Page 24

“I saw it. I was wondering whether the steps have a rail.”

They did not. Darcy looked at the terrace, then at her.

“One could be fitted.”

“Yes. That is a difficulty easily answered.”

He waited, but she had not intended a criticism of him. She turned back to Pritchard and asked to see the bedchambers.

The principal room was upon the first floor, with a dressing room beside it and a fine prospect over the same lawn. Bingley examined the fireplace and declared that Jane would be comfortable there. Pritchard agreed, producing the key to a cupboard as though further storage must settle the matter.

“And the nursery?” Miss Bennet asked.

“Above, miss. The family preferred to keep the children in the quieter part of the house.”

He led them along a passage, through a door, and up a second flight of stairs. The nursery stood at the far end of the older wing. Darcy noticed the change in temperature before they reached it.

Sally drew her shawl more closely about her shoulders. Miss Bennet looked from the maid to the closed window.

“Does this room face north?” she asked.

“A little east of north. There is good light in the morning.”

“And what is below us?”

“A store room, miss. There will be no disturbance from company.”

Caroline went to examine the cupboard. “There is ample room for the nurse’s things. Jane will be glad of that.”

Miss Bennet remained beside the hearth.

“Has there been a fire here lately?”

“Not since the family left in the spring. But everything has been swept.”

“Could one be lit?”

Pritchard hesitated only long enough to glance at the empty grate. Then he called to the housekeeper who had remained to care for the place, and asked for wood and a little coal.

Bingley tried the door of a second room while they waited. It was a narrow sleeping closet, with space for a bed but no hearth. “We could put Jane nearer the nursery.”

“And give up the principal bedchamber?” Caroline asked. “Jane would lose the view.”

“She will spend more nights with a baby than afternoons looking at a valley,” Miss Bennet replied.

“The nurse will attend the baby at night.”

“Jane may wish to attend it herself.”

Darcy thought of Anna reaching from Ruth’s arms when she heard Martha’s voice. Care was not always arranged as neatly as the rooms upon a plan. He looked at the distance between this wing and the bedchamber Bingley had chosen for his wife.

The housekeeper returned with the fuel. Sally moved a small stool out of her way, and Miss Bennet thanked the woman before stepping back from the hearth. The wood caught readily enough. For a few moments, there was nothing to remark upon but the welcome warmth.

Then a thin stream of smoke rolled beneath the mantel.

Pritchard bent to examine the grate. “The chimney is cold. It will draw presently.”

They waited. Darcy walked to the window and opened it a little. A current of cold air crossed the room, carrying the smoke toward the door.