It must have been years since these rooms had seen a duster or a carpet sweeper, she surmised. Perhaps Martha would come to give them a hand? Sophie had taken one look at the front parlour and decided that it would make an excellent workroom, but that a lot of the heavy, old-fashioned furniture would have to be moved elsewhere. Thick dark green chenille curtains and cream cotton lace ones shut out most of the light so the heavy drapes would have to come down to let in more light. The breakfast room seemed more suitable as a fitting room than the dining room for it was smaller, contained less furniture and would be easier to heat. Also now that there would be four of them sitting down to at least one meal a day together they would need to utilise the dining room. Lizzie was astounded by the size of the bedrooms and the quality of the furniture, bedspreads and eiderdowns, even though they were a little faded. With a good dusting, some elbow grease applied to the walnut and mahogany furniture, and laundering of the curtains and linen the place would be fit for the gentry, she thought rather enviously.
