P&P Missing Scenes: Mr. Darcy’s Library by Diana Birchall

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Bookcases in the Library at Hatchlands Park, Surrey.

Bookcases in the Library at Hatchlands Park, Surrey.

The maid pulled apart the curtains, and left the tea tray. As soon as she had withdrawn, Elizabeth opened her eyes and lifted her head from the feather pillow. Darcy, in his nightshirt, was beginning his ablutions with water-pitcher and bowl.

“Oh, Darcy,” she fairly wailed, “only look at the rain!” He turned from his splashing and smiled at her warmly.

“Derbyshire can be damp in winter, I believe I neglected to warn you when making my proposals,” he said teasingly, and turned back to his mirror. “No; I remember mentioning the rain on neither occasion.”

“Damp! My dear, it is pelting down sheets. Just look at the window-pane. And we were to have a long walk in the hanging-wood, which we did not reach yesterday. I have always wanted to see it.”

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“Where is your philosophy, Elizabeth? You have a whole lifetime, and many summers, I hope, to inspect our hanging-woods. Today we shall enjoy ourselves indoors.  There is still more for you to explore within Pemberley House, I do assure you.”

Elizabeth got out of bed, wrapping herself in her white baptiste peignoir and went over to him. They embraced warmly and some silent moments passed, ending with Elizabeth’s low laugh.

“Heavens! You are as damp as it is outside.”

“Never mind, I am only happy that your ardour precluded your waiting until I was dry.”

Elizabeth blushed and she changed the subject. “Well, and what have you in mind for entertainment indoors? It is true I have seen over the entire house now, but I have been so busy with arrangements, and learning where everything is and who everyone is, I have not become as tolerably familiar with my new home as I ought to be.”

“What do you say to the library?” Darcy suggested. “I have always meant to show you its contents, and have never yet achieved that.”

Elizabeth brightened at once. “Oh, yes! Let us go to the library immediately after breakfast.”

He gave her a last hug. “We will. Dress warmly, and I will tell them to build a fire in there. The damp does get into one’s bones.”

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An hour later, they pushed the great library doors open and were greeted by a noble fire roaring in the handsome fireplace. Elizabeth looked about, glad of more leisure to study the room, which must, she thought, surely be one of the most beautiful in all England. The library faced north, the long windows framing the green hills and woods rising behind the house, a magnificent landscape. Comfortable seats and alcoves were scattered throughout the long, large room, with paintings interspersed between the tall standings of books, dark red, dark blue, and golden in their ancient bindings.

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“How beautiful,” she breathed.

“Is it not? I confess it is my favorite room in the house. The Darcys have always been reading men, and the collection holds some very fine books of great antiquity.”

“Which is the oldest?” she asked.

“I believe our edition of Erasmus, the Moriae Encomium, from 1523. There are several other sixteenth century works, and a beautiful edition of Chaucer – here it is, the antique Speght edition of 1598. It is not the one I read, myself; too rare and fragile, I read a more modern copy.”

“Do you like Chaucer, and read him regularly?” Elizabeth asked in wonderment.

“Indeed I do, he is an old favorite, and I venture that you feel the same, for you are a student of human nature, and he is the best.”

“Oh yes! I learned to love to read Chaucer because he is my father’s favorite, too. He would always laugh to himself about the Wife of Bath. I ought not to say so, it is not respectful, but I believe she reminded him of my mother.”

Their eyes met and they laughed. “I am glad your father has such good friends to keep him company,” Mr. Darcy told her warmly.

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“Yes. And you have many of our other favorites too, I see – Peregrine Pickle and Gulliver’s Travels, and oh, all of Johnson. I have never yet read his Tour of the Hebrides, and have longed to do so, but my father did not have it.”

“Do you like to read travels? We have many such – over here,” and her husband led her to shelves packed with gentlemen’s travels through several centuries.

“Oh, yes, I have been reading Miss – Miss Wollstonecraft’s letters from Sweden, which are so peculiarly interesting. However, I think it was a writer of fiction, Mrs. Radcliffe, who has most made me want to visit Italy; reading her Udolpho and The Italian, I quite felt I was there. And some of the descriptions in Corinne were sublime, though I don’t like Madame de Stael’s writing as well.”

“I have been hoping,” Darcy said diffidently, “not to read travels with you, but to take you a-journeying on the Continent. Should you like to go to Italy in the spring, Elizabeth?”

“Would I!” she gasped, and could not keep from clapping her hands.

