A Plethora of Peers

by sysa22

Mr Bennet married the daughter of an Earl with whom he had 3 children – twins James and Elizabeth, as well as Mary. His wife and her only brother die. Soon after, Bennet's older brother marries Fanny Gardiner just before his death. When Fanny delivers twin girls, Kitty and Lydia, Bennet inherits Longbourn. To keep James safe from Collins, Bennet's son is raised by his grandparents.

15. Chapter 15 - Stormy weather

~~PoP~~

Stormy weather

After Elizabeth was called to her father's library, Colonel Fitzwilliam focused his attention on Miss Mary.

During the earlier conversation he had attempted to draw her into the discussion, but she had seemed reluctant to join in. Fitzwilliam wondered if she was shy or simply overwhelmed by her older sister who was outgoing.

She reminded him a little of Darcy's sister, Georgiana. That thought gave him an idea. 'Do you like music, Miss Mary?' he asked and was rewarded with a relieved smile.

'Yes, I do, Colonel. I have been fortunate to have had excellent instructors on the pianoforte,' replied Mary, who was in truth relieved to have a topic which she thoroughly enjoyed, as the war was too distressing for her to consider.

'Are there any composers whose music you particularly delight in?'

'I suppose that Mr Mozart ranks as my favourite. He composed a great range of music and irrespective of my mood, there is almost always a piece which will match it. Mostly I thoroughly enjoy many of his sonatas. Although in recent times I have developed a fondness for Mr Haydn's music as well.'

'Georgiana speaks quite favourably of Beethoven and Bach,' prompted the Colonel.

'While I can admire the technical aspects of Mr Bach, I find his compositions rather repetitive. I prefer the more melodic pieces by Mr Mozart and of course Mr Beethoven's Symphony number six is simply wonderful.'

They continued their discussions of the merits of various pieces of music, and she was pleased to find out that he was knowledgeable on the subject and commented upon that fact.

'There is a very simple reason for that. I am co-guardian for Darcy's much younger sister, and she loves music, particularly the pianoforte. For years now she has regaled me with information about various composers and her favourite pieces of music.' He smiled ruefully. 'I could not help but learn.'

Mary could not resist to chuckle softly at his antics. 'Forgive me, but I find it incongruous that a senior officer such as yourself would concern himself with the interests of a young girl.'

'I was not always a senior officer. I started in the army as a lowly lieutenant about a decade ago although at that time George Darcy was still alive and my services as a guardian were not required.'

'I struggle to reconcile that someone like you could indulge a young girl one day and go into battle the next.'

'While there is usually several weeks between these events, I think I understand your concern. You do not like war.'

Mary nodded. 'It seems such a senseless waste to me. Please do not misunderstand. I admire men like yourself who are prepared to risk their lives to keep us safe, but I find it distressing to contemplate the reality of war. I prefer to nurture than destroy life.'

'Personally, I would prefer if peace reigned throughout the world, but while there is fighting going on, I prefer to lead my men to ensure as many of them as possible return to their families.'

This was a concept Mary had never considered and was therefore curious to discover more. She and Fitzwilliam spent the time until the others rejoined them discussing the more esoteric aspects of an officer's duties.

Meanwhile Mrs Bennet sat back and listened with pleasure at the growing interest she observed in both participants of the conversation.

~PoP~

Darcy and Fitzwilliam had returned to Netherfield, leaving the Bennets to discuss the events of the day.

'I know Charlotte advocates knowing as little as possible about a future spouse, but I prefer to know the character of a man I might consider marrying,' Elizabeth said when asked about the earlier argument.

'You are still considering Mr Darcy, after what happened today?' Mary wondered.

Elizabeth tilted her head thoughtfully. 'It is most peculiar but now that I think of it, during the whole argument with Mr Darcy there was not a single moment when I was afraid, and it had nothing to do with the presence of Colonel Fitzwilliam. We were both furious, but I felt perfectly safe at all times. Not once did I have any concern for my physical safety.'

'But he looked so terribly angry,' opined her sister.

Elizabeth smiled mischievously. 'Did it escape your notice that I was equally as furious? Have you forgotten that my temper can be rather volatile when vexed? It simply means that we both have to be careful when we have a disagreement.'

Bennet, who had been listening to the conversation, nodded and said, 'Your mother and I did have a few rather passionate disagreements in our time. We always worked things out in the end and making up was worth the aggravation.' The fond smile at this remembrance convinced Mary that not all aspects of an argument were bad.

~PoP~

A few days later, Elizabeth and Mary went to Netherfield at the invitation of Louisa Hurst to assist her with visiting the tenants.

'I am grateful for your support,' Louisa said when the sisters arrived.

'It is our pleasure to be of assistance,' replied Elizabeth and Mary concurred. The former looked around and asked. 'I thought that your sister would be joining us as well.'

Louisa looked uncomfortable as she made Caroline's excuses. 'I am afraid that she is unwell and unable to leave her rooms.' Eager to change the subject she explained, 'I have been speaking to Mrs Nicholls, who helped me ready some baskets, but she informs me that you are more familiar with the tenants than she is.'

'As you may have heard, Mr Morris, who inherited Netherfield about ten years ago, has never spent any time at the estate. He leased it out on occasions, but there were times when there was no resident master or mistress. Because of that, we have been keeping an eye on the tenants here.'

'That was very good of you. But why would you take care of people for whom you have no responsibility.'

Elizabeth flushed as she admitted, 'By keeping an eye on things, I was able to know when a situation arose where I could approach Mr Morris to purchase some of his land from him for Longbourn.'

'Netherfield used to be bigger?'

'Yes, it was. It used to be the largest estate hereabouts, but now Netherfield and Longbourn are almost equal in size.'

