A Heedless Young Houskeeper - part 2

After all had breakfasted, Catherine set about preparations for the Tilney’s dinner party as Henry had retired to his own untidy study to prepare for Sunday sermon before the meetings and business of the day.

She and the housemaid had completed most of the necessary housework in the past week. Henry’s own dear housekeeper had passed away only the year before, but young Dorcas had already proved herself an invaluable help to her mistress.

Catherine had many things to do; that evening the Tilneys would be hosting a dinner party including the Bevises and the Walshams, two Woodston couples, and Henry’s curate, Mr. James Paterson. Henry’s father General Tilney, together with Lord and Lady Whistledown, were to bring the table up to ten. These last three were to make their way from Northanger Abbey early in the afternoon, to visit and fulfill their promise of bringing the new baby to Woodston.



Little Edward Ainsworth was the first child of Henry’s sister Eleanor who had married Edward Ainsworth, Viscount of Whistledown a few months before Catherine’s own wedding. The couple had recently been spending a few weeks at Northanger Abbey before traveling on to Bath. The two ladies longed to see each other after an absence of almost a year since “wee Neddy”, as his uncle nicknamed him, had been born. Catherine’s own little Harry was only a few months older than his cousin and her Kitty almost two years older.



Named for their parents, little Kitty and Harry were the first, she hoped, of many children that would grace their home. Her husband had once suggested that they should try to exceed previous records of their parents by having twenty children. Catherine spoke of overtaking countries with such a brood and Henry joked of putting the old gossips of Bath into a flurry or at least filling the ancestral pile of Northanger Abbey with more noise than it ever had before. She wasn’t sure she could manage a brood of ten as her mother had, but she was used to have children around - five or six might be her maximum. Catherine had already imparted to Henry her premonition that she was expectant and secretly wished for a daughter to name Eleanor.



With Jemima caring for her young ones in the nursery Catherine walked the length of the hall to the guest rooms and with Dorcas’ assistance aired, dusted and stocked them with fresh linen, ready for their Northanger guest’s convenience. She then descended to the dining parlor to oversee table settings, seating must be perfect, but she was confident that this evening there would be no lack of conversation.