] Of course Edward would have his manservant with him. JA's readers would have taken that for granted, and so he's not mentioned until he needs to be, ie. to go take care of the horses.

] At least that has always been my assumption.

I've assumed that as well. Servants were around all the time and sort of assumed to be in the background. Perhaps a reason why we can still all relate to Jane Austen is because she didn't dwell on the details like servants, which would seem strange to us now. She focused instead on character, and people haven't changed that much!