'Forgive me for speaking about money, but I understood that Longbourn was more profitable than Netherfield. How is that possible if they are the same size?'

'As I mentioned, there has not been a permanent master looking after the estate for ten years. No matter how good your steward is, there are some decisions he cannot make. As a result, profitability suffers. Of course, the absence of a mistress is almost as bad. You have an excellent steward, but some things require a woman to deal with.'

'Mrs Nicholls did say that some of the tenants' wives are reluctant to speak to a man about ah… feminine things.'

'Indeed. But sometimes the women find the men simply too unapproachable for small things around the house which require maintenance,' Mary replied. 'The husbands are usually focused on the fields, the animals and the outbuildings but miss things in the house which make life difficult and can cause ill health. It is the mistress's job to discover those issues and arrange for remedies.'

Louisa Hurst listened with growing amazement. 'I had not realised how important this role is. If a house is in ill-repair and causes the tenants to get sick, I would presume they are unable to work…' she paused while Elizabeth and Mary nodded in confirmation and encouragement. 'If they cannot work, it will reduce the income to be had from that tenancy, which in turn reduces the profitability of the estate.'

'Precisely. You understand much more than I was led to believe,' Elizabeth said with a pleased smile.

'It is not so different from business and on occasion our father mentioned how one thing led to another at the mill.'

'Excellent. Since you know what to look out for, shall we start?'

~PoP~

The three ladies set off in the gig which the sisters were using as it could accommodate them and several baskets. John Farrer rode behind as usual.

They visited several tenants and Louisa was impressed with how the Bennet sisters dealt with the tenants, their wives and their children.

The women were pleased to meet Mrs Hurst who promised to inform her brother about their concerns. In return they promised to inform her if there were any other problems.

Mrs Salter seemed to have been waiting for them to report that their roof had started to leak. On the other hand, Mrs Baker appeared unwell but refused to be a bother and would not let them send for Mr Jones, the apothecary. Mary and Peter Baker, who at twelve was Mrs Baker's oldest son, exchanged glances and nods, leaving behind a much happier boy.

That was their last visit for the day, and they headed back to the main house at Netherfield while Elizabeth kept a wary eye on the weather as she encouraged the horse to the greatest safe speed on the track.

~PoP~

The ladies were halfway up the drive to the manor, when the heavens opened up.

The staff were already waiting for them with umbrellas at the front door, and a groom was standing by to take the gig to the stable, with John Farrer following, grateful to get out of the wet.

As soon as the ladies rushed into the house, they discovered that Elizabeth had not been the only one to watch the weather with concern.

Mrs Nicholls informed Mrs Hurst, 'I have taken the liberty of preparing a room for the Misses Bennet to dry off and change.' At Louisa's confused reaction, she explained, 'Mrs Bennet sent a trunk for the ladies. It seems that her weather-sense is still superior.'

Elizabeth smiled and added her explanation, 'Grandmother's knees hurt whenever a big storm is about to hit. And depending on the level of pain, she knows how long it will last.'

'Shall we discuss the weather in the small parlour after we have all dried off?' suggested Louisa Hurst with a smile and a small shiver.

~PoP~

Half an hour later Louisa greeted her guests with a smile. 'Pray tell, how bad is this storm going to be?' as a ferocious gusts rattled the shutters.

'Based on the number of dresses which grandmother sent and the fact that Mrs Nicholls had the shutters closed to protect the windows, I would suspect it could be quite severe or last for several days,' Elizabeth replied with a worried frown.

'I hope that you will accept my invitation to remain here for as long as necessary to ensure that when you make your way to Longbourn, you will not risk being stranded along the way,' Louisa offered.

As they were talking, Caroline Bingley came into the parlour and after a perfunctory greeting sneered, 'If your grandmother's knees are such accurate predictors of the weather, I am surprised that she would let you go out when the weather is likely to turn bad.'

Elizabeth ignored Caroline's attitude and answered pleasantly. 'Unfortunately for us all, her predictions are short range. A slight discomfort in the morning can potentially become an indicator of a severe storm by afternoon, or it can simply be the slight discomfort associated with advanced age. As a consequence, we cannot remain in the house every time grandmother's knees ache in the morning, otherwise we would never get anything done.'

'A likely story,' muttered Caroline, but she kept the comment too quiet for the others to hear.

Fortunately for everyone, the gentlemen arrived, and conversation shifted away from Mrs Bennet's knees. Mr Bingley, when applied to by Mrs Hurst was only too happy to confirm the invitation for the Bennet sisters to wait out the storm.

~PoP~

As everyone was changing for dinner, Caroline sought out her sister.

'Louisa, you cannot be seriously thinking of offering those mercenary mushrooms to spend the night in our house. I am certain that they timed their return just so that you would be forced into being hospitable and they would have the opportunity to make a play for Charles and Mr Darcy.'

Mrs Hurst sighed as she prepared for yet another argument. 'No, Caroline, you are wrong as usual. Miss Bennet urged us to hurry as she saw the weather coming in, but I wanted to finish my talk with Mrs Salter. It is therefore my fault that they are stranded here.'

'Be that as it may, I am concerned about their intentions towards Charles. You know that Miss Mary is exactly the type of angel for whom he has a weakness, and I cannot allow him to tie himself to some country nobody who cannot advance my rise in society.'

'Do not concern yourself, Caroline. I have it on very good authority that while Charles might be interested in Miss Mary, the lady has not the slightest interest in Charles.'

'How can you be sure that this is not a ruse?'

'Because both Miss Bennet and her sister are eminently sensible ladies. And only someone fit for Bedlam would want to be related to you.'

~PoP~

~~PoP~~

A Plethora of Peers (working title) by Sydney Salier, Copyright © 2023