Posted by Ed kiser on August 09, 2007 at 22:15:00 from 64.12.116.198 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Beckfoot posted by John Nichols on August 09, 2007 at 00:16:31:
OK, John... I'll bite.
What evidence is there in the Ransome Text that answers this question: "How many stairwells are in Beckfoot?"
When Nancy climbed up the rose trellis, she came bounding down the stairs and appeared at the Garden door.
When the GA almost caught Dick at the burglary, and they fled away from the house, they saw light at the FRONT of the house, as if the GA had come down stairs that were near the front while carrying a lamp.
There is also the progression of the GA through the series of rooms while Dick was still in the Study that indicate possibly what rooms were nearest to the stairs, as she came down and went to that room first, then progressed through others. This also helps to define what rooms were next to what rooms. This order of rooms indicates she came down stairs near the rear of the house. Yet her bedroom was at the front of the house.
But does any of this contradict the assumption that there was only one set of stairs? Does it prove there were more than one set?
It is not defined where Cook lived, but it is assumed that she was a live-in servant. Her quarters must be there somewhere, theoretically in the near vicinity to the kitchen. Is there a separate set of stairs from her quarters on the second floor down to the kitchen itself?
I cannot prove it definitely, but somehow I have come to believe that there are two sets of stairs. One near the front is a more formal set of stairs, and the other is either in the kitchen area, or perhaps in the passageway itself. But I do not KNOW.
When the Amazons are getting the two bedrooms ready for the D's, with Dot to be in the guest room, and Dick to be in CF's room, there is activity back and forth between these rooms that involves using the "Landing" which seems to be between these two bedrooms. This seems to imply this landing is at the top of the stairs (assuming two stairs) that are the more formal set near the front of the house. We see that the guest room, soon to be used by the GA herself, is at the front of the house directly over CF's study on the first floor. This implies that CF's bedroom on the second floor is directly across the landing, and thus also at the front of the house, opposite the guest room where the GA is to stay.
Anybody have any further evidence that would point either to a single set of stairs - or to the presence of a second set of stairs?
PM is the book that has the most detail regarding the internals of Beckfoot, with some hints found in PP, but with the limited time spent at Beckfoot, there is not much chance to "explore" the house in PP. We see Dick setting up the bell in the passageway, and later in the book he does aqua regia testing in the study. But the evidence in PP is meager compared with the descriptions in PM.
Of course, to satisfy the question of 1 or 2 stairs will require a detailed study of the plumbing in Beckfoot, which is sure to stir up quite a bit of entries on this forum. We all know how fascinating we can be regarding the plumbing. We'll do that one a bit later...
Ed Kiser, Kentucky