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The tour of the manor house commenced with the public rooms on the entrance level of the mansion.

The tour was led by the Dowager Duchess with the assistance of Mrs. Reynolds; and Lady Elizabeth was accompanied by her mother.

The Duke of Derbyshire would join them when they were to tour the library as he wanted to be sure that no one other than himself showed that particular room to his betrothed and her father, both bibliophiles like himself.

The entrance hall was over two stories high and had a shining marble floor in shades of whites and greys.

The first stop was the Duke’s oversized and comfortable study, and next to the master’s study there was a large and comfortable study for the mistress.

Everything was well organised, just as Elizabeth had expected it would be, and there were neat piles of separated correspondence on the enormous desk.

Behind the desk were floor to ceiling bookshelves full of well-worn books.

There were two comfortable chairs facing the desk, and a settee on one side underneath a pair of large windows that faced out onto the park.

There were two public drawing rooms, a music room with the new Broadwood Grand pianoforte that the master and mistress had recently gifted to Lady Georgiana on the occasion of her sixteenth birthday.

There was also a nicely appointed receiving room, three parlours of varying sizes.

Like Darcy house, Pemberley had a breakfast parlour and a small dining parlour that could seat thirty with ease, and a larger dining parlour that could seat up to one hundred people.

When touring the mistress’s study, Lady Elizabeth surreptitiously looked at Lady Anne, knowing that in about a month she would be taking over the role of mistress from her, but sure that she would receive all the support she needed to make a success of her new role.

The last stop on the entrance level was the huge ballroom where Lady Anne informed the Bennets that the last time Pemberley hosted a ball was before the death of her late husband, George.

The ballroom was at least twice the size of the one at Darcy House and had six huge crystal chandeliers and many sconces on the walls.

On both the left and right side of the ball room were floor to ceiling windows with double French doors in the middle.

One side led to a broad set of stone stairs that allowed access to the gardens behind the house and the benches therein.

The other side fronted onto the park and had a large veranda, the same one that ran along the entire side of the house and could be accessed from the main drawing room.

There were three points on the veranda where one could walk down to Lady Anne’s rose garden in the front of the house; from there, one could take the walking paths that ran through the various beds of plants.

Like many grand houses, the walls in the three dining parlours that separated them from the ball room could be rolled back if needs be.

As they were about to exit the ball room, Mrs. Reynolds pointed out the entrance to the kitchen in a corner of the common wall between the ball room and the dining parlours where the rest of the service area was located.

Lady Anne had informed her housekeeper that the Bennets treated their servants as well as the Darcys did, so Mrs. Reynolds was not surprised when Master William’s betrothed and her mother asked to see the kitchen, the pantry, the storerooms, and the housekeeper’s office.

The housekeeper was not blind; she could clearly see the looks of pure love and adoration that were surreptitiously directed at one another when the other was not looking when she had observed them together earlier.

What she noted was more reinforcement of her feeling that Master William had finally met a woman worthy of him.

‘ Lady Anne was correct; this is the only woman for our master. Pemberley will be a lively home again! ’ She did not miss how happy and easy in company the master was around Lady Elizabeth.

She assumed that it was due to the love he radiated towards the lady that he was betrothed to.

In the kitchen the future mistress, and Lady Sarah were introduced to the baker and assistant cook, Gertrude McInnis, who had been born in Scotland but had been raised in England and was said to make the best shortbread anywhere in the country.

Also introduced was the French chef, Claude-Michel Henri.

The guests created a very favourable impression, both with the servants and their master, by giving a cordial greeting to all present from the scullery maids up.

A hallway was pointed out to the Bennets by Lady Anne that led to the female servants’ accommodations.

Married servants were assigned to small two bedchamber cottages not far from the house, and the single male servants had accommodations in the attic.

The ladies took the stairs upward. They took a second staircase that bypassed the second floor where the family chambers were and proceeded to the third floor where guest chambers were located.

Lady Anne informed them that the fourth floor was for guests as well, and that it was almost a mirror image of what they were about to see.

Each guest floor had thirty suites with two bedchambers and a shared sitting room, and fifteen smaller suites with one bedchamber and no sitting room.

There were two large and airy sitting rooms on each of the two floors for those who did not have one in their suite or wanted a place to sit with more people.

“Do you see that which you want to change, Lizzy?” Lady Anne asked.

“So far very little but a few minor updates where I noticed some paper was frayed, but other than that, nothing, Mother Anne,” Elizabeth responded.

“In fact, how am I to follow those who have impeccable taste as both you and my mother have? I demand that you live forever so that you will always be able to give me advice on decorating and so much more,” Lady Elizabeth teased, only half joking.

“No false modesty, Lizzy,” Lady Sarah admonished her middle daughter gently, “anyone who knows you knows that you have a very well-developed sense of décor.” Elizabeth inclined her head as she accepted the compliment from her mother.

“If you choose to, Lizzy,” Lady Anne said, “we can skip the fourth and fifth floors. The fifth floor are the school rooms, a music room, and the chambers for nursemaids, governesses, tutors, and companions.”

“Thank you for enlightening me, Mother Anne, and I too think we can skip those floors. Where are we to go now?” she asked.

“To the family floor, Lizzy. Lead on please, Mrs. Reynolds,” Lady Anne requested.

The housekeeper guided them to an almost imperceptible door in the panelling that she unlocked which revealed stairs that took them to the family wing below.

Lady Elizabeth was excited that it seemed her new home came with secret passageways.

Once they entered the family wing through a panel that once closed was almost invisible, they started in the nursery that Lady Anne pointed out was connected to the mistress’s chambers.

The nursery was a suite of eight chambers and two rooms. One was a bedchamber for a wet nurse that could sleep two if they were needed.

There were five bedchambers, four for children and a larger one for a nurse.

Two chambers, the ones closest to the mother’s chambers were, for babes.

There also was a storage room and a small dining parlour for the nurses and their charges once they were able to eat solid food.

They used the inter-leading door to enter the mistress’ suite, which would soon be Lady Elizabeth’s.

Like she had at Darcy House, Lady Anne had taken a suite in the family wing after she had completed her year of deep mourning.

She had made the change as she started her half mourning which was another year complete.

Lizzy was amazed at the size of the chambers.

The suite consisted of an enormous bedchamber with its own sitting area that led out onto a balcony, overlooking the rear of the house; the trees on the rising hill became a part of the forest on the crest of the hill.

There was a walk-in closet that, when added to the dressing room, exceeded the size of her bedchamber at Longbourn.

Lady Elizabeth imagined what it would look like with her gowns hanging within, and how they would be organized.

Surely the day dresses would be closest to the front in case she ever needed to quickly change, as all new mothers are wont to do once she was blessed with her beloved’s children.

As she considered if everyone could see her blush, it burned hotter when she saw the enormous brass tub in the bathing room off her dressing room, just like the pair that she had seen at Darcy House.

Elizabeth imagined the tub with her and her betrothed in it.

Ladies Anne and Sarah gave each other knowing looks as Elizabeth’s blush became a deep crimson while her focus did not shift.

They gave her a moment because it was healthy to want your husband, then refocused her attention.

The mistress’ chambers had been updated just over two years previously, so the only request Elizabeth had was to change the colour of the wallpaper. She favoured light greens rather than the whites and golds currently framing the room.