pass;
but saving this, the farm-yard noises, and the birds and bees in the
garden, were the only disturbers of our perfect quiet, except, indeed,
the soothing sound of a small brook tinkling over a tiny waterfall,
quite audible, although a good way on the other side of the _grande
route_. The town of C---- was seen to our right, the sea glittering
beyond; and a rocky, shrubby dell, through which the little stream
above mentioned murmured merrily on its way, turning a rustic mill,
was the prospect from the windows. Two lime-trees stood at the gate,
inside of which we joyfully discovered an unexpected lodge or cottage,
containing two little rooms and a large shed, which had not been
mentioned in the description, and which we found most useful for
stowing away packing-cases, hampers, and boxes, keeping potatoes and
apples, and a hundred things besides. The short road--avenue, our
landlord termed it--which led from this to the house, had a
strawberry-bank on one side, a row of cherry-trees on the other; and
the garden, although overgrown with weeds and sprawling shrubs, looked
quite capable of being easily made very pretty indeed. The entrance to
this our magnificent chateau was through the kitchen only; for the
room next it, although it could boast of an outside-door likewise, had
none which opened into the interior of the house, was neither lathed
nor plastered, and the bare earth was all there was to tread upon.
Upstairs the flooring consisted merely of planks laid down; and you
could hear when below the pins dropped from above, unless, indeed,
they fell, as they generally did, into the large crevices. The bonne's
_mansarde_ was but a garret, where, till you got into the very middle,
you could not stand upright; and although the tiled roof had been just
painted and repaired, the breath of heaven came wooingly in every
direction, even through the thick-leaved vines which covered it,
closely trained up there, to make room for the apricots that grew
against the wall below. Close by, a little stair led you out upon a
terrace, where a road, bordered by peach-trees and backed by plums,
gave a dry walk in all weathers; but you could go higher, higher, and
higher still, terrace after terrace, till it terminated in a rock
covered with briers and brambles--the fruit of which latter were as
large and as good as mulberries. This we called our garden-wall, and
it had a sunny seat commanding an extensive view, and from which all
we sa