A young girl--the village slavey Dick had engaged--stood under the porch

to welcome them, and demurely conducted Nell over the lodge.

They scrambled through a hasty meal, and Dick invited Nell--with a touch

of importance and dignity which made her smile, to "come up and see the

house."

They walked up a magnificent avenue, and stood for a moment or two

looking upon one of the finest specimens of Gothic domestic architecture

in England.

"Fine, isn't it?" said Dick, with bated breath. "Like a picture in a

Christmas number, eh, Nell? See the carving along the front, and the

Advertisement..

terrace? And there's the peacock, there, perched behind that stone lion.

Fancy such a place as this belonging to you, your very own. Yes, Lord

Angleford's a lucky chap!"

They went up the stone steps to the terrace steps, up which Queen Bess

had ascended with stately stride, and, crossing the terrace, into the

hall.

The staircase, broad enough for a coach and four, had sheets of brown

holland hanging from it, and the pictures, statuary, cabinets, and

figures in armor were swathed in protecting covers; but enough was

visible of the magnificence, the antiquity of the grand old hall to

impress Nell.

Some men were at work, whitewashing and decorating, and they stopped

their splashing to permit Nell and Dick to go upstairs; and one or two

of them touched their hats respectfully to the pretty young lady and her

brother.

The corridors were wide and newly decorated, and lined with priceless

pictures which Nell longed to linger over; but Dick led her on from one

room to another; from suites in which the antique furniture had been

suffered to remain to others furnished with modern luxury.

As they went downstairs again they were met by a dignified old lady who

introduced herself as the housekeeper; and who, upon being informed that

Dick was "the gentleman from Bardsley & Bardsley," graciously conducted

them over the state apartments. Most of us know Anglemere, either from

having visited it, or from the innumerable photographs of it, but Nell

had not seen any pictorial representation of it, and its glories broke

upon her with all the force of freshness. In silent wonder she followed

the stately dame as she led them from one magnificent room to another,

remarking with a pleasant kind of condescension: "This is the great drawing-room. Designed by Onigo Jones. Pictures by

Watteau. Queen Elizabeth sat in that chair near the antique mantelpiece

of lapis-lazuli; this chair is never moved. This, the adjoining room, is

the ballroom. Pictures by Bouchier; notice the painted ceiling, the

finest in Europe, and costing over twenty thousand pounds. The next room

is the royal antechamber, so called because James II. used it for

writing letters while visiting Anglemere. We now pass into the banquet

hall. Carved oak by Grinling Gibbings. You will remark the lifesized

figures along the dado. It was here that Charles I., the Martyr, dined

with his consort, Henrietta. That buffet, large as it is, will not hold

the service of gold plate. That painted window's said to be the oldest

of any, not ecclesiastic, in Europe. It is priceless. The pictures round

the room are by Van Dyck and Carlo Dolci. The one over the mantelpiece

is a portrait of the seventh Earl of Angleford."




Most Popular