Page 12 of Leave Her Wild
“Hertfordshire is not so far removed from Kent,” she argued with a smile.
“True, but if what Miss Bennet said of your assisting your father is accurate, I thought you might share your knowledge easier than a man who thinks I will report him to my aunt.”
Elizabeth eyed him suspiciously. “Quite a plan,” she remarked. “Did you also ask my sister how much I knew of the land?”
He winked at her. “Found me out quickly. I am quite impressed, Miss Elizabeth.”
She chuckled. “As Miss Bennet likely explained, I customarily call on the estate tenants early before they are too busy with their own labors to ‘brag’ upon their advancements. You may join me if you do not mind rising early.”
“I am accustomed to rising early,” he said with what could be called admiration. “I would be honored to accompany you.”
“Leave the sword in your quarters,” she instructed.
“Of what are you speaking, Lizzy?” Mrs. Bennet called from across the room, likely wondering if she could palm off another daughter on an earl’s son.
“Crops, ma’am,” the colonel responded for Elizabeth. “Miss Elizabeth has agreed to provide me with a tour of your husband’s estate.”
“Should . . .” Mrs. Bennet began her objection, but Elizabeth recognized her mother’s “there’s an eligible gentleman” expression. Instead, Mrs. Bennet said, “Our Elizabeth is very knowledgeable about the estate.”
>>
With Mrs. Bennet’s remark and his interest suddenly piqued, Darcy said, “Miss Bennet shared something similar regarding her sister.” He instinctively took another look at the second Bennet daughter. She was not as obviously beautiful as was her elder sister, but her features were compelling. Her eyes spoke a language Darcy had never encountered. Which was not true. Once before, a young woman had held him accountable, and he had failed her miserably. He was accustomed to ignoring young women who meant to entrap him in marriage. Still was, for that matter. But never had he encountered a young woman who did not appear interested in him, at least, not for his fortune. Rather, for simply holding a conversation.
Mrs. Bennet continued her adulations. “I am confident all within are pleased and honored by your calling upon Longbourn.” Darcy politely commented on the sixth such compliment the woman had uttered. Thankfully, Hertfordshire and Derbyshire would be several days’ travel apart. He would not be required to entertain the woman often.
“And I am equally as pleased to be here, ma’am,” he said when the woman paused to take a breath.
“Our Jane has always been our dearest child. Of an excellent nature. She will make a lovely mistress for your estate.”
“Please, Mama,” Miss Bennet said softly.
“I speak the truth, Jane,” Mrs. Bennet insisted.
Miss Elizabeth instinctively came to Miss Bennet’s defense. He liked that in a family member, for a family should always stand together. He hoped Miss Bennet would be so kind to Georgiana. “Mr. Darcy and Papa have yet to sign the settlements, Mama,” she warned.
Mrs. Bennet meant to be correct. “Signatures are nothing compared to the heart having its say.”
Darcy knew his heart had nothing to do with this arrangement. It was a matter of keeping his beloved Pemberley intact. “You have the right of it, ma’am,” he said dutifully.
>>
Elizabeth recognized Mr. Darcy’s continued arrogance. She wished she could convince the others there was some sort of sham being executed against them, but, now that she had confided in Mary about Elizabeth’s prior encounter with Jane’s betrothed, Mary would think otherwise, and the others would follow her younger sister’s suit.
Though Elizabeth could not speak to her qualms regarding this joining between her beloved sister and a man so full of arrogance one could nearly smell it, she could watch and be in a position to prevent a disaster if one showed its ugly head.
Chapter Six
“My goodness,” Colonel Fitzwilliam remarked, “your father’s cottagers were most helpful today. My head is spinning. Such meticulous methods, but well worth the effort.”
“It was not always so,” Elizabeth explained. “Many of the changes have occurred in the last five years. My father, unfortunately, is more of an academic than he is a gentleman farmer, but fate has placed him as Longbourn’s master. Thankfully, the former master of Netherfield Park, which is some three miles removed, approached Mr. Bennet, mayhap, a half dozen years back. Mr. Duckworth organized several of the larger land owners to place orders for equipment and seed and stock together. They could save substantially by placing orders for four estates rather than each one individually. So, if Papa required another pig and Mr. Duckworth a milk cow, and so forth, and so forth, they were ordered at one time for a better price.”
“A person must truly trust a neighbor to pay his share,” the colonel observed.
Elizabeth shrugged her response. “I suppose such is why they chose my father to handle the actual ‘business’ of putting the orders into action, while Mr. Duckworth initially sent men from Netherfield to assist my father’s tenants and the others with tilling the fields and raising a different line of sheep, one better suited for Hertfordshire’s climate. It was quite masterful how fluid was the use of hands and workers available for crops and even for repairs to tenant houses.”
“And is Mr. Duckworth available?” the colonel asked.
“Unfortunately, the gentleman passed away some two years removed,” Elizabeth explained. “Netherfield Park is closed for now and is available to let, but the other estate owners in the area fear if it is not let soon that they will no longer be able to maintain the standards agreed to when Netherfield was part of the equation. My father and the others absorbed some of the costs and hired a dozen or more of those formerly employed at Netherfield, but their charity may not be sustainable for much longer.”
