Those in the drawing room were treated to the sounds of the youngest Darcy practicing in the music room under the watchful eye of her governess, Miss Karen Younge.
Chapter 18
After almost three days of travel, the lead coach passed the old stone gateposts with a brass arch above them with big letters between the top and bottom bar of the arch proclaiming ‘CASTLEMERE’ for one and all to see.
Much to Elizabeth’s delight, there were hills aplenty here and not much flat land she could see. If the hills were not enough, some of the peaks of the Peak District rose majestically in the west. In the late afternoon with the sun already well past its zenith, the mountains took on a purple hue.
There was more to delight her: within a half mile of passing the gate, woods could be seen either side of the drive. The drive began to rise with an easy gradient and then turned towards the west just before the point the forested area ended.
The coachman was already familiar with the fact Her Grace loved nature and would be enamoured with the vista which came into view just after the drive began to slope down, so he pulled on the reins bringing the three matched pairs of bays and the carriage they were pulling to a halt.
With the bend in the drive, it gave a perfect view of the valley below and Elizabeth instantly understood what had inspired the name of the estate.
On the western side of the valley was, in fact, a castle. It was built with large grey and charcoal coloured stones. A moremodern, and far larger wing, had been added on the eastern side of the castle on the banks of a lake, a fairly large one.
When she looked to the north, Elizabeth saw there was a river and a stream which both flowed into the lake. The southern end of the lake was rather narrow and a river and two streams, flowed onwards at various points towards the south and the hills which made up the one side of the valley. There was a stone bridge over the river, and smaller wooden ones over the streams.
As she looked around the castle and the newer wing, Elizabeth was well pleased to see the absence of any serious formal gardens. It seemed to her that previous generations of masters had allowed nature its head.
Before she departed Falconwood, Elizabeth had spoken to the Greaves who had replaced the butler’s parents who had been the butler and housekeeper before himself and his wife. He and his parents had worked for the current duke’s parents—who had been good people and nothing like their son. They had told her as far as they knew the current duke, unlike his parents used to, had never been to this or any of his smaller satellite estates, preferring London or Falconwood.
Elizabeth was happyhehad never set foot on this estate which explained the lack of overly ordered formal gardens.
She knocked on the forward facing inside wall of the coach and the coachmen soon had his team moving again. She reminded herself to thank the driver for his consideration in stopping to allow her to see the place which would be her home for the next six to nine months.
Once she gave birth, as long as everything was well, she would remain here as long as she could, trying to defer her churching so she would not have to be inhiscompany again too soon.
It took a little more than a quarter of an hour to arrive in front of the castle and the newer section of the house.
One of the footmen, with John and Brian looking on, assisted Elizabeth to alight, and then did the same for her maid. Elizabeth smiled knowing a footman would not have assisted Loretta with the Duke looking on. The staff and servants were lined up and waiting for her.
There were two lines of servants behind the three senior staff. The men gave deep bows while the ladies gave their curtsies to the Duchess.
“Welcome to Castlemere, Your Grace, I am your steward, Mr. Mason, may I present your butler and housekeeper?” the man who stepped forward requested.
“Please do, Mr. Mason,” Elizabeth responded.
Thankfully the staff and servants who were employed at the estate had never had the displeasure of meeting His Grace. As was expected, the senior staff at each of the Duke’s estates and houses did correspond and word that Her Grace was nothing like the Duke had reached Derbyshire as well. The praise for Her Grace had been flaming, and those standing before the Duchess had suspected it was exaggerated.
The respectful way she addressed the steward seemed to give truth to what they had been told.
“Your Grace, Mrs. Marrion Bannister, your housekeeper and Mr. Owen Toppin, your butler,” Mason presented.
“I appreciate all of you being here to welcome me to what will be my home for many months,” Elizabeth intoned. She told the servants she intended to learn their names, and unlike there had been at Falconwood, there was no scepticism as word had already filtered to the lowest of the servants about the Duchess doing exactly that at the largest of His Grace’s estates.
The butler and housekeeper released those who worked for them to return to their posts. “If you will let me know your favourites Your Grace, I will impart the knowledge to Mrs. Black, your cook,” the housekeeper requested.
“As I will be touring the house, which will include the kitchens, I will be happy to discuss my preferences with Mrs. Black directly,” Elizabeth asserted.
Mrs. Bannister was impressed. A duchess who did not eschew entering her kitchens. Yes, she was extremely young, but she seemed to possess a self-assuredness and had intelligence shining from her eyes.
“As you wish, Your Grace,” the housekeeper averred. “May I show you and your maid to your apartments? Mr. Toppin will have his footmen bring your trunks up to you.”
“Thank you, it will be good to wash the road dust off and change,” Elizabeth accepted.
The main entrance of the manor house opened into the castle which in turn opened into a large hall lined with suits of armour and flags from wars past. They turned left through a doorway in the wall which led into the newer wing of the house.
“The great hall is used as a ballroom, except I understand the last ball held here was in the late duke’s time,” the housekeeper explained. “Everything else is in this wing. The first floor has the public rooms, including the breakfast and dining parlours. I would assume as it is only you, you would prefer to take your meals in your private sitting room which has a table for four to dine comfortably.”