He nodded. “Then we will. I shall delight in showing you its beauties – and Italy, your beauties, my beloved Elizabeth.”

“I never dreamed of such a thing in my life!” she exclaimed. “The Lakes were my farthest aspirations.”

“We shall see them too,” he smiled. “But meanwhile, we have this rainy day to get through, and probably a good many of them, until we go to London for the Season, after Christmas.”

She looked at him with sparkling eyes. “I do not think we will ever grow tired of being at home together in Pemberley, do you, Darcy?  And it will take a long lifetime to read even a portion of so many thousands of books!”

“That is what I have been thinking. It will be an autumn and winter such as I have never experienced at Pemberley, with you here, my Elizabeth. We shall read together – and what luxury, if you will read to me!”

“To be sure. I shall read you some of my favorite novels, Miss Burney and Miss Edgeworth and Miss Austen – “

“Why, I have read them all!  Many times, too.”

“Have you? I imagined you amused yourself with classical scholarship. It looks like it, if these shelves are any evidence,” and she indicated the volumes of Herodotus and Horace, Euripides and Virgil.”

“Certainly, any gentleman who has had a classical education finds perennial pleasure in the oldest authors. Do I collect that you feel the miss of such an education yourself? Will you like me to be your instructor?”

He had seated himself on a peculiarly carved wooden chair by the fire, and without more ado, confident enough to be familiar, Elizabeth climbed onto his lap. He caressed her, and the subject of books was forgotten for a few moments.

“I do hope that our marriage will give me some more solid education than I received in rummaging through my father’s much smaller library, and by patronizing the lending-library of Meryton,” she told him, abstractedly smoothing his hair.

“We will revel together in books, Elizabeth. I can hardly comprehend the pleasure it will be.”

“Nor I. But Darcy!” she exclaimed, “Whatever is this thing you are sitting upon?”

“Oh, this? It is quite a clever device, the chair turns into a library stair – get up, and I’ll show you.”

He demonstrated how, by opening up the wooden frame, a solid set of stairs to reach the highest shelves might be formed.

“Will the wonders of Pemberley ever cease?” she marveled.

Regency mahogany library steps which fold up to form a sabre-leg armchair - the "Patent Metamorphic Library Chair" by Morgan and Sanders, in the Library at Saltram, Devon.

Regency mahogany library steps which fold up to form a sabre-leg armchair – the “Patent Metamorphic Library Chair” by Morgan and Sanders, in the Library at Saltram, Devon.

Regency mahogany library steps which fold up to form a sabre-leg armchair - the "Patent Metamorphic Library Chair" by Morgan and Sanders, in the Library at Saltram, Devon.

Regency mahogany library steps which fold up to form a sabre-leg armchair – the “Patent Metamorphic Library Chair” by Morgan and Sanders, in the Library at Saltram, Devon.

 

“I hope not. Do you know what I should like, Elizabeth?  If you would read to me from the Arabian Nights. I suspect it would be something, to hear those stories told in the voice of my own lovely Scheherazade.”

“Oh, if you wish, I will. My father never would let me read it; now I shall find out why. But oh, Darcy, look! It is clearing up – so suddenly too. There is the sunshine, positively streaming down from out of those silvery clouds.”

“You are right. By afternoon it may be dry enough for our walk, after all. We have just time for one story. Come and sit with me on the sofa. It is much softer than that hard chair, and I can put my arms about you.”

He took her hand and they reclined together on the pretty striped satin sofa, the Arabian Nights on their knees.

27 comments

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    • Imelda on May 11, 2015 at 2:33 am
    • Reply

    Lovely! but I noticed a typo: batiste not baptiste.

  1. You’re right, Imelda – I was using an antiquated form of the word, but looking it up, I see it is way TOO antiquated to be accurate! See:

    “The modern form batiste or baptiste comes from a popular merge with the surname Baptiste, pronounced Batisse, as indicated by the use of the expressions thoile batiche (1499) and toile de baptiste (1536) for the same fabric.”

    They must surely have been spelling it batiste by Austen’s day. I’m gonna have to haul down the O.E.D. and check for sure!

    • Mari on May 11, 2015 at 6:04 am
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    What a wonderful chapter this was for bibliophiles, romantics, and romantic bibliophiles. The pictures were also amazing. I loved the folding steps/chair, and I almost swooned over the pictures of those lovely old books. When I was a child, one of my mother’s elderly friends gave her many books from her library when she was breaking up house to move into an apartment. I still remember those beautiful leather bound volumes. A large section of the books was travelogues, and I was fascinated with them. Those books were all quite old then, and out of date, but I treasured them for years. I can almost remember the smell and feel of those lovely old books from the late nineteenth century. Thank you for a link to some cherished memories, and for a wonderful vignette of two beloved characters. I was starting to get P&P weary, but this reeled me back in!

    1. Delighted to bits that you liked it, Mari. The folding steps are at Saltram, which I visited last summer, and some of the book pictures I took there; others are from Wimpole House. Much too little has been written about the magnificent library at Pemberley, but you HAVE to believe that it played a very big part in Mr. Darcy’s mind and heart. I wish I could have researched more – I got the ideas for the books from reading the catalogue of books Byron sold before he left England; I figured he and Darcy would have many of the same!

    • Deborah on May 11, 2015 at 6:04 am
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    So very lovely. I can just imagine Elizabeth’s pique because the weather was too poor for an eagerly anticipated walk. Darcy knows just how to bring her out of her mood…..books in the library. I love the chair that doubles as steps. Whoever thought of that? No steps in sight, but you can still reach the top shelves! Thank you for the pictures and this beautiful interlude.

  2. Thank you, Deborah! Wouldn’t you think the library was a centerpiece of Pemberley, and it would mean a lot to both Darcy and Elizabeth? Yet we seldom write about it. It’s a subject I’d love to explore much more, but only scratched the surface. As I said above, the stair/step is at Saltram, clever object that it is!

  3. This episode is perfectly charming, Diana! How do you do it? I love all the little details, too. They merge nicely into the interaction between D&E.

    1. Monica, thank you, that means a lot to me! But Mr. Darcy’s Library seems to be an almost untouched subject in Jane Austen variation and sequel writing, and I have only explored it very slightly, considering how rich it is.

    • Constance on May 11, 2015 at 7:48 am
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    I agree the library isn’t written about enough. What a lovely read, I didn’t want it to end!

      • Diana Birchall on May 11, 2015 at 7:58 am
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      Thank you, Constance – I could have gone on and on, it was so much fun to think about the library at Pemberley. And I’m sure Mary will love a visit there!

    • Wendy Roberts on May 11, 2015 at 9:14 am
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    Thank you for the lovely story. I really want that library chair! LOL

      • Diana Birchall on May 11, 2015 at 2:52 pm
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      Me too, Wendy, though if I had one more piece of furniture I’d have to move out!

    • Sheila L. M. on May 11, 2015 at 9:30 am
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    That was such a lovely episode. I have always imagined this couple sharing books. Your descriptions make it come alive. That chair is magnificent. I wonder what the value is? Obviously an antique. I am sure they don’t make that type of furniture any longer. I see those sliding ladders in large libraries now. A large home near us had such installed in their library. We don’t have a separate library so could not use such.

    Thank you for this on a Monday morning in Pennsylvania.

      • Diana Birchall on May 11, 2015 at 2:59 pm
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      I’m happy you enjoyed it, Sheila! I always love it in Jane Austen’s novels when the characters talk about books, don’t you? So it’s fun to imagine a little more book talk. Yes, that chair/stair at Saltram House in Devonshire must be very old. Saltram was featured in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility as “Norland,” so it’s very Jane Austen!

    • Kathy Berlin on May 11, 2015 at 9:51 am
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    So lovely. The Darcys sharing a quiet moment introducing Elizabeth to the Pemberley library is not a scene often found in JAFF. I wonder, why does she call him Darcy instead of using his first name or a variation of it? I find it very odd.

      • Diana Birchall on May 11, 2015 at 3:19 pm
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      Thanks, Kathy – I too want to read more about books and libraries in JAFF! As for Elizabeth calling him “Darcy,” I thought a lot about it and remembered that Jane Austen often calls him simply that (example: “Miss Bingley’s eyes were instantly turned towards Darcy”). Of course Elizabeth when speaking to him always calls him “Mr. Darcy,” but I dared to imagine she might relax the formality in private. Under no circumstances would I ever have her or anyone else call him “Fitzwilliam,” as is commonly done in JAFF; I think it is wrong. He is never, ever called that in P & P, except when formally signing a letter. Then I noticed a detail – LADY CATHERINE addresses her two nephews as “Fitzwilliam” and “Darcy”! (“How does Georgiana get on, Darcy?”) It’s true she’s rude, but then again she is FAMILY. So now that Elizabeth is family, I’m letting her use that level of intimate-speak. I may be wrong, but I think there’s a case for it, and I feel happier myself having Elizabeth call him Darcy than Fitzwilliam! (Lady Catherine calls Colonel Fitzwilliam, “Fitzwilliam”, which seems also to show that Mr. Darcy is not called that by family. (When she says ” “What is that you are saying, Fitzwilliam?” she is talking to the COLONEL! So yes, I’m pretty sure I’m right! 🙂

    • RMorrel on May 11, 2015 at 10:40 am
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    Lovely!

