Recollections of Rosings (9 page)

    A letter addressed to his children was handed to Lilian, but that was all.

    When it was over, Mr Darcy assured Catherine that she could continue to live at the Dower House for as long as she needed.

    "The lease has been paid for a complete year and you need have no concern at all should you wish to stay on," he had said.

    Catherine thanked him for his generosity and replied that she would like to stay on for a while until she had made some plans for herself and Lilian.

    Jonathan Bingley offered his assistance and his wife Anna invited her to spend some time at Netherfield Park in the future, if she wished to get away from Rosings for a while. Catherine thanked them all sincerely.

    Rebecca had already offered her and Lilian a home with her in Matlock, but Catherine had made it clear that she had no wish to move to Derbyshire.

    "Becky, I have lived all my life in Kent, I would be a complete stranger in Derbyshire… even if I could get accustomed to your weather!" she had said, protesting even as she thanked her for her offer. "I should be quite lost. It is very kind of you to ask me and I am not ungrateful, but how would I feel knowing no one in the community? I have grown up here, there is hardly a person in the parish who does not know me, every tenant and farmer's wife on the estate is familiar to me. How shall I leave them all?"

    "But what do you propose to do? Where will you and Lilian live?" Becky asked, concerned at the vagueness of her sister's response. A practical sort of person herself, Becky worried that Catherine had no real plans.

    She answered just as vaguely, saying something about needing to discuss it with Lilian because Lilian had never known any home but the parsonage at Hunsford. "Besides," she added, "she is unlikely to wish to leave at this time; she is just seventeen with all her life ahead of her. The friends of her childhood are all here, and I am not inclined to remove her from this place just when she has lost her father and needs the comfort of her friends."

    Rebecca agreed. "I can see that Lilian's interests lie here. Indeed, I had hoped to speak with her about them…" she said and was astonished at the speed and sharpness of her sister's riposte.

    "Becky, I would rather you did not. Although Lilian is young, she is exceedingly sensible and would never do anything untoward or stupid. I am confident of that. Pray, do not intervene to query or quiz her about matters that are surely for her alone to decide; she may well be resentful and I would not wish such a circumstance to come between you two. Believe me, Becky dear, it is for the best."

    Seeing she was being quite serious, Rebecca said no more about it, but could not help wondering at the liberality of her sister's views.

    Writing once more to Emily Courtney, she complained:

    A week later, Rebecca returned home to Matlock, promising to be back at a day's notice if her sister needed her.

    "Promise me, Cathy," she pleaded, "you will send word if you need my help. There is little to occupy me in Derbyshire now and I will come at once, should you send for me."

    Catherine promised. She knew her sister was not happy to be going, while some matters remained unresolved, but clearly there was nothing more she could achieve by remaining at the Dower House at this time.

    Some days later, Catherine and Lilian together had been upstairs in Dr Harrison's room, looking askance at the piles of books and papers that seemed to fill every available space. They were wondering how they would sort out the material to be sent to the library at Rosings and what they might do with the rest.

    "We could take them all down to Papa's book room, but I cannot begin to pack them up, until I know which are those considered suitable to be preserved and which might not suit. Papa appears to have kept copious notes on everything," grumbled Lilian.

    "He certainly did that," said her mother. "There are more boxes in the attic, filled with his sermons and notes of all the reports he did for the bishop. I do not believe I know enough to decide upon their value."

    The sound of footsteps outside alerted them to the arrival of visitors.

    Looking out of the window, Lilian whispered, "It's Mr Adams, Mama, and look, there's Mr Burnett with him, too. We have not seen him in several days; I have wondered where he had gone."

    Catherine did not rise immediately from her chair; instead, she sent Lilian down to greet the gentlemen and settle them in the parlour.

    "I shall be down very soon; do ask Mrs Giles to send in some tea and cake," she said.

    Both men rose when Catherine entered the room, and Frank Burnett's face was grave as he took her outstretched hand.

    "Mrs Harrison, please accept my heartfelt condolences and forgive me for not calling on you earlier… I was summoned to London… on the very day before…" he appeared to become tongue-tied and awkward until Catherine intervened.

    "Thank you, Mr Burnett, there is no need to apologise, I was aware that you had left Rosings for London. Had you been here, I know you would have come, of course."

    Mr Adams looked puzzled, wondering how Catherine had known of Mr Burnett's journey to London. Burnett had declared he had received an express summoning him to an important meeting at the British Museum and left to catch a train to London, but John Adams had not spoken of it to anyone. His time had been spent comforting Lilian, who had suffered both shock and grief at the sudden deterioration and death of her father. Mr Adams had believed that neither Lilian nor her mother could have known of Burnett's departure for London.

    He had subsequently returned as suddenly as he had departed and almost immediately asked if they could call on Mrs Harrison and her daughter.

    "I feel I have been remiss in not calling on them before I left for London; it was most unfortunate but unavoidable. I wish to offer my condolences…" he had said and had appeared so determined that Mr Adams had not tried to dissuade him.

    What he did not know was that prior to his departure for London, Frank Burnett had written an informal note of condolence to Mrs Harrison, expressing his sympathy and his own distress at having been called away to London. Catherine had opened it two days after the funeral and had told no one, putting it away with the rest of her correspondence, intending to respond to it later.

    After they had taken tea, Lilian and Mr Adams walked out into the garden, where they claimed they wished to admire the newly blooming roses, which grew in a secluded area to the east of the house, leaving Catherine and Mr Burnett together in the parlour.

