Pemberley's longtime housekeeper speaks of Darcy with the unguarded loyalty of someone who has known him since childhood.
Mrs. Reynolds is the respectable, elderly housekeeper who shows Elizabeth and the Gardiners through Pemberley. Civil rather than showy, she identifies the miniatures of Mr. Wickham, Mr. Darcy, and Miss Darcy, and readily answers questions about the house and its family.
Her praise of Darcy is emphatic and specific. She has known him since he was four, says he has never given her a cross word, calls him the sweetest-tempered and most generous-hearted boy, and names him the best master and landlord she has known. She also describes his immediate care for Georgiana's pleasures. Her testimony, rooted in daily service rather than fashionable opinion, profoundly alters Elizabeth's understanding of him.
She is a respectable-looking elderly English woman. Her face, hair, complexion, build, and clothing are not otherwise described.
She is the household witness whose trust in Darcy makes his virtues visible to Elizabeth.