Northanger Abbey - What is Henry's housekeeper doing with the extra two days?
In Northanger Abbey, there's a scene where General Tilney invites himself, Eleanor and Catherine to dinner at Woodston on a Wednesday, and Henry immediately goes home (on a Saturday, two days early) to prepare. The fact that Henry needs five days to prepare a dinner that meets the general's standards obviously tells us a lot about the characters, but in the days before modern refrigeration, what would practically have been accomplished with those two extra days?
The later line "other subjects being studiously brought forward and supported by Henry, at the same time that a tray full of refreshments was introduced by his servant" might suggest the housekeeper is Henry's only domestic servant, in which case she'd have a ton of work to do. I'll avoid going into my speculations about Henry's finances, but since he's only home a few days a week it would make sense for him to keep minimal domestic staff even if he could afford to hire more. My wild guess is that at most he has the housekeeper and a maid, and that the housekeeper serves as the cook.
Here are my guesses on what they're doing with that time, but I'm curious if anyone has other (perhaps better-founded) theories.
- Putting in orders at the butcher, etc
- Getting a start on multi-day dishes, like preserves or pickles
- Hiring temporary help from the village to prepare the meal
- Getting through other household tasks so that Wednesday is completely free for cooking