Chapter 10 - The Inquisition

1811

The Bennet family were gathered for morning tea one day when Jane received a note from Netherfield. Mrs. Bennet's eyes sparkled with pleasure, and she was eagerly calling out, while her daughter read,

"Well, Jane, who is it from? What is it about? What does he say? Well, Jane, make haste and tell us; make haste, my love."

"It is from Miss Bingley," said Jane, pausing for a glance at her mother, a little appalled that mamma seemed to think an unconnected gentleman like Mr. Bingley might have written to her directly and then read it aloud.

"My dear friend,

"If you are not so compassionate as to dine to-day with Louisa and me, we shall be in danger of hating each other for the rest of our lives; for a whole day's tête-à-tête between two women can never end without a quarrel. Come as soon as you can on the receipt of this. My brother and the gentlemen are to dine with the officers. Yours ever,

"Caroline Bingley."

A regiment of militia had recently arrived in Meryton. This hardly affected the Bennet family, but it did mean the officers were present at some of the social events they attended and various of the local gentlemen were dining with the officers from time to time.

"Can I have the carriage?" said Jane.

"No, my dear, you had better go on horseback, because it seems likely to rain; and then you must stay all night." replied her mother.

"Mamma!" replied Jane, "I would take the gig and not even request the carriage if it did not seem like rain! I will not arrive a sodden mess." She turned to her father, "Now that we have the extra horses, is there any reason I cannot take the carriage?" she asked. The improvements on the estate had increased their income to very close to 3000 a year. Of this they had carefully not informed Mrs Bennet, but had been able to make improvements to the estate, such as the gig and extra horses, along with the staff to care for them. Mrs Bennet assumed these improvements were just the normal operations of the estate.

"No, of course you can take the carriage" replied her father.

With a frown at her mother for her scheming, Jane rose to dress for her visit.

Jane had not been gone long before it rained hard. Her mother was disconsolate, but her sisters were relieved.

Jane arrived in good time at Netherfield, getting a little damp as she stepped from the carriage to the house, it not having a portico. She entered the house and was welcomed by her two friends with many professions of pleasure. The gentlemen soon joined them, having not yet left. Jane dried off by the fire and was soon comfortable. Mr. Bingley was most attentive to her. "Miss Bennet," he proclaimed with a smile, "I am so very pleased to have you in my home." He turned to his friend. "Darcy, perhaps we should not attend the officer's dinner this evening after all? It would be impolite to leave with Miss Bennet here!" Darcy had been hoping to escape from Caroline's fawning for the evening and expressed his discontent to Bingley, "No, Charles, surely not - we have said we would attend, it would be far more impolite to not attend with such little notice." Bingley sighed "well, I am sorry that we cannot spend the evening with you, Miss Bennet but we do not have to run off immediately." He sat to talk with Jane.

Mr. Darcy was seated at the side of the parlour writing a letter to his sister. Miss Bingley swept over to him. "Perhaps I shall be able to ask Miss Bennet how her sister makes her eyes so fine" she whispered to Darcy. He gave her a side eye look and replied, "I think it is something that just comes naturally, Miss Bingley, not something that a lady 'does'". Miss Bingley gave him a small pout which he did not see as his eyes were on his letter.

Eventually the three gentlemen, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Hurst, determined it was time for them to dress and leave for the officers' dinner. Mr. Bingley took leave of Miss Bennet, Mr. Hurst kissed his wife's hand with a smile and Mr. Darcy ignored his hostess.

The Netherfield ladies, left without the benefit of the gentlemen's company, proved that their powers of conversation were considerable. They could describe an entertainment with accuracy, relate an anecdote with humour, and laugh at their acquaintance with spirit. The conversation came around to Hertfordshire and then became not quite as friendly.

"So, tell me of your family, Jane." said Miss Bingley, "What estates do you have uncles and aunts on?"

"Oh no, my father was the last scion of his family, I fear," replied Jane "apart, I believe, from a distant cousin whom we have not met. Some family falling out. On my mother's side, one uncle is an attorney right here in the village and the other is a very estimable man in trade in London".

Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst looked at her for a long moment. "Oh…. I see" said Miss Bingley.

Jane knew that the Bingley's were children of trade so was a little surprised that the sisters seemed to be concerned by the nature of her uncles, but she hadn't grown up with 4 sisters without knowing that not giving tit for tat would lead to bullying. "And what of your family, ladies? What estates do they hale from?"

Miss Bingley's jaw dropped. She suddenly realised that calling Jane out on her family left her with nowhere defensible to go. Closing her mouth with a snap, she replied "Well, of course our family are all still in Scarborough. I can't remember the last time we were all together…" she suddenly realised her one claim to fame. "But my dowry is twenty thousand and that must be considered" She smiled a little smugly.

Jane smiled gently and mentally called the point for herself, "Oh you are so lucky Caroline," she said generously and continued "Papa says my marriage portion is a few thousand pounds. I don't know precisely, it's not something I need to worry about. With him still living, he does the worrying about such things". She could see that this was exactly the sort of situation papa had warned her about - people did not need to know the family situation, it could only lead to trouble.

Miss Bingley thought she had won that round but was still worried by what she had seen of Darcy dealing with Jane's younger sister.

"So, are your sisters' similarly minimally dowered? I know sometimes the eldest sister has the largest portion. What is your sister Miss Eliza's portion?" Jane thought the conversation had become in very poor taste and should be diverted. She answered "I'm really not sure. We've never really discussed the finer details" There, she thought, not actually a lie, and moved on to changing the subject. "But tell me, did you find Netherfield in need of much work when you arrived? I've always thought the tenants here needed more support than they were getting while the estate had no master - we have looked after them when there has really been trouble as the owner doesn't give your steward the resources to do so and one can't just leave people to suffer. Have you found much wrong in your rounds?"

"The… tenants?" Caroline seemed confused by the question. "What have they to do with us?"

Jane looked between the two sisters for a moment. "Yes, the tenants. The people who supply much of an estate's income." She paused for a moment and then the realisation hit her. "Oh, of course, you've only just come from town. Perhaps you are not aware? It is normal, standard even, that the mistress of the estate visits the tenants to determine that all is well. If there is a problem - sickness in the house, a new baby, it can be many things really, and they are not coping we support them with material goods, medicines and assistance. This ensures they are able to continue and pay their rent next quarter. The tenants' rent is a major income for any estate. Good tenants can fall on hard times and then it is sensible to support them as finding new tenants is very difficult - we had to do that once some years ago. Papa says it was very difficult to find the new tenants and an empty farm does not pay rent and becomes less valuable and less rentable the longer it stands empty. Fortunately, the new family have turned out well."

Miss Bingley looked at her a little shocked. "So, you are saying, that visiting… those lower people… is an important part of owning an estate…"

"Well, an important part of owning a successful estate. If you don't mind your estate failing and producing very little income, then I don't suppose it matters. But who would do that?" Jane finished sunnily.

With this Mrs Hurst, who had been mostly quiet until then, piped up, "Caroline, I do believe Godfrey's mother has mentioned similar of the family estate. I am sure there was one day where she asked if I wanted to go with her when she was going to see some of the tenants. It didn't sound to me like something I wanted to do but, from what Jane says… maybe I should have…".

Mrs Hurst looked thoughtful. Miss Bingley simply looked horrified.

Jane smiled serenely, "Well, I can assure you it is important. Now shall we have some more tea?" Miss Bingley shook her head to clear it, feeling as if her world had just turned upside down, and looked at Jane. "Yes, yes of course" she said, and signalled to a footman.

Eventually it was time to leave. Miss Bingley had the servants call for the carriage and Jane rode home. The rain had continued all afternoon, but she spoke with the driver, and he was confident that the road was still passable. She had enjoyed the afternoon - Caroline could be a little intrusive, but she thought it was just curiosity for such a different lifestyle from the one she was used to. The enquiries about Lizzy were a little more concerning, but Jane imagined there was a good reason.

~~ HoL ~~

~~ HoL ~~