Posted by Geraint Lewis on October 31, 2008 at 21:26:45 user Geraint_Lewis.
In Reply to: Re: Beckfoot layout posted by Adam Quinan on October 31, 2008 at 15:04:10:
Yes, I think it is pretty clear that Nancy and Peggy shared a room. It is perhaps implied that they do so through choice rather than necessity, but I don't think there is any actual evidence in the text to say that they could definitely have had separate bedrooms, had they wished, unless one of them took over the "spare bedroom". On the other hand, I think PM does indicate that Captain Flint had a permanent bedroom of his own at Beckfoot, as this was the room Dick was going to use.
Regarding a bedroom for Cook, I think Jock is correct to assume that she had one. It's pretty clear from PM that she sleeps at Beckfoot, and indeed in PP Mrs Blackett points out that "we" tried to sleep through the pigeon bell when Sappho rang it at 5am, and in the context "we" could only mean Cook and herself. Given that Cook was living on site there is a fair chance that the maid (mentioned in Swallowdale) also did so at that time, although that is total conjecture (unless somebody knows of a supporting reference in SD?). But it does seem reasonable to conclude that a house like Beckfoot had rooms for some live-in servants.