Spring is the best time of year for it because the colours are absolutely astounding! Even better than in the summer. Can you imagine anything more romantic than our favourite couple strolling among the bluebells?

Or perhaps wandering
into a mysterious garden…
But in real life it was a home full of love. The last owners, Lord and Lady Brunner, who donated it to the National Trust, seem to have been one of those extremely fortunate couples who were not only deeply attached, but also blessed with the good fortune of growing old together. There is a portrait in the house showing them in their old age, sitting together in the garden. Their faces are heavily lined, but they glow with almost tangible love. It’s in their beautiful home that I saw this quote set in a frame – a few deeply moving lines which, to me, are the perfect embodiment of the Darcys’ marriage:
“There is nothing better than this: when a man and a woman, sharing the same ideas about life, keep house together. It pains their enemies and delights their friends, but only they themselves know what it truly means.” (Homer – Odyssey)
On this lovely note, let me finish with some more lovely pictures. Imagine our favourite couple strolling through the vast grounds of Pemberley, only to turn a corner and come across this: