"Miss Bennet, I feel I must apologize."

Elizabeth looked at the lady in perplexity. They were walking down the corridor on the way to the ballroom and had separated from the others by a few feet so they could converse discreetly.

"I cannot imagine what for."

"I feel I have forced it upon you to do my job. Miss Darcy was not up to the surprise of your arrival, nor was I, but that is a weak excuse. It should not be up to a visitor to take over household matters. I should have done better upon your arrival."

Elizabeth said, "I see. And how long have you been companion to Miss Darcy, Mrs. Annesley?"

"Six months. Her last companion was… er… very bad, so Mr. Darcy decided to engage someone he could trust to help her through recovery, rather than someone focused on teaching her the duties of mistress."

Elizabeth looked at the companion in shock but was undecided what to be most shocked about – the fact that Mrs. Annesley confided in her, or the fact that Mr. Darcy hired a bad companion. Then of course, she had to wonder why she was shocked at any sign of incompetence in Mr. Darcy, but she could not think about that all day, so she decided to answer.

"I can see why you are embarrassed, Mrs. Annesley. In a whole six months, you did not manage to teach a sixteen‑year‑old girl how to improve in five minutes what took me, a lady four years her senior and considerably more experienced, two hours to work out. Yes, it is obvious why you are chagrined."

Much to her delight, Mrs. Annesley chuckled, and said, "You have an impertinent streak, Miss Bennet. I hope I am not being too cheeky when I tell you it reminds me very much of Mr. Darcy."

Elizabeth gasped, and said, "Mr. Darcy? You mean the Mr. Darcy who is master of this estate? Tall man, very handsome – are you certain?"

"Only when he is among the people that he knows best. When it is just his sister and the Colonel, talk like that could go on all night… and that is even before the brandy comes out."

Elizabeth laughed a bit, and decided she liked Mrs. Annesley very much.

"So, you do not know about managing an estate? What is it that you do know, if you do not mind my asking, Mrs. Annesley?"

"I was a parson's wife for twenty‑four years, with two grown children to our credit. I know who to trust, and I trust you."

Elizabeth blushed a bit at the compliment.

"Is there any possible skill that could be more valuable than that, Mrs. Annesley? The rest is mostly manners, mechanics and common sense."

Mrs. Annesley chuckled at that, and said, "Well said, young lady."

They were approaching what appeared to be a big set of double doors that Elizabeth assumed was the ballroom, so she said, "Your charge will do fine, Mrs. Annesley. She had two big surprises she was unaccustomed to, appear within a few hours and is not a blubbering mess. What is she, perhaps sixteen? My sixteen-year-old sister falls apart if she cannot find the ribbon color she desires at the haberdashery."

Mrs. Annesley chuckled along with Elizabeth, and said, "Yes, yes… definitely impertinent."

Elizabeth looked around and added, "Mrs. Annesley, your charge need not learn everything today, but what say you to a lesson or two? It shall be much to her benefit and shall not harm the guests. To be honest, I could use her intimate knowledge."

"I am in agreement."

With that, they arrived at the ballroom and stepped inside. Elizabeth and Margaret looked around in awe, although their capacity for awe had been somewhat diminished by their ride in the rain. She just said, "This will do! This will do very well!"

Mrs. Annesley stepped up beside them and said, "Miss Darcy… Miss Elizabeth… would you please stand back to back for a moment."

Both ladies looked perplexed but did as directed.

"And now you, Miss Wythe."

Margaret did as Lizzy had done.

Mrs. Annesley turned to one of the maids.

"Martha, I believe this job is for you. Might you remove an inch and a half from Miss Darcy's green walking dress, and two from the yellow. Speed is more important than quality, so just pin the hems. That will allow our young ladies to get cleaned up a bit, hopefully before the villagers arrive."

She then turned to a footman and said, "Please request some warm water for them to clean themselves. They will not have time to go clean and change in their apartments, especially since Miss Darcy has not assigned them yet, so bring everything to the retiring room on the West side. While you are at it, might I suggest you have someone start heating a lot of water. You can store it in bathtubs if necessary. The villagers will be freezing and filthy. The heating takes a long time, so it is best to get on with it."

With that, she looked at Miss Darcy, who said, "Excellent suggestions, Mrs. Annesley. I applaud your thinking."

Mr. Breton said, "That is excellent thinking, Mrs. Annesley. By your suggestion, I can have some of the stable hands make a fire outside and start doing the same. We have some tubs for livestock that are perfectly clean and up to the task."

Elizabeth agreed with the scheme, and then after the remaining instructions had been given, a good bunch of the staff went off to start the work.

Miss Darcy said, "Mrs. Annesley, thank you for reminding me that I neglected rooms for our guests. Martha, please prepare the yellow suite for Miss Bennet and…"

Elizabeth interrupted and said, "We are happy to share a suite, Miss Darcy. We have done so before many times. It is no offense, and we would actually prefer it."

