The four of them, Mr. Bennet, Lady Elizabeth, Darcy, and Charlotte, left in Darcy's luxurious travelling coach and four, taking only his valet, John, as well as two of Darcy's footmen, the coachman, his assistant, and two grooms who rode on horseback as outriders. They were lucky with the November weather as it was only cool and dry when they could easily have met with days of rain. They made good time and stopped for the night at a reasonable time at a good inn that Darcy had used before. He had reserved their four best rooms, so they were quite comfortable. After a short argument, they allowed Darcy to pay for the rooms and meals. He knew that the Bennets were not in any financial condition to incur much in the way of extra costs. Lady Elizabeth planned to repay him as soon as she could.
They rode through the town of Hinckley late the next morning and saw that it was of a decent size, but it did not appear to be doing very well. A number of the store buildings needed paint and repairs and there were no obvious signs of wealth to be seen. However, the ladies noted that there were a number of shops that could likely provide most of what they would need to refurbish the Abbey, at least at first. Hinckston Abbey was just a few miles out of town, so they reached it quite soon after leaving Hinckley.
They passed through a large wood which they assumed must be part of the park before they finally saw the house. The manor house was of a good size; quite similar to Netherfield, but it appeared to be much older from its style, which was almost Elizabethan. Darcy, who was well versed in architectural styles, mentioned that its front had likely been modernized about one hundred years before. He said that he would need to walk around the whole building to see what additions had been made to it.
As they approached the house, they could see that the land and gardens surrounding it needed a lot of work to bring them back to what they should be like; they had obviously been neglected for some years. The fields that they passed through were all in fallow, so they could not tell what crops had been grown on them or when they were last planted. This was an important piece of information they would need to learn from the steward and tenants.
As the carriage stopped at the front entrance, the staff came out to greet them. They were obviously headed by an older couple who appeared to be in charge. There were only six other staff members besides this couple. Darcy descended from the carriage first, followed by Mr. Bennet. They then helped the two ladies out.
Lady Elizabeth went up to the staff. "I am Lady Elizabeth Bennet." The staff all gave her proper bows and curtsies. She turned to the elderly couple "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Humm?" She was looking at them carefully and was not impressed with what she saw. They were both quite old and did not appear to be in good shape. She knew that they would not be much help to her with any physical work that needed to be done.
Mr. Humm replied, "We are, My Lady. I am the butler and Mrs. Humm is the housekeeper. We have been here for many years. As you can see, we have a very limited staff on hand. It has been this way since before the estate was forfeited to the crown a number of years ago. No one has been in residence here for many years."
"We will address this and other issues as soon as we are settled. My guests are my father, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and Miss Lucas. Mrs. Humm, will you kindly introduce the staff and then show us to our rooms? I assume they are ready for us."
Mr. Humm introduced the staff. Mrs. Humm added, "I received your instructions to have rooms prepared for you. We will have tea ready as soon as you have refreshed yourselves."
The staff that the butler introduced consisted of a cook, her assistant, two footmen, and two maids. Elizabeth knew she would have to hire more staff as soon as possible. There was no way that a house of this size could be run with so little help. Mrs. Humm then led them up to their rooms. As they were being led up the stairs, Elizabeth could see that the house was only sparsely furnished and was badly in need of maintenance, new paint, and wall and window coverings. Charlotte commented on this, "Lizzy, this place needs a lot of work before it will be livable in a decent style. I doubt the two of us will be able to see what all needs to be done in just a week. I hope that the bedrooms are in good condition."
"I agree with you. Even if we can just decide what we should do for a few of the main rooms and get them started, I will be satisfied with that for now. Then I can slowly get to the rest of the rooms at some time in the future. I am looking forward to a tour." She was excited to see what she had been given by the Prince; her very own estate!
They were all led to the family wing as Elizabeth had written to the housekeeper to have four rooms ready there so the guest wing would not need to be opened. She had decided that they should be reasonably close to each other in this strange house. They reached the mistress's suite and they all stopped to see what it was like. The first thing they all noticed was a large four-poster bed in a room that was much larger than her mother's suite at Longbourn. They saw that the only other furnishings in the room were several comfortable-looking chairs and a large wardrobe. Three doors were in sight. She entered the room while the others stayed by the door. She opened one door and saw that it led into a sitting room.
"Is this the connection with the master's suite?" she asked Mrs. Humm.
"Yes, My Lady, but we did not touch those rooms."
Elizabeth then went to the second door and saw that it led into a dressing room, where one of the maids was unpacking her trunks. She went to the third door and saw that it opened into a bathing room. "This suite will suit me very well for this week. Now, let us go see the other rooms for my guests."
They went down the hall to the other rooms. They were all quite large but sparsely furnished. None was anywhere nearly as nice as her suite. "These will do, but they will all need more furniture. Mrs. Humm, is there much furniture in the other bedrooms?"
