estate.'
Darcy would hardly have equated the importance of overseeing Pemberley with that of selecting a waistcoat, but if that mode of thinking had led Mr. Dashwood to a fuller cognizance of his responsibilities as a landholder, he could not criticize the comparison.
'In my experience, a good steward is invaluable,' he suggested. 'Though your father is gone, perhaps your steward can educate you. He will likely be gratified by your interest in Norland.'
'Or threatened by it.'
'An honest man would not be so.'
'Unfortunately, I’m not entirely confident that I’m dealing with an honest man.' He took a swallow of port. 'I spent some time this week reviewing Norland’s accounts for the period since my father’s death. I’d never looked at the record books before, so I had trouble making sense of them. When I went to our steward with questions, he became defensive.'
Darcy frowned. 'Do you believe he cheats you?'
'I don’t know what to believe. He has been at Norland since I was a boy. I never had cause to deal with him while my father was alive. I doubt, however, that my father would have retained a steward he didn’t trust.'
'He might simply resent a young, inexperienced new master questioning his work. Though I had assisted my father for years, I encountered that prejudice among some of my older tenants when he passed away.'
'Truly? You, Mr. Darcy?'
'Why should that surprise you?'
'You are a man born to run an estate.'
'If you have inherited one, then so are you.'
He smiled ruefully. 'I suppose I am. You, however, know what you are doing, while I do not.'
'Then you must change that.'
Dash wood swirled the port around in his glass, his face pensive. 'Mr. Darcy, I wonder if I might impose upon you to — that is, when you come to Norland, if you would take a look at the accounts and advise me as to whether everything appears in order?'
'Certainly. Not being familiar with Norland will limit my ability to detect inconsistencies, but I will determine what I can.'
'I am most grateful for your help, sir.'
Darcy hesitated, not wanting to insinuate himself further into Harry’s affairs than he’d been invited. But he was pleased to see the younger man taking an interest in his new responsibilities and wanted to encourage him. 'If you like, Mr. Dash-wood, I would be happy to explain the records to you so that in the future you can make you own determinations.'
'I would appreciate that very much.'
He finished his port but declined Darcy’s offer of more. He appeared to have something further he wished to say Darcy waited patiently, letting him seek his words.
'I am most desirous of your good opinion, Mr. Darcy, and that of your family,' he finally said. 'For as long as I can remember, my mother has held great ambitions for me. She longs to see me distinguished in the world somehow, or at the very least to gain entree into the drawing rooms of every great family in England. I’ve never had any interest in politics or Parliament or any of the other schemes she’s set before me, nor in the debutantes she perpetually throws in my way as candidates for an advantageous alliance. The young ladies she presents harbor even more ambition than she does. They would not be satisfied as Mrs. Harry Dashwood until I made a great name for myself.'
'Miss Bennet, however, is different. I think that if Norland meets with her approval — if I meet with her approval, as I am, today — that will be enough. She won’t spend the rest of my life trying to mold me into someone I don’t want to be.'
Darcy was inclined to agree. Kitty might not possess the accomplishments and polish of most young ladies of the ton, but neither did she suffer from their social-climbing pretensions. Yes, she chattered about the possibility of meeting a young duke or earl, but, as Elizabeth said, her hopes were no more than the idyllic dreams of any girl. Realistically, she knew her slight dowry made a modest marriage probable, and she was prepared to accept that.
Too, there had been no talk of dukes since Kitty had met Mr. Dashwood. In her eyes, he wanted no improvement.
'I believe you already possess Miss Bennet’s good opinion,' Darcy said. 'And today’s demonstration of a more serious approach to your affairs puts you well in the way of securing mine.'
'My interest in Norland is genuine. I appreciate your guidance, Mr. Darcy' He rose and set his empty glass beside the port decanter. 'Do you suppose the ladies look for our return, or have they forgotten us altogether?'
They passed the remainder of the evening in pleasant conversation with the ladies. Mr. Dashwood enquired whether Kitty had yet enjoyed many of London’s amusements. At her negative response, he insisted she allow him to escort her to the Vauxhall Gardens, drive her through Hyde Park, and visit Madame Tussaud’s. Before he left, he’d invited them all to accompany him to a concert the following night.
'Mr. Dashwood seems to have risen in your esteem tonight,' Elizabeth observed as they prepared for bed. She had changed into a white lace nightgown and sat brushing her hair at the dressing table. 'Of what did you speak in the library for so long?'
Darcy loosened his cravat. 'He is developing a greater interest in his property at Norland.'
A sly smile played across her lips. 'Does he think of settling down?'
Recalling her earlier badinage about his love of sport, he deliberately withheld the information she sought, teasing her in turn. 'A man requests bookkeeping advice and you are ready to order Kitty’s wedding clothes. That is a leap of logic I would expect from your mother.'
'You accuse me unfairly. Besides' — she turned back to the mirror and continued brushing her hair — 'I notice you did not answer no.'
'If a lady has indeed inspired this newfound regard for Norland, I would not betray a gentleman’s confidence by revealing that fact to her sister. One might as well just tell the lady herself and spare the intermediary.'
'You know me to be a better keeper of secrets than that.'
'Who said I referred to you and Kitty? Perhaps I spoke only hypothetically'
'Oh — hypothetically.' She set down the brush. 'In that case, you need say nothing more.' Mischief danced in her brown eyes, but he could not make out her meaning.
She worked her hair into a braid, then walked to the bed, slid beneath the covers, and opened a novel while she waited for him. He thought no more of Mr. Dashwood, or Kitty, or anyone save his wife. Anxious to join her, he finished changing into his nightclothes and went to extinguish the candle at the bedside.
She looked up from her novel. 'What are you doing?'
He took the book from her hands and set it atop the night table. 'You suggested we retire early tonight.'
She picked the book back up. 'Didn’t you realize, darling?' She cast him an innocent look and reopened the volume. 'I was speaking hypothetically.'
Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband’s family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it.
Upon learning that her son planned to hold his birthday fete at Norland, and that a certain Miss Catherine Ben-net topped the guest list, Mrs. John Dashwood paid a call upon the Darcy family.
The announcement of her arrival sent Kitty into a state of shock followed immediately by a flurry of nervous agitation. She cast aside her needlework frame and raised her hands to her face. 'Mr. Dashwood’s mother! Lizzy,