Miss Darcy looked somewhat excited by the idea, nodded, and said, "Their parents should go next door in the green suite."

As the bustle of servants leaving settled down, Miss Darcy looked at the ladies and said, "That is very good thinking, Mrs. Annesley… Miss Bennet… What is next?"

Mrs. Annesley looked at Elizabeth and raised an eyebrow. She had done all she planned to do for the moment, mostly because she did not have the vaguest idea what the next steps were; but she was happy that she had been reminded of her basic duty. She nodded to Elizabeth, who was thinking of that exact question.

≈ Lizzy, a mistress of an estate must always be able to understand time and place. I know you think I am excessively silly, which is all fine and good, so you should be able to learn the lesson in a trice. I set a good table because I know what I have on hand, what I can get easily, what I need, where everyone is in my home, and how long everyone takes to get things done. We are rarely late to social engagements because I deem it important to arrive on time, despite six ladies in the house. When you are mistress, remember this and try to do even better than I do. ≈

Elizabeth was a bit shocked to have a vision of her mother standing in front of her once again, talking perfect sense. Since her first bit of listening to her mother's advice had started this journey, which she had to admit was exceeding all her expectations, there was no reason not to at least hear her ghost out. As little as she generally liked to listen to her mother, she had to admit that she was right in this case.

At the time Mrs. Bennet had given this bit of sage advice, Elizabeth was sixteen, and wondering why she could not have one of her favorites for a dinner party that included the Lucases and Longs and was frankly being a bit unpleasant about the whole affair. She had only decided what she wanted that day, and was a bit put out that her mother could not conjure it for dinner. Another half‑hour discussion with her mother showed how, even if it were possible, that dish would not fit the overall theme of the evening, which she had not considered at all.

Elizabeth wondered where all that good sense had gone, and whether she should pay more attention to her own memories of her mother, and less to her father's endless teasing. It was certain her mother overspent their allowance, probably did not help with their dowries, and embarrassed them quite frequently; but she was more sensible than people gave her credit for, at least much of the time, if you could overlook the other times when she was not.

Elizabeth shook her head to dispel the ghost so she could quit woolgathering and said, "Miss Darcy. I must apologize for taking your place in our earlier discussions."

Miss Darcy gasped, and replied quickly, "No apology is necessary, Miss Bennet! You did what was necessary, and I would dearly hope you will continue. I do not believe we would have had the vaguest idea what to do, and I still do not."

Gently, Elizabeth said, "Yes, you would have known if you really had to, Miss Darcy. It is in your blood, even if you do not know it just yet. Have you not watched you father, your brother, your aunts and uncles for sixteen years? Did nothing stick? Do you think you are the very first Darcy woman in the last six centuries to face difficulty she was unprepared and untrained for? I know your brother. He would not leave his estate in incapable hands. If I were not here, someone else would step up to help you… BUT… I am here, and I will do my best, and if I may be so bold, perhaps teach you a bit."

"Do we have time for that?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Yes, we do. I shall have need of your knowledge, so let us begin."

Georgiana still looked frightened, so Elizabeth spread her hands and said, "Look around, Miss Darcy. We shall have somewhere between fifty and seventy visitors within the hour, I imagine. What do we need to do next?"

The girl just shook her head, her eyes a bit wide, and Elizabeth said, "Please, just look around this ballroom. Picture the space, and then picture people in it. Imagine this. Should your brother, in a wild flight of uncharacteristic frivolity, decide to host a ball with one hundred guests, would they fit?"

Georgiana looked perplexed, and Elizabeth said, "Surely, your mother must have done so in the past, Miss Darcy. You must have read her diaries, or her ancestors', or had stories from the housekeeper or other older retainers?"

Slowly, Miss Darcy said, "Yes, my mother did host such balls from time to time."

"Excellent. For how many people?"

"Fifty quite commonly, but over one hundred at least once."

"Very good. That means we can fit at least fit fifty people in here and get them out of the rain long enough to sort them out. You do understand though that it takes more space for people to set up beds and tables and the like, so it might be very tight, but at least hypothetically possible."

"Yes, Miss Bennet… I would agree."

"All right, next question. Suppose your brother wanted to have a house party…"

Georgiana giggled, and said, "You must not know my brother very well if you propose such a scheme."

Elizabeth laughed along with her and said, "I agree, I do not know your brother as well as I should, but that is neither here nor there. Suppose he took a wife, and she decided to hold a house party for perhaps thirty of your friends. Would the house be strained?"

To her credit, Georgiana scrunched her face in thought, and then finally said, "It has been done. I believe my mother had forty once, and she did not seem very worried about it."