  4. This chapter brought me out of an anxious mood and made me smile. Oh, to sit and read in Pemberley’s library when the weather does not allow walks in the gardens–what felicity!!

    And that dear library-step chair! Although it does not look overly comfortable;I would prefer a sofa before the fire as well–along with all of the amazing books to choose from! Chaucer is one of my favorites; I studied all his work in graduate school where I specialized in medieval literature. 🙂

    Such a wonderful, wonderful missing scene, Diana–I really needed Darcy and Elizabeth’s love and light this morning. Thank you!!

    Warmly,
    Cassandra 🙂

      • Diana Birchall on May 11, 2015 at 3:21 pm
      • Reply

      Cassandra, thank you so much! No one who has written a story could ever wish anything better than to hear that it brightened up somebody’s mood. How wonderful is that! You sure brightened up mine.

    • Julie on May 11, 2015 at 2:58 pm
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    Wonderful! It conjured up all the amazing libraries I’ve seen photos of and glimpsed in movies. To me, the most beautiful room in any house! The photos of the bookshelves with the wonderful leaded glass almost made me swoon, as well as the very clever step-chair. Some variant of that design is seen today, but nothing so elegant! I loved this chapter, and both Elizabeth and Darcy’s delight in the books.

    • Diana Birchall on May 11, 2015 at 3:23 pm
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    I am so glad you liked it, Julie – I love libraries too, and what could be more wonderful than Mr. Darcy’s Library, I beg to ask?! I figured a few people would like a visit – I just wish I knew more about the libraries of great gentlemen and how they were used. I hope Saltram doesn’t mind my including the chair, but I was very charmed by it, too!

  5. I enjoyed it and liked the bringing in of new-fangled comfy things for the rich in the era. But ever being difficult I wonder what they really would have read. I grant Radcliffe, but I think it might have been modern (18th century) history or travel books or polemics — or maybe periodicals like the Sherbourne Mercury. Yes the latest novel too. People loved memoirs by this time — say about the revolution, something from Switzerland?

    Ellen

    1. Thanks, Ellen – I would LOVE to know what they really read, wouldn’t you? I should have consulted you beforehand in more depth, I suppose, but I guess I got enough books into what is just a little scene. You know, every time I finish one of these I just want to go on and on…

      Well, about memoirs and Switzerland – I did have Lizzy mention Wollstonecraft’s letters from Sweden! 🙂

    • TLeighF on May 13, 2015 at 9:03 pm
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    I imagine that library smelled wonderful. I love the smell of books. It must have been a real treat to have a library like that in a place as cold and gloomy as Derbyshire can be in the winter. Lovely scene!

  6. I never thought about the library’s smell, TLeighF, but I bet it did smell lovely…I guess I’d imagine it smelling like the log fire, mmm. I wish we could all visit Pemberley’s library! Thanks for commenting.

    • Kathy on May 14, 2015 at 12:47 am
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    Really enjoyable! The library sounds divine — all those books bound with beautiful covers, I’m guessing better made than many of the books today! I especially liked the description of all the many comfortable places to sit in the large room and curl up with a book. I would have also thought that the Pemberley library could also have been a solitary, kind of lonely place for Darcy before Elizabeth was there to share it with him. Thank you!

      • Diana Birchall on May 14, 2015 at 1:06 am
      • Reply

      That’s it exactly, Kathy. Remember how Mr. Bingley says, “I do not know a more awful object than Darcy, on particular occasions, and in particular places; at his own house especially, and of a Sunday evening, when he has nothing to do.” Jane Austen is putting out a banner to signal the reader: “There is a man who needs to get married, and to an entertaining wife!” So what was once the scene of his loneliness and boredom, the library, is now the scene of his cozy readings and chats and cuddlings with his wife. The library at Pemberley is truly the heart of the house, and of Darcy – or anyway it is at the heart of his intellect, which is most important to this man. So that’s why I’m surprised there hasn’t been more study or fictionalizing about Darcy’s library…the heart of his life. Glad you enjoyed the story, thanks for commenting.

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