Page 8 of The Duke of Derby (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

Elizabeth and Jane spent some time that morning looking through the guest rooms and deciding which of them was the least objectionable.

Elizabeth knew that it would be easiest for Mr. Darcy to help their father if he didn’t have to make the journey to and from Derby to do so each day, so she was hoping to be able to house Mr. and Miss Darcy at Lockwood.

They found two rooms where the furniture was still comfortable and sturdy and the wallpaper was in good condition.

The upholstery was not as worn as it was in other rooms, though the colors were faded.

They had the servants air out the mattresses and prepare some fresh sheets and blankets.

As they did so, Elizabeth was grateful that it was a sunny and warm day rather than a cold and rainy one.

Once the servants were put to work making the two bedrooms as comfortable as possible, Mrs. Perkins asked the sisters if she could have a word with them.

They met in the front parlor. With the sunshine pouring through the window, the room was pleasant despite the faded furniture and carpet.

“My ladies,” said Mrs. Perkins, “there are a few complications that you may not be aware of that are causing difficulties.”

Elizabeth was alarmed by such a beginning, but Jane remained calm. “And what are these complications?” Jane asked.

“I am sure that, by now, you are aware of the late duke’s generosity toward his servants in his will,” she said.

When they both nodded, Mrs. Perkins continued.

“Well, the windfall has caused several of the servants to desire to leave their positions. In fact, some have already done so even before you arrived. One of the footmen and two of my maids have taken their new fortune and used it to marry their sweethearts.”

“I am glad to hear it,” said Jane. “I hope they are happy in their new lives.”

“Well, that is not all,” said Mrs. Perkins.

“As you know, the duke gave everyone ten times their annual salary, which means the more a servant was paid, the more they received from the will. Unfortunately for you, this means that the highest paid servants, which also tend to be the ones most difficult to replace, are the ones who are in the most likely position to leave.”

“Will you be leaving?” asked Jane.

Elizabeth thought it was an obvious question. In fact, as soon as she heard that Mrs. Perkins and Mr. Warburton had received one thousand pounds each, she wondered why they were still there. The will had been read more than a month ago.

Mrs. Perkins looked a bit sheepish. “I admit that I was planning to do so. I have a little cottage nearby where my husband lives and where my children were raised. Both my children are grown now and living in Manchester. I was hoping to take my inheritance and my husband and move there to be closer to my grandchildren.”

“That sounds lovely,” said Jane. “I am very happy that you have this opportunity.”

Mrs. Perkins was clearly surprised at this response. “You are not angry?”

“Of course not,” said Jane. “I am only grateful that you stayed as long as you did. I assume you did so to help with the transition of power.” When Mrs. Perkins nodded, Jane asked, “How much longer will you be here?”

“I told my husband I would be ready to move at the end of May,” said Mrs. Perkins.

“That seems reasonable, generous even,” said Jane. “As long as you can help us replace those who will be leaving, I will have no complaints whatsoever. Do you know if anyone else is planning to leave who is not already gone?”

“A couple of maids want to leave and set up a business in Derby as seamstresses,” said Mrs. Perkins. “They have stayed this long in hopes that you will have a chance to see the quality of their work before they go, so that you can vouch for them.”

“I will be happy to look at it,” said Jane. Then she added firmly, “I will be completely honest, however. If their workmanship is not of the quality I would desire for my own clothing, I will tell them so.”

Elizabeth was surprised to see this side of Jane. Everyone always thought of her as excessively kind, even malleable. Elizabeth knew that Jane could be firm when she knew herself to be right. She just never expected that side of her to emerge in such a situation as this.

“I would expect nothing less,” said Mrs. Perkins.

“There is one, rather important, position that will be empty by the end of the month. The cook, Mrs. Barton, has decided to leave. Like the maids, she wishes to set up a shop in Derby. She is a dab hand at making pastry and sweets, and I am certain she will be an immediate success. The only reason she has stayed as long as she has is because she was waiting for the perfect location to be available.”

“This could be a problem,” said Jane. She thought for a moment then said, “I assume, in a house as large as this, that Mrs. Barton had at least one assistant.”

“Two, my Lady,” said Mrs. Perkins.

“Are either of them skilled enough to take over as the cook? It would be easier to replace an assistant than a head cook.”

“I think Mr. Martin has the skills for the most part, though he doesn’t have quite as wide a range as Mrs. Barton.

His only weakness is bread. He can never seem to get it quite right.

Mrs. Barton banned him from even trying a few years ago, because she said all he ever did was waste ingredients and give the staff stomach aches. ”

“What about the other assistant?” asked Jane. “Can he or she make bread?”

“Miss Smith is still fairly young, but she makes excellent bread.”

“Then when Mrs. Barton leaves, promote Mr. Martin to her position. Just make certain Miss Smith is in charge of the bread from now on,” said Jane. “Now, by my count, we will need to replace one footman, four maids, an assistant cook, and a housekeeper. Is that everyone?”

“I am not certain,” said Mrs. Perkins. “I am not quite as privy to the male servants’ intentions. That is the purview of Mr. Warburton.”

“Would you mind fetching him?” asked Jane. “I would like to know the complete scale of the problem so that we can know how best to move forward.”

Once Mrs. Perkins was out of the room, Jane sagged in her seat. Elizabeth chuckled. “I believe I am grateful to not be in your shoes,” she said. “You have handled yourself marvelously, so far, though. Like a queen.”

