Chapter 8 - The Leased Estate

1811

Charles Bingley had danced every dance of the assembly and been angry it had finished, as he wanted to dance longer. It was childish of him as at least a third of the attendees had already left, but he had enjoyed himself thoroughly and he thought it an auspicious start to his time in the neighbourhood.

The rest of the Bingley party had not all enjoyed the assembly as much as Bingley had. Indeed, Miss Bingley did nothing but complain in the carriage on the way back to Netherfield.

"The ladies here have no style. I am not impressed by them. With whom shall we associate? I did not see anyone worth calling upon" she complained.

"But you must call on our neighbours, Caroline!" insisted Mr Bingley, "it's the done thing. How else are we to form acquaintances here?"

"I don't think I want to make acquaintances in this low, dirty place" she cried in response, "why could you not rent an estate in Derbyshire. Now that is a respectable area!" She fluttered her eyelashes at Mr Darcy, but that gentleman was looking out the carriage window.

Darcy looked back when he realised her disparagement, "No, Miss Bingley, this is an excellent property for your brother's first efforts in estate management. Not too large and in fair condition. He will have to solve some problems, but nothing serious. After a year or two here, he will be much more confident in moving on to his actual purchase. It is also conveniently close to London, you can all come and go easily. I expect you will also have house guests here as often as you like, giving you congenial company regularly, because you are so close to London".

Miss Bingley simpered at Darcy but he had already looked back out the window. Darcy's head would simply not stop aching. It had been a very long day. He had been up early to leave London for Hertfordshire but had to wait two hours at Bingley's when the ladies weren't ready. He wasn't used to such behaviour. Then, without considering it properly, he had ridden in the carriage and left his horse behind with the grooms to bring. That meant he had to listen to Caroline for the three hours the trip had taken. Then he would have stayed behind from the assembly, but Caroline was clearly going to stay with him which was the last thing he wanted, so he had gone too, and regretted every minute. The noise made his head throb. All he wanted was to go to bed.

The carriage arrived back at Netherfield Park.

Hurst stepped out first and put his hand out for his wife's with a small smile. Hurst had generally enjoyed the evening. There were good spirits and he had played several hands of cards with the men in the side rooms. He had even danced with his wife once, as he knew that made her happy. He had then also felt obliged to dance with his sister, which did not make him happy, but did please his wife, so he counted it as a win overall. He had found the company just as pleasant as that in London, and somewhat more relaxed. He would not be complaining of spending time in Hertfordshire - as long as Caroline did not make a scene.

His wife took his hand and returned his smile. Louisa was relieved to be out of the carriage. She was so tired - a long day on the road and then an assembly in the evening. Her preference would have been to stay at Netherfield - she seemed to be tired recently. But, it didn't do to thwart Caroline, it simply wasn't worth the trouble. So, she had stood around at the assembly, mostly bored, Caroline insisting they not talk to anyone. At least Godfrey had danced with her and Caroline. That man could be so pleasant sometimes, she thought with a small smile.

Charles stepped out next and turned to hand Caroline out. She pouted at him, but at last took his hand and stepped out of the carriage.

Darcy was last out of the carriage and managed to step past Miss Bingley who was reaching for his arm to proceed into the house. She looked at his back with a dissatisfied frown as he walked ahead of the rest of the party up the stairs to the entry. She was sure he would offer for her when he saw what an excellent hostess she was here. On reflection she realised that meant she would have to host the locals.

~~ HoL ~~

The next morning saw the party gather for breakfast to break their fast at around 11.

Caroline mused at the sideboard while she put a piece of toast and a boiled egg on her plate. Which of the rustic locals could she invite for a morning call, to allow her to shine as a hostess. That eldest Bennet girl, what was her name… Jean? No, Jane. A couple of those sisters might do for an initial turn. She could call on them and then they could return the call. But not today. Today she was too tired from the late night.

"Well," started Bingley, loading eggs, bacon, toast, and some salmon onto his plate, "I thoroughly enjoyed the assembly last night - I do love a country dance. And some of the young ladies were delightful. I was thinking of calling on the Bennet family this morning - their property adjoins Netherfield, you know. Miss Bennet told me of that."

Caroline looked at him with a critical eye. Falling in love with that eldest girl, no doubt, thought Caroline, she was just his type. Well, he would be over her within a month - he always was. She rolled her eyes.

"No Charles," interjected Darcy, "leave it for tomorrow - we should ride the property today and check your fence lines. Never call the day after a ball or assembly, certainly not to people you have just met. It raises expectations too much and, indeed, isn't very polite as people arise late the next day. Go tomorrow".

Charles looked crestfallen. He looked like he would speak, but Darcy continued, "and I am here to help you with the estate. I cannot stay forever, so we had best get on with it to make the most of the time I have. We've already lost most of the day, sleeping in after that foolish assembly!"

"Well," said Charles, "we had best ride out this morning then. Hurst, will you come?"

Hurst, at the sideboard loading devilled kidneys, 3 slices of toast, 2 eggs, salmon and several slices of bacon onto his plate, raised an eyebrow "if I wished to ride fence lines I would visit my father. If you think you can benefit from my advice, ask me next time, but while Darcy is here, I will defer to his greater experience. I have learned from my father, but Darcy is already the master of his own estate, you will learn more from him".

Bingley nodded at Hurst and turned to Caroline, "Well, Caroline, what will you and Louisa do this afternoon if we are out?" asked Bingley.

"I'm sure I shall be very busy arranging management of the house" replied Caroline, with an imperious tilt of her nose. Charles looked at her pointedly. He knew perfectly well that meant she had no idea what she was going to do with her day. His younger sister was very transparent to him sometimes. "You might like to spend some time in the garden" he suggested, "perhaps you'd like to see if any areas need attention. Give it that special Caroline touch" he encouraged her.

Miss Bingley looked at her brother, a pleased smile on her face. She appreciated that he had actually thought of her. "I will have a look and see what I think" she smiled in reply.

~~ HoL ~~

~~ HoL ~~