Chapter 67
Elizabeth had been very touched by Mr Darcy’s suggestion of a walk that second day. He had been careful to keep the conversations light and rather less personal, discussing her favourite remembered walks at Pemberley, and describing where the dower house was.
The night stop at Nottingham had been equally pleasant, and Elizabeth had grown to enjoy his company.
But now, dusk was falling and they were approaching the dower house.
She had not seen it before, secluded from the main house as it was, and she understood more fully now, the great concession he had made to allow her to make her own life. Safe on the estate, but independent.
He jumped out of the coach as it had drawn up to the house, and assisted her down the step. Then he hesitated. “This is your home, Elizabeth. Mrs Kerr is waiting, as you can see. I hope you will be happy here.”
She was surprised he was not going to enter with her, but it was too soon to invite him in as yet, despite her slight feeling of disappointment. He would undoubtedly ask permission to call upon her tomorrow. But he surprised her again.
“I expect I will see you exploring the grounds again very soon.” He lowered his voice. “I will not approach you, as I have promised; but I want you to feel able to approach me at any time, should you wish to speak.”
This seemed a much more final sort of farewell from his leave-takings in London, and she was unsure what she wanted. Eventually, she raised her hand for him. “Thank you for such an easy, pleasant journey.”
He smiled, bowed over her hand and lifted it — almost — to his lips. “I bid you happy, Elizabeth. Please notify me if there is any way, any way at all that I can be of service to you.”
She knew he stood and watched as she climbed the steps towards the waiting Mrs Kerr, who curtsied. “Welcome home, Mrs Darcy. I hope you had a good journey. Please come in.”
Elizabeth entered the hall and looked around while the footman took her outerwear from her and melted silently away.
She had never really considered the size the house might be.
Since dower houses were generally for widows, and perhaps unmarried daughters, her assumption was that the Pemberley Dower House would be larger than a cottage, certainly.
But this — this was a large home. Unless the hall was over-large for show, the place might be even bigger than Longbourn.
For the first time, her heart misstepped.
Did she really want to live alone in such solitary splendour?
She followed her housekeeper into the drawing room.
She could hire a companion, she supposed.
And the house looked in good order. Then she noticed the wallpaper.
It was the same one that she had chosen all those months ago for the mistress’s sitting room in the apartments she had never used.
Mrs Kerr was smiling. “Mr Darcy insisted the house be refurbished to your tastes, as far as we knew them. And we both thought you would be pleased with this room as well as your apartment in the main house.”
Elizabeth wandered around in rather a daze.
She saw that her bedchamber suite here also used the same paper as she had chosen for the bedchamber in Pemberley House.
And one of the smaller morning rooms had been redecorated in the way she had planned, but not implemented, for a parlour there, too.
Not only that, apparently Mr Darcy had chosen that parlour particularly, because it had the same view that she had loved from the guest chamber she had used when she lived in the main house.
All the furniture was modern, with clean lines and an unfussy appearance.
And her lap desk; her lap desk from Papa that she had had to leave behind.
It stood on the table, waiting for her. She swallowed a lump in her throat.
“I think I will take tea, please, Mrs Kerr, in this small morning room, before I go up to my chamber and change for dinner.”
Another thing that she had noticed was that the comfortable chair in the morning room had been angled to give her the exact view that she had seen from the window in that guest chamber.
She needed to think about that. While gazing at the view.