Jane sighed and shook her head. “I am merely practicing for the real trials to come. If I am to be a duchess suo jure someday, I will have to learn to deal with anything and everything that comes my way. This is nothing.”

Elizabeth reached out and squeezed Jane’s hand. “I can think of no one better suited to the position.”

Jane rolled her eyes, which entirely astonished Elizabeth. “You are only saying that because I look the part.”

“Of course not,” said Elizabeth. “That will help, I’m certain, but the way you combine grace, kindness, and firmness is astounding.

I could not do it. I am certain that I would have been screaming in frustration by the end of that conversation if I were the one making the decisions.

Four maids gone? We only had three total at Longbourn, and that includes the one lady’s maid we shared among us. ”

“We still have five left,” said Jane. “It is not enough to keep the entire house spotlessly clean and certainly not enough to handle entertaining, but it is enough to keep the rooms that are used clean and warm. We will just have to find new ones.”

“You have just made my point for me,” said Elizabeth. “Your way of looking at setbacks is fundamentally different from my own. I can tell you are genuinely happy for those who have left or who are going to leave, despite the difficulties we face with their departure.”

“Servants are people, too,” said Jane.

Elizabeth did not have a chance to respond, since they heard two sets of footsteps approaching the room from the hall. Moments later, Mrs. Perkins and Mr. Warburton entered.

From their additional discussion Jane and Elizabeth learned that only one additional footman wished to leave.

The other four footmen were content to send their windfalls to their families, and the other male servants were outdoor servants, such as the gardener and the stablemaster, who loved their jobs and had no desire to leave no matter how much money they had.

Mr. Warburton, too, was absolutely intent on remaining until the day he could not carry on.

He had an extreme loyalty to the duke’s family and the estate itself, and his only hesitation had been the fear that there would be no one to carry on the title.

Now that an heir had been found, he was absolutely determined to stay.

After some discussion, Mr. Warburton and Mrs. Perkins agreed on which of the upper maids to promote to housekeeper. This left one more maid position open, but that was far easier to find a replacement for than a housekeeper with fifteen years of experience.

The sisters determined that, once they had filled three maids’ positions and the cook’s assistant position, any other staffing decisions could wait until their mother, the real mistress of the house, was settled in.

~~~~~

While his daughters were dealing with household and staffing issues, Duke Derby was holed up in the study looking over ledgers and speaking with his secretary occasionally.

The personal books were both more and less complicated than he anticipated.

Less so, because almost all of the expenses were household expenses, with just a few clothing expenses here and there.

There was no entertainment, no traveling, no expensive furniture purchases, no horses purchased, not even any expenses one might associate with a mistress.

The old duke’s entire existence was wrapped up in his home and his servants.

Even so, the old man had spent six thousand a year just on that. The house was large, to say the least, and it required an enormous staff to keep it in good condition. Additionally, there seemed to be a stable of about ten horses, though Bennet had not yet been out to see them in person.

The house, itself, was why the ledgers were more complex than he anticipated. The number of expenses, and even the types of expenses, were more numerous than he was used to dealing with. Simply skimming through a single book, which covered a year’s worth of expenses, had taken a couple of hours.

By mid-afternoon, the duke had a headache, and the writing on the pages began to blur. He left his secretary and went for a walk. His original intention was to go look at the stables to see for himself the quality of horseflesh he now owned.

Instead, when he stepped out the front door, he realized that he had no idea where the stable was.

So, he simply decided to wander about. After looking around at a couple different ornamental gardens, one on the side of the house and one in the back, he realized that he could have simply followed the path that clearly showed how the carriages were transported from the front of the house where they dropped off their passengers to the carriage house where they were stored.

When this occurred to him, he laughed out loud at himself. Shaking his head, he turned back to the front of the house where he followed the path like a sensible person.

When he finally reached the stables, he spoke at length with the stablemaster. He was introduced to each horse, and he could tell they were all exercised regularly and were well taken care of. As he continued to listen to the stablemaster, however, he began to feel bad for the animals.

Only two of the ten horses were used for their original purpose. Those were the farm horses. They still did plenty of work on the farm. Additionally, they were used to pull the cart whenever the housekeeper or the cook needed to head into town to make purchases.

The carriage horses didn’t have a carriage to pull, since the old duke never left the house.

The hunter hadn’t been out hunting in almost twenty years.

There were even a couple of older ladies’ horses that had probably been originally purchased for the use of the late duchess and her visitors.

The duke wondered if they still knew how to carry a lady on a side saddle.

The discussion eventually ended with Bennet assuring the stablemaster that all the horses would be put to use again soon enough, except for the old hunter who was clearly nearing the end of his life.

He added that he would likely need to add to the size of the stable somewhat, since he had six ladies under his care who all liked to visit and shop a great deal.

The stablemaster thanked him and bowed deeply in gratitude.

Eventually, Bennet arrived back at his study, only to be greeted by a sheepish expression from his secretary.

As the secretary pointed to a stack of smaller ledgers, he said, “I forgot to tell you about the ledgers for the town house. It hasn’t been used by the duke in more than ten years, but it has been rented out occasionally for short-term stays, so it has been maintained nicely.

It costs about one thousand a year in upkeep, since it is not occupied constantly. ”

Bennet groaned loudly.