Mr. Darcy's Daughter (14 page)

Both
young men rose and nodded gravely, accepting without question the wisdom and good
sense of their father's words.

Upstairs,
Richard found Cassy, who had gone directly to their room. Like a hurt child,
who longs for the comfort of its familiar bed, she had crept, fully dressed,
under the covers, lying there still wide awake and tearful. There was no
mistaking the source of her anguish, yet Richard was wary of aggravating her
grief by trying to speak of it. Cassy was sore and needed soothing.

Gently,
he helped her take down her hair and get out of her mourning gown. He put away
her clothes, fetched her nightgown, and drew the bedclothes up around her. She
thanked him and, when he cradled her in his arms, letting the weariness
overwhelm her, she fell asleep at last.

END
OF PART ONE

Part
Two

THE FAMILIES WERE TO meet again, at Netherfield Park, for
the wedding of Jonathan Bingley's daughter Anne-Marie and Mr. Colin Elliott,
MP, in December of that year. It was to be, by their own choice, a quiet
occasion. Neither the bride-to-be nor her groom had wished for any fuss, and
following the death of Mr. Gardiner, their families were happy to comply.

Preparations
were afoot, however, for a modest celebration, with the village church being
refurbished and the choir under the direction of the Rector, Mr. Griffin,
practising with great dedication for the occasion.

It
was on returning from one of these sessions, during which she had been called
upon to assist at the church organ, that Anna Bingley found her husband reading
a long and informative letter from his mother, Mrs. Jane Bingley of Ashford
Park. It brought news that created some considerable interest, if not exactly a
controversy, among members of the family at Netherfield.

After
the usual familial greetings and enquiries, Mrs. Bingley wrote:

...and my dear Jonathan and Anna, I am told by my dear
sister Lizzie that the news was quite a shock to several people present,
including Mr Robert Gardiner and his wife Rose. It had been supposed, I expect,
that when Mr. Gardiner passed on, his younger son Robert would take over the
Rebecca Ann Collins

running
of the Commercial Trading Company and the share of the business held by his
father.

Everyone,
except Mr. Darcy, who was his closest confidant, believed this to be the case.
Indeed, I know that my Aunt Gardiner did and so apparently did Robert and Rose.
In fact, it might be said that the family had assumed that control of the
company would pass to Robert.

Unhappily
for Robert, however, it now appears that Mr. Gardiner had decided quite some
time ago, for the will had not been recently altered, that Caroline, his eldest
child, not Robert, would manage the business and inherit his shares in the
enterprise, with a life interest to his wife, of course.

Mr.
Darcy seems to have been the only person, apart from his solicitor, in whom our
uncle confided and he kept his counsel very well. Not even your Aunt Lizzie was
aware of the arrangement.

Jonathan
did not appear unduly perturbed by the news and Anna, who knew little of the
business affairs of the Gardiners, asked if he were not surprised.

"No,
my dear, I am not," he replied. "Mr. Gardiner was one of the best
businessmen I have ever known and it is not surprising that he should be wary
of handing control of his business to Robert. He is a fine gentleman, to be
sure, but is easygoing and too willing to let others tell him what to do. Had
my uncle left the business in his hands, it is more than likely that his wife
Rose or his father-in-law James Fitzwilliam would have had the running of
it."

He
handed his mother's letter to Anna and, as she continued reading, more was
revealed:

Your
Aunt Lizzie tells me that, at the reading of the will, when the announcement
was made, Caroline gasped and turned rather pale--

clearly,
she had not expected it--while her husband Colonel Fitzwilliam looked quite
astonished.

Lizzie
says Robert did not flinch, but his wife looked very cross and shortly
afterwards left the room, claiming she needed some fresh air! I think that she
had rather taken it all for granted and was somewhat disgruntled at the turn of
events. I do hope she does not hold it against Caroline, for that would be a
shame. Caroline is such a sweet girl and means no harm to anyone.

When
your father was told, he seemed quite at ease with the idea, saying that
Caroline was a very clever young woman and he could not see what the fuss was
about. I am inclined to agree with your father, but we shall have to wait and
see what Mr. Darcy has to say.

Jane
Bingley concluded with a paragraph devoted to advice on his daughter's wedding,
her best regards to Anna, and a most loving salutation to her young grandsons,
Nicholas and Simon.

When
Anna had read the letter through, she asked her husband if it was possible that
Mr. Gardiner had perhaps realised that Robert and Rose preferred living in
London for most of the year, where they had both made many new friends. "I
know Rose finds life in Derbyshire dull; she has said so quite openly,"

she
said.

Jonathan
thought this was possible but he was cautious in making a judgment. "Mr.
Darcy would know the real reason," he said, "but he would never break
a confidence and disclose it. My own opinion is that Mr. Gardiner has long
preferred Caroline to take charge of the business and her mother's shares in
it. She is intelligent and hard working, even if she is a hopeless romantic at
times; she has always had a good head for business and does understand commerce
better than most of us. We should not forget, she was also his favourite
daughter."

"Do
you believe Mr. Darcy knew of his intention?" Anna asked.

"I
do and, if he did, he must have approved of it, because he owns a share of the
business together with my father. Had he not believed that Caroline was capable
of managing it successfully, he would have advised Mr. Gardiner against
it."

"I
suppose Robert must feel hard done by," said Anna.

"I
cannot imagine why," her husband replied. "There is no suggestion in
Mother's letter that he has lost any part of his own inheritance; if one were
to look at it from another perspective, Robert, who has never shown a great
deal of interest in the company, has been spared a good deal of the hard work,
but will continue to receive an income from it."