    After a brief silence, Catherine took the opportunity to thank him for his note, and he sincerely reiterated his regrets at not being present at the funeral.

    "It was the least I could do; I had hoped to call on you, but there was no opportunity. Mr Adams had informed me that many members of your family had arrived already, and I did not wish to intrude upon you at the time. I hoped you would forgive my presumption in writing to you as I did; I was loathe to leave for London without a word to you," he said.

    He seemed genuinely concerned and Catherine was at pains to reassure him. "There is nothing to forgive; there was certainly no presumption on your part. Indeed, I appreciated your thoughtfulness in writing to me."

    He smiled then, clearly pleased to be reassured.

    After a few more minutes of silence, Mr Burnett asked if Catherine wished to walk in the garden too, but she declined.

    "I have been out to see the roses already; it is a habit of mine to go out directly after breakfast. One I cultivated in the days when I lived at Rosings and had to ensure that Lady Catherine had fresh blooms on her table when she sat down to read her letters each morning," she said quietly.

    Frank Burnett recalled with some amusement that indeed it had been one of Her Ladyship's many requirements.

    "I do remember seeing you often in the rose garden, gathering the best blooms for Lady Catherine, no doubt," he said and she smiled too, nodding and thinking to herself, "He remembers the roses but has clearly forgotten the silly incident with the secateurs."

    She was not about to remind him, and it seemed their conversation had reached an end, when he asked in a very matter-of-fact way about the collection of books and papers that Dr Harrison had wished to be lodged in the library at Rosings.

    "I understand there is a considerable amount of material; Mr Adams has told me that Miss Lilian and you intend to sort through it yourselves."

    Catherine, rather glad of an opportunity to embark upon a new, less personal topic of conversation, said with some degree of eagerness, "Yes indeed, there is a great deal—books, papers, notes, manuscripts, besides a quite valuable collection of rare Bibles, which Dr Harrison acquired over many years. According to his will, they are all to be sent to the library at Rosings, except his personal family Bible and prayer book, which we are to keep. Lilian and I have been trying to sort the papers and books, but I am afraid we have not got very far. Neither of us is conversant with the material to the extent that we feel qualified to decide what is and what is not worth keeping. I should hate to discard, through ignorance, something that is of value, but there is so much, it cannot all be preserved, surely?"

    "Indeed no, it is a task that requires both time and special knowledge," said Mr Burnett, acknowledging her concern. "John Adams told me of it last night and I wondered whether you would let me help. I should be more than happy to assist, if you wished it. I could sort and collate the papers here and have them removed to the library, which has been mercifully spared the ravages of the fire, where they could, at a later date, be catalogued and stored appropriately. As for the books and the collection of rare Bibles, they should be stored safely as soon as possible, to avoid any damage."

    At first, Catherine had been taken aback by his offer, more by the directness of his approach than by the offer itself; but she did genuinely appreciate his kindness in suggesting it. There would be so much to do to reorder her life that the additional responsibility of organising her husband's bequest of books and papers had loomed as an enormous task, which would probably take weeks to complete. Yet, she knew that a practised librarian, with an eye for the important details, would no doubt have it done in half the time. Quite clearly, Mr Burnett understood this too.

    She looked and sounded relieved as she said, "If you are quite certain you could spare the time, Mr Burnett, it would assist me very much indeed. I am unfamiliar with the processes of such a task and…"

    Frank Burnett was quick to reassure her. "Please do not concern yourself on that score, Mrs Harrison; if the material is to be lodged in the library at Rosings as part of a bequest, I shall need to see it and assess it myself for cataloguing and storage. The responsibility is mine, and I would be honoured to undertake the task."

    She thanked him and they arranged that he would call on the morrow around mid-morning to begin work.

    Returning from their sojourn among the roses, Lilian and John Adams found Frank Burnett and Mrs Harrison in the midst of a discussion on how many boxes would be required and by what means they might be transported to Rosings. The question was soon resolved when Mr Adams suggested that perhaps Mr Benson could be pressed into service and would organise it all.

    The gentlemen were preparing to leave when Catherine surprised them by reminding them of a previous, unfulfilled engagement, which had sadly been foregone due to the sudden deterioration of Dr Harrison's health. She wondered if the gentlemen would care to dine with them on the following Sunday.

    "There will only be Lilian and myself, and it will be a simple meal, but if you have nothing else to occupy you, you will be most welcome to join us," she said and both men accepted with pleasure.

    Lilian looked pleased too, but was, it must be admitted, more than a little surprised. She had not supposed that her mother would be ready for company at this time, yet for herself, she was exceedingly glad of the opportunity that it would afford her and Mr Adams to meet again soon. It was the first time that Mr Adams had been invited to dine with them.

    Between then and Sunday, Mr Burnett called thrice at the house and, having been shown into Dr Harrison's study and provided with the keys to his desk and cabinets, had worked all through the day, quietly and assiduously, disturbing no one and emerging only to ask Mrs Giles for some string. The housekeeper had taken him some tea and biscuits, which were gratefully accepted as he continued on with his task.

    On the Friday, he indicated that all of the preliminary work was complete and he would return on the morrow with Mr Benson and a vehicle to remove the boxes, and Catherine was amazed at the speed with which he had completed the task.

    However, there was one thing that he wanted Mrs Harrison to see, he said, inviting her into the room. Catherine followed him in, curious to discover what it was he had found.