darcy did not know the language, possibly Dutch or Flemish. He smiled wanly at Mrs. and Miss Bennet; he could not save their occupancy of the estate, but he could prevent them from falling into genteel poverty.
“These gentlewomen are Mrs. Bennet and her daughter Miss Elizabeth. They have just received word that a landslide on the Meryton to St. Albans road has prevented Mr. Phillips, their attorney and trustee to the estate, from being present. Because this legal proceeding rests on matters offact, as a Doctor of Laws, I possess the authority both to represent the estate trust in this matter and to provide a solution satisfactoryto my client, Mr. Collins, and to the current life tenant, represented herewith by his lady, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Please carry on, Mr. Darcy. Let me be astonished by your perspicacity.”
“Sine controversia est—it is without controversy—the Longbourn estate cannot be managed by a respectable woman such as Mrs. Bennet without assistance from her husband. There is no steward, and Mr. Phillips, the trustee, is an attorney and not an estate holder—he has neither experience nor interest in farming or managing leaseholders. Thus, it is likely the value of the estate will diminish.”
Darcy held up his hand and shook his head slightly, hoping Miss Bennet would refrain from interceding. She blushed, highlighting her rosy cheeks and giving him cause to look sharply away lest he betray himself.
“Because Mr. Collins is the heir presumptive, it’s equitable and just he assume management of the estate. In this role, he can prevent further damage and maintain its value for present and future beneficiaries. The court, however, should recognise that Mr. Bennet, while living, remains thepro temporelife tenant, and Mr. Collins, as heir presumptive, will be acting as his agent,ceteris paribus.”
“My detailed reading of the entail is such that the dower house”—he turned to Miss Bennet and confirmed the dower house was unoccupied—“that the dower house be available for the spouse and for any dependent children of the retiring life tenant for their occupancy. That is, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, and their children will remove to the dower house and vacate the manor house for the sole use of Mr. Collins.”
Darcy realised he must finish his proposal quickly. Mrs. Bennet, silently sniffling into her handkerchief, was being comforted by an increasingly angry Miss Bennet.
“I further point out, my lord, the interest at the four percents from Mrs. Bennet’s portion of fivethousand pounds, which she brought to the marriage, is insufficient to support and raise five young ladies, as well as provide adequate nursing to Mr. Bennet in his current condition.
“Again, equity demands Mr. Bennet, aspro temporelife tenant, receive a fair proportion of the rent receipts from the estate. I would suggest, say, one hundred and fifty pounds per quarter would suffice for their needs, which will enable them to employ such servants needed to maintain their status as gentry. The remainder would be to Mr. Collins’s account.”
Darcy glanced towards the clergyman, whose face was flushed with anticipation at his gaining control of the estate with so little effort on his behalf. It would be inappropriate to inform him that with the reduced rental returns, his portion would be some two hundred and eighty pounds per quarter. With the need to pay the King’s tax, local vestry and poor taxes, invest in fencing, drainage, and maintenance of leaseholder and tenant buildings, his net income could well be less than he received from the Hunsford living.
“Well done, Mr. Darcy; your acumen is well appreciated.” The judge leant forward in his high-backed chair and looked down at the barrister. “I am concerned, however, that the Bennet ladies lack adequate protection. I cast no doubts as to the character of Mr. Collins, who is an ordained clergyman, but I cannot countenance his being theunmarriedmaster of Longbourn with five single ladies in the dower house without Mr. Bennet to protect them. Have the elder Miss Bennets come out? Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter, appears to be a stout, well-formed girl.”
