asters, which opened
into a space nearly double the width of the previous part of the room,
with a domed ceiling and an embayed window of such depth that the recess
almost formed a chamber in itself. But both these divisions of the
apartment corresponded exactly in point of decoration,--they had the
same small panelling, painted a very light green, which seemed almost
white by candlelight, each compartment wrought with an arabesque; the
same enriched frieze and cornice; they had the same high mantelpieces,
ascending to the ceiling, with the arms of St. John in bold relief. They
had, too, the same old-fashioned and venerable furniture, draperies
of thick figured velvet, with immense chairs and sofas to
correspond,--interspersed, it is true, with more modern and commodious
inventions of the upholsterer's art, in grave stuffed leather or lively
chintz. Two windows, nearly as deep as that in the farther division,
broke the outline of the former one, and helped to give that irregular
and nooky appearance to the apartment which took all discomfort from
its extent, and furnished all convenience for solitary study or detached
flirtation. With little respect for the carved work of the panels, the
walls were covered with pictures brought by Sir Miles from Italy; here
and there marble busts and statues gave lightness to the character of
the room, and harmonized well with that half-Italian mode of decoration
which belongs to the period of James the First. The shape of the
chamber, in its divisions, lent itself admirably to that friendly and
sociable intermixture of amusements which reconciles the tastes of young
and old. In the first division, near the fireplace, Sir Miles, seated
in his easy-chair, and sheltered from the opening door by a seven-fold
tapestry screen, was still at chess with his librarian. At a little
distance a middle-aged gentleman and three turbaned matrons were cutting
in at whist, shilling points, with a half-crown bet optional, and not
much ventured on. On tables, drawn into the recesses of the windows,
were the day's newspapers, Gilray's caricatures, the last new
publications, and such other ingenious suggestions to chit-chat. And
round these tables grouped those who had not yet found elsewhere their
evening's amusement,--two or three shy young clergymen, the parish
doctor, four or five squires who felt great interest in politics, but
never dreamed of the extravagance of taking in a daily paper, and who
now, m