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“Pray sit down, Mrs. Bell.”

“I shall not keep you, sir.”

“You need not remain standing on that account.”

She sat. Miss Bennet took the chair beside her, removed her gloves, and folded them tightly between her hands.

“Mrs. Reynolds tells me there has been a leak,” Darcy said.

“The water came in by the chimney, sir. It ran down the side of the hearth and over the shelf where I keep the flour.”

“Was anything damaged?”

“Some flour. I moved the rest. My grandson helped me put the pans down.”

Darcy looked toward the basket.

“These are not the things that were spoiled,” she said quickly. “I had brought Mrs. Reynolds her cloths. I take in some of the mending. Miss Bennet met me at the garden gate and was good enough to carry the basket.”

“It was still dripping from the corner,” Elizabeth said. “I asked whether she had been caught in the rain.”

“The cloths were dry,” Mrs. Bell assured him. “I kept them upstairs. It was the basket that stood too near the wall.”

Darcy glanced at the damp wicker. He had first imagined a little water beneath a window. Mrs. Bell’s explanation described rather more.

“The chimney is to be attended to,” he said. “Mr. Hammond spoke to me about it.”

“Yes, sir. He has been very good about telling me.”

Miss Bennet’s gaze lifted to his.

“How long has she been told?”

Darcy did not like the question, or the manner in which it placed the tenant between them.

“The mason has been engaged elsewhere. I have sent for Hammond so that we may discover when he is expected.”

“I asked again after church last Sunday,” Mrs. Bell said. “Mr. Hammond thought he would come this week. I did not mean to trouble you upon a Sunday, sir.”

“If the water came in last night, there is no reason to wait until tomorrow to tell me.”

“I told her you would wish to know,” Elizabeth said.

He heard something more than reassurance in the statement. It seemed she had brought the woman here to test whether he would act.

“Then you were right.” Darcy turned back to Mrs. Bell. “Was your fire affected?”

“It went out. There was not much left in it by then.”

“What have you used this morning?”

“My daughter sent over hot water. She is only at the next cottage. We have managed.”

They had managed. That was generally the answer people gave when a difficulty had ceased to be new. Darcy wondered how much of the night she and the boy had spent moving pans beneath a leaking chimney which his steward had assured him was awaiting the proper workman.

Mrs. Reynolds returned for the basket. Darcy asked whether Mrs. Bell might have something hot in the kitchen while they settled the arrangements. The housekeeper said that Cook had already sent word to the cottage to ask what was needed, and offered her arm to guide the older woman through the unfamiliar passage.

“Thank you, sir,” Mrs. Bell said as she rose. “I do not ask for a new kitchen. Only to keep this one dry.”