“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Nothing’s been changed at Colworth Abbey since my mother was alive.”
“Then I must say your mother had elegant taste. So I think I’ll wait until I have a feel for our home before I make any permanent changes to the house.”
He stopped fiddling with his fork and took a sip of his coffee. “That sounds like a wise decision. Are you always this cautious?”
She considered his words. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I only mean, you don’t seem like a person who makes rash decisions.”
No, she was not prone to make rash decisions. Nella lowered her gaze. Except for the night she chose to rush to his rescue. That had certainly been her most rash decision ever.
~■~
Nella followed Mrs. Pendleton as she led her through each floor of the house. The third floor was made up of rooms for the servants, female staff members in the east wing and male staff members in the west.
In the east wing on the second floor, Nella was surprised to see the nursery, a playroom filled with toys and games and even a white wooden rocking horse with big brown eyes and lashes, and a bedchamber for the nurse. The west wing revealed several guest bedchambers.
Nella’s suite of rooms as well as her husband’s rooms made up the entire east wing of the first floor. The entire west wing of the first floor was lined with several more guest bedchambers, with a glass-ceilinged solarium at the end of the hall.
“Were all these bedchambers in use?” she asked Mrs. Pendleton. “Did Lord Danvers entertain much in the past?”
“Yes, my lady. He had guests in the house quite regularly. They were mostly gentleman friends of his and they would stay a week or more at a time. It was grand,” she finished.
Nella thought of what her husband’s life had been like before they married. She’d always known he had a multitude of friends, so she should have realized that since he had an estate not that far from London, he would naturally entertain his friends here.
She wondered if he would continue that tradition, or if he would live like a hermit as she had suggested she wanted to live.
She walked out of one bedchamber and looked upward. A rich oak balcony surrounded the outer rooms on each floor that looked down on the pink marble-tiled foyer. Above the foyer rose a domed ceiling with a round stained-glass window set at its center. The beautifully-worked glass allowed colored decorative panes to cast the foyer in a vibrant rainbow. The formal entry was rather breathtaking from this vantage point.
She turned in circles, marveling at her beautiful dwelling and wondering how she’d been so fortunate as to have a home so magnificent. A long moment later, Mrs. Pendleton walked to the stairs and led her to the ground floor.
“This wing is where his lordship spends most of his time when he entertains,” the housekeeper said, then crossed to the right, to the west wing. The first door she opened was definitely a drawing room designed for the comfort of male guests. The colors were dark, the woods richly stained, and there were several decanters scattered throughout the room.
“This is the Blue Drawing Room.”
“It’s handsome,” Nella said, not wishing to step into the very masculine domain.
“Next to it is the Rose Drawing Room.”
“Oh, how lovely,” Nella said, realizing that this room was decorated in more quiet colors.
“And next are the Billiard Room and his lordship’s Gaming Room.”
Nella stepped inside the first room and took in the large billiard table set with balls ready to be struck. On one wall were several cue cabinets with a variety of sizes and lengths of sticks from which to choose. There were also several round tables scattered throughout the room with four to six chairs surrounding each one. The wall beyond them was lined with several targets, no doubt for darts.
This house was, in every way, more grand than the home in which she’d been raised. And more masculine. She would tread very carefully into the realm of suggesting change.
“This brings us to the informal dining room. His lordship eats breakfast here with any guests he might be entertaining.”
The room had felt immediately cozy, and Nella thought this was no doubt where she and her husband would take their meals as they had done this morning.
Mrs. Pendleton led her from the small dining room by a back exit. An enclosed hallway led them to the opposite wing. The east wing.
The first room at the very end of the hallway was the formal dining room—vastly larger and much more elaborate.
From the dining room they stepped into the library. It took up nearly a third of the hall with a library running the full length of one side and both ends, and a gallery on the other long wall. It was high-ceilinged and rich with carved woods. A truly magnificent room.
There were atlases and maps and law books, and books of historical battles, and poems. It seemed there wasn’t any topic left unrepresented.
Nella walked the perimeter of the room and ran her fingers along the spines of the books. The room was cleverly lit, and the clusters of chairs and tables and sofas and settees scattered around the room were logically arranged. There were enough small tables on which to set books and tea cups and trays. Nothing seemed amiss.
“It’s a beautiful library,” she whispered in appreciation.
“Yes, my lady. His lordship spends a great deal of time here.”
“I can see why,” Nella answered.
From there, Mrs. Pendleton showed her the adjoining Orchid Room and the Music Room. The Orchid Room was done in lilacs and greens and lavenders, giving it a warm, homey look. The music room was done in lavish shades of burgundy, creams and golds. And, in the corner of the room sat an ancient clavichord posed next to a beautifully ornate piano.
“And finally, I’ll show you his lordship’s study,” Mrs. Pendleton said, breaking Nella’s concentration. “This is where you will most generally find his lordship when he’s working on estate matters.”
Nella peeked into the room and stared at the large desk that occupied most of the room’s windowed end. She could imagine James working in here.
“Would you like a cup of tea, my lady,” Mrs. Pendleton asked as she led Nella back into the hallway. “I can have a cup of chamomile brought into the Rose Room.”
“Yes, I should like tea, Mrs. Pendleton. But would you please bring it to the library? I’d like to search for a book.”
“Of course, my lady.”
“And would you relay a message to the staff that I am extremely impressed by the care you and they have given to Colworth Abbey?”
A broad smile crossed Mrs. Pendleton’s face. “Thank you, my lady. I will tell the staff. They will be most pleased that you noticed.”
Nella watched Mrs. Pendleton leave as she slipped back into the library, then walked around the room in search of a book or two to read. After a pleasant hour, she wandered to the music room, knowing without thinking that this might very well become her favorite room of her new home.
She sat on the piano bench and pressed down on a key. The touch was perfect. The tone was beautiful. She placed her fingers on the keys and began to play.
~■~
James walked through the front door after having met with his steward and paused. Unexpected strains of music drifted into the grand hall. He walked toward his study but didn’t go into the room. Instead, he walked on to the next room. The Music Room. A room he seldom entered.