"There is some, but a lot of pieces were removed over the years and were not replaced."
"We can go through some of them later to see what we can move into these four rooms. Mr. Darcy, will your footmen be available to help move furniture?"
"Most definitively, My Lady. I would rather give them something to do than have them sit idle. They will also be able to help serve dinner if they are needed. I already told them that they were to help wherever they were needed."
She was pleased with his words. "Thank you for thinking of that. Why do we not get refreshed, then we can go down for tea. I will look at the servants' rooms later. I want them to be comfortable as well." She was well aware that if the staff was discontented, the house would not run well at all.
When they had gathered in the main drawing room, Darcy was the first to speak. "My Lady, the situation here is as I thought it would be. If I may, one of the first things you will need to do is to hire a reasonable complement of staff so they can get started on everything that needs doing. The staff here has been reduced to the absolute minimum needed to maintain the place and that is all. As I mentioned before, my policy at Pemberley has been to hire extra local people for the purpose of training them so they can find good positions either at Pemberley or at other places. If you like, I will send an express there as soon as you decide what staff you need. My housekeeper will know who she can spare and will most likely be able to supply whatever you need. They can be here in just a day or two and you can decide if you want to hire them permanently after you have had a chance to assess them. If not, they can be here only on a temporary basis and they can be sent back to Pemberley as soon as you no longer need them."
"That is a very good idea. We will need staff to serve us while we are here and to help get the place ready for occupancy." While she had not yet decided how much use she might make of Hinckston in the near future, the thought of being able to come here to get away from Longbourn whenever she wanted was quite appealing to her. She hoped that she would be able to meet some of the local gentry this week. She was sure that word of her being here would soon spread throughout the area. She thought of how quickly the news was passed around Meryton that Netherfield was to be occupied by Mr. Bingley.
Darcy went on. "As soon as we have finished our tea, Mr. Bennet and I should go out to the stable to see what equipment, horses, and grooms are there. My coachmen will know the situation by now as they will ensure that my horses are well looked after. I hope there is feed for them; if not, they can go into Hinckley to buy what we need. We can also do a preliminary survey of what stock and equipment has been left for you and what condition it is in."
They agreed with this, then settled down to their tea. Mr. Bennet said, "Lizzy, from what I have seen of the house, it will be very comfortable once you have redecorated and refurnished it how you want. It is much larger than Longbourn and will need to be staffed accordingly."
"Charlotte and I will start to go through the other main rooms when you go out to the stables. Has anyone noticed anything major that needs to be done first? I know that we have not seen much of the house yet."
Darcy explained, "What we have to check are the ceilings in the top floor to see if there is any water damage that would indicate problems with the roof. We have to do the same for all the outside walls to check for leakage. The windows must be examined to see how they close to keep the weather out, then the basement walls and floors for any sign of water. Mr. Bennet, what else?"
"If everyone will check all doors to see how they close. That will tell us if the house has settled or if the doors have warped over the years. Everyone look at every fireplace you see for signs of smoke. That will tell us how the chimneys are and if they need to be swept. Lizzy, you will want to go down to the kitchen to see what it needs. This drawing room needs more furniture, so you can see what can be brought here from other rooms or if there is any stored away anywhere. It certainly needs painting and new window coverings.
"We will need to check the wine cellar, but I suspect that we will not find much there as no one will have restocked it for years. Lizzy, you will need to see what stock of food is on hand. We may need to send someone to Hinckley for supplies.
"The house is obviously quite old, but it appears to be in reasonably good shape from what I have seen so far. I would like to find the oldest part that may be from the original abbey. That will be more than two hundred years old. The risk is that that part of the house could be in the worst shape.
"Lizzy, you and Charlotte will have a lot of work to do. I suggest you walk with notepaper or you might forget something that you think of that needs doing. I suspect that you will end up with quite a list, so you will need to prioritize everything."
Elizabeth laughed, "Papa, I know that you want to find the library to see what it contains."
"You know me well, my dear. Darcy, we will have to find the steward; I believe his name is Appleby. We probably will need him first thing in the morning. I will talk to Humm about that."
When they finished their tea, they split up. Darcy and Mr. Bennet went outside while Elizabeth and Charlotte went with the housekeeper. She added another problem for Elizabeth to worry about. "My Lady, I am not sure if you know, but my husband and I have stayed on here only at the request of the Crown. We want to retire to Leicester as our son and daughter live there. We would like to leave as soon as you can spare us."
"I did not know that. I will try to find replacements as soon as I can. Now, I want to see the kitchen and talk to the cook. Then we will go to the servants' rooms."
They went down to the kitchen and found the cook. She wanted to talk about menus and what food was on hand, explaining that she had the groceries for dinner and breakfast, but needed much more for the week. Elizabeth and Charlotte set the menus for the week and told the cook to send someone to Hinckley for whatever was needed.
