“We shall be delighted to show it to you,” said Darcy.
The colonel scarcely concealed his satisfaction, for he knew how many matters Darcy still had to settle before the arrival of the remaining guests.
He probably sent for Georgiana, who entered the room with a large smile.
“I am very glad you have come,” she said.
She would probably have preferred to remain with them, but her brother detained her in the room, while the colonel invited the ladies to the gallery on the first floor, certain that Georgiana would assume some of the duties awaiting him, leaving Darcy the pleasant task of conducting the ladies on a tour of Pemberley.
Indeed, soon they heard him running up the stairs, and the pairs immediately formed, the colonel and Mrs Cooper in front, while Elizabeth and Darcy followed behind.
“Pemberley has five floors, and we have lately undertaken extensive improvements in the attic, adding a conservatory and several rooms intended for the enjoyment of the family and their guests.”
Darcy’s explanations carried throughout the hall, which possessed a remarkable resonance, and taking advantage of it, the colonel and Mrs Cooper gradually drew ahead without entirely disappearing.
Elizabeth stopped and looked about her with evident interest.
“This is the first floor. It was here that we listened to Miss Darcy play in the music room, and here, too, is your mother’sapartment. You also said that your rooms were here when you were children.”
“Yes,” replied Darcy, evidently pleased that she remembered such details. “My parents’ apartments were here as well. Later, Georgiana and I were established here when we outgrew the nursery. There are also several guest apartments.”
Elizabeth felt a slight warmth spread through her. She and Mrs Cooper were staying upon this very floor, close to the apartments of the masters of the house.
Recovering herself at once, she continued to look about and asked,
“But where are the kitchens and the servants’ rooms?”
“The ground floor is reached by a separate staircase. This arrangement allows the basement windows to stand well above the level of the ground and admit light and air into the kitchens, pantries, and especially the servants’ rooms.”
“At Longbourn, the kitchen was on the ground floor, but the servants’ rooms were in a rather dark basement. Yet when we were children, I remember perfectly, Papa undertook some improvements there. He added an extension outside. That was his way. One might suppose he lived only amongst his books; in the management of the estate, the tenants sometimes deceived him without causing him much concern, but he looked after everyone who lived beneath his roof.”
“My mother was much the same,” said Darcy with emotion, encouraging her to continue their exploration of the hall.
“And on the other side of the hall are the apartments where Mrs Cooper and I stayed,” said Elizabeth without looking at him. However, Darcy immediately detected the amused note in her voice. He knew her well enough by then, and besides, he watched her reactions with greater attention than he wished.
“Yes, and you will continue to stay here. On the second floor, we have the remaining guest rooms.”
Darcy broke off, for without intending it, he had spoken a truth. Only the first floor contained guest apartments; elsewhere, the guests occupied rooms, and Elizabeth was not a woman to overlook such distinctions.
He immediately continued with other explanations, hoping to dispel the strange atmosphere that had settled between them. They both felt it, yet neither could nor wished to examine it too closely.
“My mother moved all the portraits of our ancestors to the second floor,” said Darcy with a laugh, and only then was a certain normality restored between them, their interest directed once more towards the exhibits rather than themselves.
“I do not know whether my father protested. I was too young when my mother undertook extensive alterations at Pemberley, but almost everything she wished was certainly done, for his greatest pleasure was to see her happy. In the end, I remember how highly he praised all the changes, for this venerable house had become modern without greatly altering its traditions. Every apartment has its own dressing room, and the spring on the northern hill supplies the cisterns above the attic. From there, the water descends through the house.”
“Extraordinary,” said Elizabeth with admiration. “I had not imagined such a thing possible.”
“My mother brought an engineer from Holland.”
“That is how you can have a conservatory on the top floor—”
“Exactly!”
Mrs Cooper and the colonel stopped and looked back at them, for they too had overheard the conversation.
“The ladies of the present day are interested in a great many things,” said the colonel, glancing at Mrs Cooper, no doubtreflecting that the handsome lady beside him managed almost the whole of her fortune herself.
“Perhaps, but my mother was much the same,” said Darcy. “She was interested in every improvement that might make life easier for us—”
