Page 47

Lawrence held up his hand.

“In his youth he was a reasonable player. He was never going to win much, yet at the same time he was not going to lose much. It is this memory that keeps leading him into trouble. The drink addles his mind sufficiently that he loses steadily. And he will not listen to anyone, especially his wife.”

“Is he in trouble?”

“Yes. But there it gets complicated. Hurst’s grandfather was a drunk, and did significant damage to the estate. But it is entailed, entirely common for exactly this kind of situation. Therefore the lands of the estate are unable to be mortgaged or sold. Hurst’s own father is abstemious and has spent his life bringing the estate back into prosperity. An entail can only last three generations, then it needs to be renewed. At present, when Hurst’s father passes on, the entail breaks. The father has been pressing hard for Hurst, as the heir, to sign the papers extending the entail. Hurst is refusing, and we know why.”

“What are the father’s options?”

“None. Hurst is the sole heir in that line of the family. There are at least two cadet lines but they are both second cousins, several times removed, and there has been no contact for a generation. I said that the father has no options, but I have misspoken there. He has two equally unpalatable options. Leave it all to his son, knowing that the likelihood is the estate will not survive that generation. Or disinherit his only surviving child and put the estate into the hands of a stranger.”

“I see. You are telling me that Hurst is doing a good job of ruining his life and all we have to do is stand back and watch?”

“Indeed.”

“Let us talk about Bingley. First within the context of the Hursts. Is there a solution to his problems through his wife’s brother?”

“That open purse has been closed. There is a debt of £3,000 to Bingley. It is unsecured as Hurst has nothing to use as security, well other than being his father’s heir. Bingley settled an early gambling debt which is how the debt arose. But he has refused to pay out further amounts.”

“And Bingley himself?”

“A talented businessman who is not making full use of his gifts. He is the classic example of a newly made man, trying to make the jump to gentleman. At present he is straddling that divide and is neither one nor the other. The biggest issue is that his father has passed on.”

Lawrence saw Elizabeth looked confused and provided clarification.

“The well-moneyed offspring of successful tradesmen normally join the ranks of the gentry in the following manner. Now this is a broad brush, there is lots of nuance, but it will illustrate for you.

“The sons are married off to the daughters of the gentry who are poorly dowered. The situation that you explained to Lord Napier and myself, of Bingley and your eldest sister, was entirely normal. She is a well born lady, descended from generations who have lived on the same estate for hundreds of years. He is rich but of no pedigree. Together they marry, he gets her breeding, she gets his money, their children are gentle born and everyone is satisfied.

“The daughters are just the converse. A second or lower son, a gentleman with lots of breeding but no money. A very well dowered daughter descended from a tradesman. In this instance he gets the money, she gets the breeding, and the children are gentle born, just as in the first example.

“There is some sneering but money talks. Where Bingley is struggling is that he has no father who can play the role of the successful tradesman, and leave his son to portray the gentleman. Bingley can act the gentleman, when he chooses, but he is always tainted with his roots in trade. Especially as the business is still run by his uncle, using the family name.”

“When he first arrived in Meryton, he was rumoured to have £5,000 a year.”

“Unlikely to be true. If that were the case then he would have made a match already. I suspect that number was nothing but a country rumour. I doubt he has much more than your own known income.”

“Less than £3,000?”

Lawrence nodded.

“He does not lead an extravagant life, but he is probably exceeding his income. Between supporting his two sisters and Hurst, as well as his own spending my estimate is that he is spending in excess of his £3,000. But it is there that my comment about his business ability comes into play. He is not a stupid man, far from it, and he is generating returns which are allowing him to maintain his capital.”

“My sense of the man was that he was being taken advantage of, an open purse for others.”

“Without doubt. He could save close to £1,000 by ridding himself of his relatives. The Hursts are leeches, and his sister knows no restraint when it comes to living within her allowance.”

“Let us leave Darcy until last, tell me of the sister.”

“Caroline Bingley has been walking along the edge of a cliff on a windy day for months, indeed years. How she has not been blown to her demise is beyond my understanding. The first thing is, wherever she goes, she is very obvious, both through her voice and her manner of dressing. You will know of the male macaroni, and the current manifestation, the dandy. Caroline Bingley is the equivalent of a female dandy, even although that is not an actual thing. She is merely vulgarity personified.

“She is one of a small circle of vicious little women who enjoy going too far with their words, and revel in the harm they have caused. You are the absolute exemplar of that trait. Caroline Bingley ruined your life in Meryton and you ended up banished and disowned. That she took the time to search for your uncle, and through him you, is what I am talking of. She forced your uncle to send you off. And even now, close to two years later, she still is shrill in her denunciations of him.

“As for her personally, she is unmarried and still harbours delusions that she will marry Mr. Darcy. He has been in her company for more than two years and has shown no signs of being in agreement with her plan. It is a source of bemusement within the Ton that Darcy has not jettisoned her. There is lots of speculation as to why that is. None of them are remotely respectable and I will mention none of them. The Bingley connection is actively harming the Darcy name.”

“We will return to Caroline Bingley in a moment. I know nothing of Darcy’s circumstances other than he is Master of his estate. Is his mother dead as well?”

“Both parents are dead, his mother more than 15 years since. He has one sister. The extended family is through the Earl of Matlock. His mother was the current Earl’s younger sister.”