"Well, you know that she would only have counted the gentry. That forty would have brought perhaps thirty servants for a total of seventy, and they all fit?"

"Yes", Miss Darcy drawled without very much confidence.

"So, we have room in this house for at least double what we have, if we are willing to put villagers in bed chambers. The guest wing is off limits for obvious reasons, but we should still have plenty of room."

"I suppose so!"

Elizabeth said, "Do not suppose, Miss Darcy. You are the mistress, and you should either know or take steps to find out. Now is your chance to show your brother the Darcy steel you must have in your spine. We have people coming who need accommodation. You know this house… I do not. I could probably organize it with Mrs. Reynolds help, or even just with Mr. Breton, but you need to take on the mistress role. How shall we proceed, Miss Darcy?"

The lady looked frightened, but less so than a few minutes before, so she looked back and forth between Miss Bennet, Mrs. Annesley and Miss Wythe, and finally asked, "Where do I begin?"

Elizabeth said, "Good! Do not worry, Miss Darcy. We will not let you fail. Let us begin with most important first. Some among the villagers will be injured. They must be cared for first. The rest will become bad tempered if they have to stand around too long, but they can wait for the injured. So, where can you put the injured to give them the most comfort possible?"

Elizabeth was happy to see Miss Darcy consider the problem carefully before answering.

"They obviously should be sheltered in apartments with comfortable beds. In that, you are correct, Miss Bennet. It is not complicated. The guest wing is unavailable, so I think the family wing!"

Now somewhat nervous herself, Elizabeth asked, "Are you certain your brother would approve that?"

Georgiana sniggered in a good approximation of Lydia, and said, "As you so correctly pointed out, my brother is not here. He can whinge about it at his leisure… later."

Elizabeth laughed along with her, and said, "So, let us work out the details together. You should make sure there are no valuables nearby. The villagers are honest, but it is best to remove temptation and ambiguity."

"There is a large linen closet on the floor. Mrs. Lovel, we will most likely need the linens for the villagers anyway, so perhaps we could have all of those delivered to the ballroom, then make a sweep through all the other rooms in the family wing and move anything small and valuable to the linen closet where it can be locked up."

Very gently, Elizabeth said, "We have time for that, Miss Darcy, but if we were short on time, you might skip that step altogether, or defer it. I should think the injured, along with their parents should be able to fit in a guest suite comfortably. A house like this could easily put five or ten in a suite. The bedding and such will be forfeit, but your brother will not care about that. I applaud your good sense."

"That is like applauding a horse for drinking once you have led him to the water, Miss Bennet."

Elizabeth laughed at that, and said, "What else?"

"Light fires in the rooms to ward off the chill, and carry water for washing? If the fireplaces have pothooks, perhaps put on some water for warming."

Elizabeth nodded, and another of the footmen went off to set to the task.

Elizabeth said, "Well done, Miss Darcy, but do not only think of now, but tonight and the morning."

Darcy said, "Yes, normally the fires would be handled by the servants, but they may be busy. Perhaps some of the stable hands can stock some extra coal."

Elizabeth smiled, nodded her approval, and was happy to see Mr. Breton signal one of his men without being asked, so she continued, "Now for the ballroom."

"It has a door to the east side that opens to a courtyard. This is the ground floor, so they can bring in whatever they need, and park the rest in the wagons in the yard. The stables are just across the way and we can stack things or people in there if necessary."

Elizabeth smiled in approval, and said, "Very good. Now picture it. Villagers coming in wet, bedraggled, with squalling and frightened children. What do you do?"

Thus encouraged, Miss Darcy started walking through the ballroom issuing instructions.

"These sofas against that wall. We could cover them with sheets, but they are all about due for reupholstering anyway. They have been here since my mother's time, and I have occasionally been tempted to light one or two on fire just to force the issue. We should be able to bring in some parlor tables, or from the small breakfast nook. Get these fires lit post-haste and bring water. Get the stable boys to bring in some straw and stack it along those walls. Go to the stores and get some food people can eat quickly and have it readily available, perhaps cooking on the fireplace on the South wall. Tell the cook to make broth, stew and porridge starting right now."

Elizabeth noticed the servants nodding their heads and running off in different directions, and she smiled in satisfaction. She would occasionally offer a suggestion, or quietly slow down a footman or maid to suggest ways to accomplish the task or give Miss Darcy suggestions about the direction or frequency of her efforts; but she mostly left it to the actual mistress of the estate to manage things.

Elizabeth reflected that people frequently said it was 'in the blood' or 'blood would out'. She thought that may or may not be true, because years of living in a functioning house would train someone in a way that another upbringing would not. In the end, it did not matter. Miss Darcy had required a bit of a push, but she was showing herself to be a Darcy, not to be intimidated by a few unexpected guests.