The Passions of Bronwyn Read Online Free Page B

go into the kitchen and wait until she was ready to show them their rooms.  When Mrs Danvers was ready, she took Wyn and Betty on a mini tour of the house.  They looked inside a couple of rooms opened mouthed.  They had never seen anything like this before.  The house in London was opulent but this was much, much better.  They walked into the drawing room of the house which was decorated with rich tapestries. The wall coverings were made of leather and Mrs Danvers told them they had been there since 1862.  There were Dutch paintings in the Dining Room and the library had over 5,000 books and was used by the family to gather in before and after lunch or dinner.  It was a wonderful south-facing room with views towards the fields and hills.
    There was a huge hall with a main staircase which was used by the family.  It had family portraits on the walls going up to the first floor bedrooms where the family slept.  There was a further staircase leading up to the second floor and the former nursery rooms.  The staff used the stone staircase hidden behind a green baize door in the hall to go down to the staff dining rooms, the cellar, utility area and kitchen.  The servant’s bedrooms were up a steep staircase leading off the kitchen.  In the basement was the kitchen which had red tiled floors with a carpet hearth rug, two ranges, one for spit roasting and one for baking and boiling, a dresser, a long table, a couple of chairs and a clock. The kitchen walls were painted blue as it attracted flies and kept them away from the food.  Next door to the kitchen was the scullery where the meat and vegetables were prepared.  There were copper utensils and two larders, one to store raw meat, the other to keep cooked meat and pastry.  Wyn and Betty looked at all of this with awe and thought to themselves that they would never be able to find their way around the house.
    After the tour Mrs Danvers told them that they could rest until the morning but would have to be in the kitchen by 5 o’clock the next day to start work.  Wyn and Betty jumped with joy at the unexpected break and ran upstairs to their bedroom to get changed out of their uniforms.  Once they were dressed they ran down the back stairs to the kitchen door and out into the sunshine.  ‘Which way shall we go?’ asked Betty. 
    ‘Let’s head towards those trees and see what is on the other side,’ replied Wyn. 
    They ran towards the trees and stopped.  On the other side of the trees was a path across a field which lead to a small village.
    It was the beginning of spring and there was green wheat in the fields, violets under the hedges and willows beside the small stream that ran alongside the edge of the trees.  They walked across the field into the small village.  They could see a few cottages near the inn.  A little further away they saw the church and a schoolhouse.  The cottages had thatched roofs, whitewashed walls and paned windows.  The majority of the houses were constructed of stone or brick and had slated roofs.  As it was a warm day, all the windows were open to let fresh air in and there were pies cooling on the window sills of a couple of the houses. 
    ‘You don’t see that in London,’ remarked Betty. 
    The road carried on round the corner where there was a market place. It being a Sunday there were no stalls out and the whole village was quiet.  There wasn’t a soul around that Wyn or Betty could see. 
    ‘Well,’ said Wyn, ‘this is going to be a quiet summer if this is what this place is like.’ 
    ‘You’re right,’ replied Betty, ‘what are we going to do on our days off?  Let’s just carry on walking and see what’s outside the village.’ 
    They carried on walking down the road past hedges thick with berries.  There were trees over hanging the road which gave the road a dark shady look.  Although it was quite a main road, there was very little traffic although they could hear a train in the distance and could