At Home with Mr Darcy Read Free Page A

personal assistant. Dame Pamela will be down in a moment.’ She smiled. Had this curious man really never heard of Dame Pamela Harcourt? She was one of the most famous actresses in England and a national treasure to boot.
    ‘She own this place, then?’
    ‘Yes,’ Robyn said. ‘She’s an actress. Perhaps you’ve seen some of her films or plays?’
    ‘Eh?’ he said. ‘Not me. I don’t go in for much TV. Prefer a good book myself.’
    ‘Then you should be in very fine company this weekend,’ Robyn told him, ‘for you’ll be surrounded by book lovers.’
    ‘So I’ve been informed. Jane Austen fans, isn’t that right?’
    Robyn nodded. ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Yes, my second wife was all wrapped up in that Darcy nonsense.’
    Robyn’s eyes widened. ‘Your second wife?’
    He nodded. ‘Divorced last year. Looking out for the third Mrs Allsop now.’
    Robyn smiled. ‘Come on in and have a cup of tea before we leave,’ she said, wondering just how Mr Allsop would fare amongst a group of Janeites if he was a Darcy-basher.
     
    Rose and Roberta had arrived in plenty of time and were sitting in the garden at Purley Hall enjoying a glass of elderflower cordial and admiring the summer roses in the borders.
    ‘I never tire of coming here,’ Roberta said.
    ‘I thought that incident with Dame Pamela’s first edition of Pride and Prejudice might have put you off,’ Rose said.
    ‘It wasn’t the first edition though, was it?’
    ‘We didn’t know that at the time,’ Rose pointed out, remembering with a shudder what had happened during the Christmas conference.
    ‘I must say, I can’t help feeling a mite nervous every time I walk into a library now.’
    ‘I’m not surprised,’ Rose said. ‘I can’t take you anywhere, can I?’
    Roberta gave a little chuckle. ‘Goodness knows what will happen when they let me loose at Pemberley.’
    ‘Which one?’
    ‘ Both of them,’ Roberta said, thinking of the treats they had in store. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to take all the excitement! Just imagine being at home with Mr Darcy.’
    Rose sighed. It had been her suggestion that they went on the first Purley Hall Austen holiday and she was beginning to wonder if she’d made a huge mistake.
     
    Finally, after squashing yet more hats into a bag and being persuaded that she really didn’t need her velvet cloak, Dame Pamela was ready to leave. Robyn had said a tearful goodbye to Dan and Cassie and had made her husband promise to ring her if anything – anything was to go wrong.
    ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ he’d said, bending his tall frame to kiss his wife, the light catching his red-gold hair. Robyn had had a little wobble. What was she thinking of – leaving like this?
    It’s only for a few days , she’d reminded herself and, with a final kiss on Cassie’s rosy cheek, she’d joined Dame Pamela at the hall.
    ‘Oh, Purley! My beloved Purley!’ Dame Pamela cried dramatically, looking up at the towering splendour of the place she called home.
    ‘I’m sure Dan and Higgins will take excellent care of everything,’ Robyn assured her.
    ‘Yes, yes, of course,’ Dame Pamela said, batting her eyelashes as if blinking away tears. Robyn smiled. Dear Pammy would always be the actress, wouldn’t she? Mind you, Robyn could feel tears vibrating in her own eyes.
    ‘Ready?’ she prompted.
    ‘I suppose so,’ Dame Pamela said and, in a rush of lilac chiffon, she boarded the minibus for the journey north.

Chapter 3
    The Wye Hotel on the outskirts of Bakewell was a fine building made of a warm beige stone. Set back from the road and dating from the early nineteenth-century, its three storeys were both impressive and elegant with comfortable airy rooms overlooking landscaped gardens and the countryside of the Peak District beyond.
    For the duration of their stay, the party from Purley Hall had the hotel to themselves which included all of the single, twin and double bedrooms, the dining room, a sitting