Vernon laughed and saluted. Eyes twinkling, he said, “We can but try.”
Their discussion with Joshua regarding future expansion revolved about the goat herd. As Joshua confirmed, “At present, there are plenty of suppliers of pigs to the local towns, but goats are another matter, and yes, you’re right, there’s unmet demand there. However, at present, after meeting the needs of the estate, we rarely have any to spare.”
Gregory nodded. “Let’s make increasing the herd a priority, then.”
In the carpentry workshop, they talked to Percy, explaining their new tack of seeking to lower the costs for their raw materials—in Percy’s case, high-grade timber—and Gregory floated the idea that a large combined order from the carriage works and carpentry workshop might lower the cost to each business without affecting quality.
Percy saw the sense and seemed intrigued by the idea. “Leave it with me. I’ll liaise with Jenkins and see what we can come up with as a joint order.”
“If you can give me firm figures, I’ll be happy to take it to our suppliers and see what they say.” Caitlin glanced at Gregory. “Once we have their reaction, we can decide if it’s worthwhile contacting their competitors.”
With that decided, they strode off to visit Julia in the kitchen garden.
Somewhat to Caitlin’s surprise—she’d always seen Julia as a confident woman—Julia was rather hesitant over Gregory’s idea of approaching the main inn in Northampton and negotiating a standing agreement to replace the irregular orders the kitchen gardens, the Edgars, and the Hammersleys occasionally filled. “I’m not sure I could commit to regularly supplying the inn.”
Gregory tipped his head. “Why not?” His tone made it clear that, rather than being aggressive, he was interested in her answer.
Julia colored. “Well, obviously, we can’t provide the same vegetables all year around.”
Gregory smiled encouragingly. “I was thinking more along the lines of agreeing to deliver a crate or two of seasonal produce every week. I noticed that’s how they’ve been ordering from you in the past.”
Somewhat reluctantly, Julia admitted that.
When she said nothing more, Caitlin prompted, “So what do you think of the idea?”
Julia met her eyes, then, her color rising, blurted, “To be perfectly candid, I’m hopeless at negotiating. I’m sure to mess things up and make the manager swear never to order from us again.”
Gregory blinked. “Actually, that’s an excellent point.”
Julia looked startled. “It is?”
“I think—in fact, I’m sure,” he went on, “that the most effective way of gaining standing orders for you, the Edgars, and the Hammersleys is by combining the orders for all three businesses into one Bellamy Hall order, and for that, it would be inappropriate for any of the owners to be the negotiator.” He met Caitlin’s eyes. “And while Caitlin could do it, I have a suggestion I think will work better.”
He smiled as if seeing some happy prospect. “Don’t ask me why, but Snibbs, my gentleman’s gentleman, who hasn’t had a lot to do since I’ve been here, is amazingly good at persuading people like the managers of inns to agree to all sorts of deals. I always send him to secure the rooms and meals whenever he travels with me. I went to Ireland not long ago, and having him along made my life immensely easier. And a lot more comfortable.”
He looked at Julia. “If you’re agreeable, we could meet—you, the Edgars, the Hammersleys, and Snibbs, as well as Caitlin and myself—and thrash out the details of an offer your three groups feel able to agree to, then we’ll send Snibbs to speak with the manager and see what he can extract from the man.”
For the first time, Julia looked interested. “So all I would have to do is work out how many crates per week?”
“And,” Gregory said, “what the minimum price you can accept for them would be. We”—he met Caitlin’s eyes again—“can take care of the rest in terms of framing an offer, and Snibbs will then take it to the manager.”
Julia thought for a moment more, then raised her head and nodded decisively. “If we can get a reasonable price for those crates—perhaps three a week—that would even things out over the year and, possibly, allow us to put on another worker.” Her eyes slowly lit. “I know the Bartons’ youngest, Missy, is keen to learn how to grow the things we do.”
Caitlin smiled warmly. “There you are, then—that will be another step forward.”
They agreed to meet on Friday afternoon and work out the details for a combined approach.
Leaving Julia smiling at nothing as if envisioning a pleasant future only she could see, as Caitlin and Gregory walked back to the house, he murmured, “And if the manager of the main inn isn’t interested, we can count on Snibbs to go straight across the road and make the same offer to the next largest inn.”
Caitlin linked her arm with his and grinned delightedly as they crossed the gravel to the north door.
The following day, Gregory again accompanied Caitlin on her rounds. At the Osiery, he had little to add to Caitlin’s usual checking of orders and requests; given the raw material for the Osiery’s products was grown, harvested, and prepared by the Pooles themselves, there was little prospect of cutting costs, and the Pooles were already commanding high prices for their wares.
At the orchard, after Caitlin had completed her checking, he explained to the Edgars his idea of pushing for a standing order from the main Northampton inn, explaining how he and Snibbs, whom he’d consulted on the notion, felt the approach should be framed. Both Edgars were keen, especially Jennifer. “If we had a regular order for our cider, we could expand production.”
They left both Edgars happily imagining and walked on to the leatherworks. After Caitlin had taken the revised orders for various treating powders from Len, Gregory explained to the three Suttons—Len, Isabelle, and their daughter, Nell—his ideas for expanding their markets. “I know that, at present, the Northampton shoemakers take most of your leather, but I’ve discovered that making shoes is not the most lucrative use of the weight of leather you produce. Making saddles is, and I have a contact that—if you’re agreeable—I can approach regarding supplying leather for the top-quality, top-of-the-trees saddles used by racing stables at Newmarket.”
He added, “Once the shoemakers realize you have an alternative market—and a higher-paying one at that—I suspect they’ll be willing to increase the price for whatever leather you can give them.”
