It was generally understood that on such occasions she did not require attendance; indeed, she positively resisted any offer to accompany her. When this became clear to Octavia, she asked Sir Tristram to show her the bookroom. “I am a little tired after our morning exercise,” she claimed. “I shall be perfectly happy there while you stroll about the grounds, Julia.” “I can very well wait until you are recovered, cousin. There is no fashionable hour for the promenade here, after all. I will come with you to choose a book, for I have read nothing this age, I vow.” “It is not an extensive collection,” warned Sir Tristram, leading them through the Great Hall and into the east wing. “Just a few volumes to while away the hours if it rains when the earl brings a house-party." The room was too small to be described by so grand a term as library, but all four walls were lined with well-filled shelves. Octavia at once began to collect a pile of novels, biographies, histories, and poetry, all of which looked fascinating to her.
