Bells

Bells is the name of the estate where most of the story takes place. It’s a “[...] beautiful old place which had belonged to the Lynkes of Thudeney [...]” (p. 594). The entrance is a white gate that has two statues of griffons towering right and left (p. 594). In the front of the main building are gardens and a park “[...] clipped yews as ornate as architecture” (p. 595) that are surrounded by walls of holly hedges. A small chapel, which was used by the people of the village as church, is placed next to the house. Inside and outside monuments of the different families can be found. Especially mentioned is the sarcophagus of Peregrine Vincent Theobald Lynke and “also his wife” (p. 595). In the courtyard is a stable-yard (p. 596).

The main building itself is described as low and long with brick masonry on the outside (p. 594). It is said to be “very narrow and but one storey high, with servants rooms in the low attics, and much space wasted in crooked passages and superfluous stairs.” (p. 598). There exist two places where a lot of the story unfolds. The great saloon, which is decorated with portraits, Italian cabinets and shabby armchairs. The only problem is that it faces north, which denies sunlight and makes it cold in winter. The chimney would have to be burning all the time (p. 602). The other big room is the blue parlour room. The windows are in contrast to the great saloon facing south and west, which allows sunlight to get in during winter. The curtains have blue parrots on them, which in combination with the blue fire screen, gives the room its name. There is also an old citron-wood desk in the room. The only downside is that the chimney apparently smokes a lot and cannot be fixed (p. 603). The two big rooms are connected by a panelled anteroom. Another important place inside the house are the archives, which can't be accessed till the end of the story, because of a lost key. The room itself is filled with old papers and dust. It contains, for example, the long history of the family Lynke (p. 610).

In the end of the story there is one more room to be discovered on the upper floor of the building. This is where Mrs. Clemm herself stayed. The bedroom itself is very well structured and clean. Next to her room is one more, of which the use is unknown (p. 614f.). Except for the more important rooms mentioned above, Bells also has a library, a panelled dining room, a breakfast parlour and some more bedrooms. Despite it being a beautiful house, the feeling at the gardens is described as “a silence distilled from years of solitude lay on lawns and gardens” (p. 594). The feeling of solitude even gets compared to the silence and the feelings you have in the family vault (p. 594). On the other side Lady Jane sees the beauty in the architecture and the whole estate, which makes her never want to leave again (p. 595) [1].

[1] Lewis, Richard Warrington Baldwin (1968): The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton – Volume 2. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.