Lord Barry's Dream House Read Online Free PDF Page A

on ahead of the others, striding up the stairs, his heels clicking on the stone floor as he crossed the portico. Inside the great entry hall he came to a halt. It was magnificent in reality. He had not been able to acquire a grasp of the immensity of the room from a mere floor plan. Even the water - color rendering of the room had not the impact of actually seeing the place. The ceiling soared upward to high above where the plasterers, standing on the scaffolding, were at work. Lady Juliana had cautioned him regarding that scaffolding yesterday. The plasterwork looked to be coming along nicely.
    “They have been in residence for a year now,” Lady Juliana murmured at his side. “I truly wonder how they manage to work at that height, given the amount of wine charged to their account. Oh, dear,” she exclaimed, her cheeks pinkening, “I ought not have said that.”
    “Quite understandable. I understand they are weaned to red wine in infancy. How much longer will they be up there?” He craned his neck to inspect the details he could see and wished he might climb the scaffolding to see it all better.
    “Well,” she replied in a considering way, then turned to her works supervisor. “Henry, should they finish soon?”
    “I believe so. They have the central figure to complete, but the decoration around the ceiling perimeter is done, and very well, I must say.”
    “ You see, my lord? Soon,” she said with a sigh of what sounded like relief.
    Edmund made no comment, but strode on ahead to the dining room. In here carpenters were at work on fitting in the two bookcases he had required be added. He wanted books throughout the house, not just in a library and rarely looked at. In his opinion a good book ought to always be available if one wished to read.
    “And here,” Juliana said with a gesture to an alcove in which niches had been created, “is the area for the china cabinets to be installed when finished. Father and I thought it would be nice to have your china on display when not in use. I trust you have a suitable pattern in mind? Wedgwood does a very nice design incorporating initials, with a discreet gold border.”
    H e merely looked at her, and it gave Juliana the feeling that she had been silly and rather female in her observation, not to mention intruding where she was not wanted. She resolved to remain silent regarding any future helpful suggestions she might wish to offer. “Actually, I ordered a set of Sevres while in London. It will have English flowers centered on each plate and a border of celadon and gold.” Edmund did not know why he so carefully explained his selection to Lady Juliana. Perhaps it might assist her in other matters regarding the dining room, but he found he was interested in her reaction to his taste.
    “English again,” Uncle George muttered while looking at the niches created for those china cabinets. “Thou are not altogether a fool .”
    “We could paint the walls the same celadon, if you wish, and use accents of gilt on the ceiling,” Juliana said politely, ignoring her uncle’s foray into Shakespeare. “And of course you will want another set of dishes for daily use.” She studied h er patron. Sevres was far too expensive for common usage, even if the gentleman was as rich as reputed. “Queens Ware is lovely, and much used by the royal family.”
    “English, too,” Uncle George chimed in from his place across the room where he now stared out of the windows.
    “I shall attend to that in due course.” Relenting a trifle, he added, “Perhaps a representation of my family crest would be possible.”
    Juliana again felt put in her place, although he had been polite in his speech. Perhaps he failed to realize that an architect did not merely design a building and halt with that. Her father, and Juliana as well, had felt it important to be concerned about all aspects of the dwelling. She had made her own sketches for furniture, china, just about everything, including