Anna
laughed and told him that was an answer worthy of a politician, adding,
"If you are right, then there is no reason for Rose Gardiner to feel any
resentment towards Caroline, is there?"

"No
indeed, there is not, for she and Robert are free to live where they choose and
pursue whatever interests they may wish," her husband replied. "Be
that as it may, Anna, my dear, I am quite sure Mr. Gardiner had very sound
reasons for his decision."

"Which
we may never discover," said Anna, as she collected her things and made to
leave the room, but her husband had the last word.

"My
dear, I am quite certain that it will not be beyond the wit of my mother and
Aunt Lizzie to discover them. I will wager any amount you care to name that
before too long, we shall all know Mr. Gardiner's reasons."

*

Back
at Pemberley, in a conversation over dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy and their
guests were involved in a similar discussion. Having been privy to Mr.
Gardiner's decision and, indeed, having been asked to witness the changes to
his will a year or more ago, Mr. Darcy was convinced of the rightness of the course
he had adopted.

Mr.
Gardiner had long felt that Robert, despite his professed desire to participate
in the family business, would not be the most appropriate of his four children
to take over the responsibility of managing the company. Indeed, he had
recently confided in Mr. Darcy that he had for some time harboured serious
doubts about the man Robert had appointed to run the Manchester office, which
handled most of their shipping. Mr. Gardiner had been made aware of some
discrepancies in the accounts and urged his son to look more closely at his
work, yet Robert, after what Mr. Gardiner thought was a fairly cursory
examination of the books, had assured him there was no cause for concern and
everything was in order.

Mr.
Darcy had also seen a letter to Caroline from her father, handed to her by the
lawyer Mr. Jennings after the reading of the will, which detailed, among other
matters, his continuing anxiety about the conduct of Mr. Stokes, the manager of
the Manchester office. Urging Caroline to pay close attention to his work, it
contained also some sound advice:

If
you need to consult anyone, you may find that you can trust the judgment of Mr.
Darcy or your brother Richard. Ask their advice if you wish, but should you
prefer to rely upon your own, my dear Caroline, I am happy to trust yours.

Your
husband should be a good source of advice; Colonel Fitzwilliam has proved
himself to be adept and careful in matters of business and I am convinced that
together you will do well in this important endeavour.

Remember,
my dear, that your mother's continuing comfort and peace of mind, your own
fortune, and the income that will flow to your brothers and sister, as well as
my valued partners Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, are now all in your care. I know
you will not let them down.

Caroline,
on reading the letter, had felt proud at being chosen by her father for the
onerous task, yet daunted by the responsibility he had placed in her hands. She
had put the letter away, revealing its contents only to Mr. Darcy and later to
Richard and Cassandra.

Besides
the good advice and some affectionate words of farewell, Mr. Gardiner had added
a postscript, which Cassy found interesting.

In
it he urged Caroline to beware of those who may advise the sale of parts of the
business to outsiders:

Remember,
dear Caroline, it is with you I leave the most valuable part of my life's work.
Apart from the property at Oakleigh, which I purchased for your mother, the
company is my entire fortune. Bound up in it is the prosperity and happiness of
several people, including my family and those faithful employees who have
worked for us for many years. Now it is in your hands.

When
Cassandra had accompanied her husband to the reading of his father's will, she,
like most other members of the family, had not expected any surprises. Mr.
Gardiner was, above all, a stable, steady businessman, with no tendency towards
eccentricity or aberration.

The
first few bequests to each of his grandchildren and to faithful staff and
servants were only to be expected. He was well known for his generosity. Cassy
was delighted when her sons and daughters received substantial endowments, but
rather more than surprised when she figured separately in his will, receiving a
very generous bequest. Her share holding was almost doubled, as were those of
Richard, Emily, and Robert.

When,
however, Mr. Jennings proceeded to read the words that gave Caroline control of
the rest of her father's shares and the management of the company, with a
codicil that prevented her from selling any of it without the consent of her
mother and her brother Richard, Cassy had been astonished. Her hand had crept
surreptitiously into her husband's as she had wondered what had prompted Mr.
Gardiner to follow such a course. She saw, too, the shocked face of her
brother-in-law Robert and his wife's flushed countenance as she left the room a
few minutes later.

It
was plain they were both shocked and Rose was very angry.

Looking
at Mrs. Gardiner, sitting between her two daughters, Cassy could tell from her
face that her mother-in-law had been as ignorant of her husband's intentions as
the rest of them. Only Mr. Darcy had seemed unsurprised. Indeed, as it appeared
later, when the documents were laid upon the table by Mr. Jennings for all to read,
her father had witnessed Mr. Gardiner's signature at the end of the paragraph,
which contained the detailed instruction to Caroline.

Cassy
was
surprised.

When
they met again at Pemberley for dinner, Mr. Bingley and Jane were there, too.
Inevitably, the conversation revolved around Mr. Gardiner's decision to place
Caroline in charge of the business.

"Do
you suppose, Papa, that Mr. Gardiner thought Caroline was better able to manage
the business than Robert?" Cassy asked, quietly.

Mr.
Darcy answered her gently but firmly, leaving no one in any doubt of his
opinion on the matter.

"I
am quite sure he did, my dear, and with good reason. Robert has for some years
worked at his duties but, despite his best efforts, it was clear to his father
that his heart was not in it. Robert, sadly, has neither the natural ability
for commerce that his father had, nor did he attempt to acquire the skills that
are necessary to manage such an enterprise in the modern commercial
world."

"Oh
come, sir, is that not being unfair to Robert?" asked Richard.

But
Mr. Darcy was unrepentant.