with a flat iron heated on the fire, and the homely scene further reassured her.
‘It will be lunch on a tray today, Annie,’ she said, ‘and then there will be guests for dinner. I will wear my amber silk, I think, with plenty of petticoats. It’s very cold away from the fires. And I will have my cashmere shawl.’
‘Will you wear the amber beads or the gold necklace?’ Annie asked.
‘The beads, I think,’ said Elizabeth, recalling the Count’s shabby clothes: she wanted Darcy to be proud of her, but she did not want to look too fine.
‘Very good, Ma’am.’
One of the maids soon arrived with a tray of hot, steaming stew which tasted exactly the same as the previous night’s meal, and Elizabeth thought of how shocked her mother would have been at this deficiency in the housekeeping, then fell to musing about the Count’s wife. She wondered what the
Countess had been like and thought it a tragedy she had died, for she suspected that, if the Countess had still been alive, the castle would have been better looked after, even if the Count’s fortunes had dwindled.
After her lunch, Elizabeth finished her letter to Jane, but alas, she knew she could not post it in such an out of the way place and that she would have to wait until they returned to civilisation before she could send it.
There was no dressing room, the bedroom filling all of the turret, but one of the footmen carried a hip bath upstairs and the maids brought jugs of hot water so that Elizabeth could take a bath. It was a delight to soak in the hot, soapy water and soothe away all the aches and pains caused by the jostling of the coach the day before.
By three o’clock there were already sounds of commotion from below, gusting in through the door whenever Annie opened it to fetch hot water, and Elizabeth found herself looking forward to the evening. Scented, warm, and delicately flushed, she climbed out of the bath and dried herself before the fire, then set about dressing for the evening. Her amber gown suited her complexion, and with its round neck, it complemented the shape of her face. Annie dressed her hair and then said, ‘There,’ standing back with satisfaction.
‘Thank you, Annie,’ she said.
She found it strange going downstairs without first looking in the mirror to make sure she was dressed to her own satisfaction, but there was no help for it and so, putting on her gloves and picking up her shawl, she went downstairs.
The castle looked brighter than formerly, with a profusion of candles lighting the hall and bowls of wildflowers set on the tables. There was a murmur of voices and, from outside, the sound of horses and carriage wheels. The door opened and a draught swirled into the hall. With it came the sound of laughter.
‘You’re looking very lovely,’ said Darcy, materialising beside her. ‘Shall we go in?’
She took his arm and they entered the drawing room.
It looked altogether different. Candles were set on every surface and the room had a bright and welcoming air. The fire roared in the fireplace, giving out not only heat but light, and the sound of conversation bubbled everywhere. It was in a foreign tongue, but it sounded good humoured and lively.
Gradually the hubbub died down and one by one the Count’s guests turned towards the door. They were mostly men, dressed in shabby, comfortable clothes which nevertheless had the air of being their best. The few women amongst them were all dressed in woollen clothes that were shabby too, and Elizabeth felt conscious of being finer than her neighbours.
It was the first time she had had such a feeling since the start of their wedding tour. In France she had felt positively dowdy by the side of the butterfly-like creatures who flitted about the ballrooms and salons, but here she felt like an exotic bird in a room full of sparrows. She quickly saw that the Count’s guests did not resent the fact, but that they liked seeing a bride in all her glory.
‘So you are the woman who has captured Darcy?’ said one of the men jovially, coming forward. ‘It is easy to see why he has lost his heart.’
The introductions were made, and Elizabeth was made to feel very welcome. For the first time since her marriage, Elizabeth felt she was in a world she could understand. Although the clothes, the customs, and the castle might be