It took a long time to go through the entire house, partially because Jane took such care in describing each room, each hallway, each view out of every window. But it was also because Jane was just so surprised by the home, it's beauty and how fitting it was for her and her husband. Edwards full and vigorous imagination, along with questions he asked freely along the way, created a full picture of the house in his mind.
The rooms in the house were beautifully decorated, with furnishings that were not harsh nor overly extravagant. Everything felt light, and airy. Things were wonderfully bright with the lightly colored furniture and the extensive windows covering the front of the house where the sun rose and set. The rooms were of a good size, all with hearths for crackling fires. There were guest rooms, a very extensive library, beautiful paintings covering the walls, a dining room, a comfortable area for the servants to live and work in. Overall, they could not have been more pleased.
As they walked through the sitting room Jane pushed opened the large doors leading into the garden which were large panes of transparent glass. In stepping into the garden Jane beamed. The gardens were large- further than her eye could see, excessively overgrown and absolutely perfect.
At this moment Mr Cooper returned suddenly, calling out to the Rochester's frantically as they looked at the gardens.
"Oh Mr Rochester! Do not be alarmed at the gardens at present, they are ill kept for the old groundskeeper grew ill, a Mr Morris. You could though, I am sure hire your own and have this place fixed up in no time".
"Thank you" said Jane "But the gardens are perfect. I love them when they are overgrown".
Mr Rochester smiled as Mr Cooper mustered a not so convincing smile and nod in agreement.
"Well" he said, awkwardly, "now that you have seen the entirety of the house, perhaps I could introduce you to the servants here?" , extending his arm in a way that told Jane to retreat back to the house. As they turned the corner from the sitting room into the main entrance of the house Jane saw a row of perhaps 12 servants, all smiling at them. Jane was immediately struck at the different ages of the servants. Some were quite old. One woman looked as if she was nearing 70 or perhaps 80 years old. She managed a slightly more awkward bow than the others but none the less genuine. And then some servants were quite young, one boy looked as if he was perhaps only 11 or 12. His hair was messy and he looked quite dirty.
"This is Mr and Ms Rochester, the potential buyers of this home. There are all the servants one should ever need in a home this size. Too much, perhaps for just the two of you. I would imagine you will be sending some away" he said, rather distastefully. A look of fear spread across the servants faces as he spoke but quickly Mr Rochester interjected.
"Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen for coming to greet us, we appreciate it greatly. I know us coming must have been distracted you from your work".
They were slowly waved away by Mr Cooper and retreated to the servants hall. As Mr Cooper turned towards Mr Rochester, Jane released her husbands hand and walked quickly to stop the young boy she had seen in the line of servants.
"Excuse me" she said, catching up with him.
He turned to look at her, at closer glance he looked positively sweet with round eyes and a head of curly red hair. He was thin, however, and looked unwell.
"Hello madam" he said, in a thick french accent. Jane smiled
"Bonjour petit monsieur"
His eyes lit up as he said, excitedly. "You speak french Ms!"
"Yes, I do. And I believe my husband speaks it even better than I. What is your name?"
"Louis, madam".
"And what do you do in this house, Louis?"
"I am a stable hand" he said, struggling to find the words in his vocabulary. "I am sorry, but I must speak English. It is not good for me to speak only French here".
"I think your English is marvelous" Jane said, touching his shoulder.
Suddenly a voice called out for him from the hall and he ran off, saying goodbye to Jane before he did.
Jane was left standing there, filled with one million questions, but forced to retreat to her husband without the ability to find any answers.
"Well you see-" Mr Cooper was saying "The previous owners of this house died and had no living relatives to pass it on to. This is quite strange indeed, but it has caused quite the upset among the servants. Good grief, you would think there is no other jobs cleaning fireplaces or cooking in all of England".
"I am sure if these servants have worked here for the whole of their lives, they are part of a routine that would be hard to break, especially based on age" Mr Rochester said shortly.
"To be sure, to be sure, but I wouldn't let that weigh on your mind while you make the decision. And with that, I shall leave the two of you until tomorrow, where I hope to hear your decision" Mr Cooper said, beaming at them both.