Elizabeth asked her if she would need extra help in the kitchen right away, and, when she said that she did, Elizabeth told her to hire as many local people as she needed for the week. Then she worried about how she would pay for them as the subsidy that the Prince had promised had not yet been received. She would have to speak to her father. Just before they left, she told her when she wanted dinner to be served.
She and Charlotte asked about the kitchen equipment and were pleased to hear that there was plenty on hand and that all the stoves were working properly. The housekeeper mentioned that the stock of dishes both for serving and for the table was limited but adequate for the moment. She added that her husband had kept all the silver under lock and key, so it was still all on hand. She also mentioned that he had hidden a number of bottles of the best wines that had been on hand, but that most of the wine cellar was empty.
They next went up the back stairs to the servants' rooms, which were on the very top floor. They went into several of them and saw that it appeared that none of this furniture had been taken, so the rooms were in reasonable shape, except for the need for new paint. There were plenty of rooms for any extra staff she might hire. Elizabeth was not surprised at the fact that only the best furniture had been taken away over the years, but nothing from the servants' hall.
Elizabeth turned to the housekeeper, "Is there any furniture stored in the attic or anywhere else? If there is, we will go examine it to see what can be brought down for our use, even if only on a temporary basis."
"There is some in the attic that might be usable. We can go see it in the morning if you want, My Lady."
After leaving this area, they went into several other main rooms and saw that they were also sparsely furnished. However, Elizabeth and Charlotte saw that several pieces could be moved to the main drawing room to make it more comfortable for their use while they were here. She ordered that this be done, as well as moving pieces to the four bedrooms in use. Then they saw that it was time to dress for dinner.
When they all gathered in the dining room, they saw that the serving staff consisted of both Hinckston and Darcy's footmen. Dinner was adequate, but nothing special. The wine served was quite good, obviously from the hidden stock.
They spoke about what they had found. Mr. Bennet said, "Lizzy, you will have a problem with a carriage and horses. There are several wagons that will be usable here and on the farms. We found only one open carriage and one older closed carriage. I would recommend that you not use these for long trips, but they will be all right for local trips such as going into Hinckley. There are only two horses that we found in the stables. These are not first class but will be adequate for short trips. They can also be used on the farms if needed. So, you will need to purchase a coach-and-four and decent horses. There is adequate feed for the horses for this week, but not much more.
"Darcy said that he and I could use the horses that his grooms rode here when we visit the farms. That is a help.
"We did not check for horses and equipment on the farms. We will be meeting with the steward in the morning. Then we will know what they have once we visit the home farms and tenants."
Mr. Darcy interjected at this point, "My Lady, we may be able to solve several problems with what I am about to suggest. If you can decide on what staff we need right away, I will send an express to Pemberley first thing in the morning and they will come here by carriage. They should be here the next day as it is not too far to Pemberley. You can keep the carriages and horses for as long as you need them and send back any you do not want when you send back any surplus staff. I will leave the carriages, horses, and grooms for your use until you have your own. Do not worry as I have several conveyances at Pemberley that are not used much. I will tell them to use the better ones to come here."
"Do you happen to have anyone trained to be housekeeper and butler? The Humms told me that they want to retire as soon as possible. I had no idea about that problem."
"As a matter of fact, my housekeeper has been training several of the senior maids who have proven to be intelligent and competent. One of them, named Rose Greeley, is just about ready. If you like, I will ask that she come here so you can talk to her. The housekeeper position is more important than the butler for you at the moment. We have several senior footmen who could be trained by you to take that position. Coincidentally, Rose has been walking out with one of them who is almost ready to become a butler. His name is James Curtin. I can suggest that he come if you agree." Elizabeth knew that she had little choice but to trust Mr. Darcy about this, so she agreed with his suggestion. She was now glad that he had come with them.
"I realize that another problem you may have is funding as you have not received your subsidy yet. Please allow me to provide you with a loan until that money comes. You will need cash now for paying staff and for buying supplies. That is not a problem for me. You can repay me whenever you are able. The steward should be collecting quarterly rents at Christmas, so that will be a big help for you. If the subsidy is delayed for some months, this could be a problem as you will need to make sure that the home farm and all the tenants have sufficient seed on hand for spring planting. This is critical as it will affect your earnings for the year."
"Mr. Darcy, I am appreciating your offer to assist us more and more. You obviously are an excellent manager of your own estate, so your advice will be very helpful. I cannot wait to hear what you and Father find out tomorrow." She smiled at him, the first real smile she had ever given to him. As he expected, it lit up her whole face. She was even more attractive when she smiled.
They spoke some more about their plans over the rest of the dinner and after when they sat in the drawing room. They also settled on what extra staff would be needed right away. After dinner, Darcy sat down to write the message to his Pemberley housekeeper outlining what staff should be sent to Hinckston.