Sir Thomas. Their sitters, too, had mostly been sirs; Sir
William, Sir John, or Sir George De Stancy--some undoubtedly having
a nobility stamped upon them beyond that conferred by their robes and
orders; and others not so fortunate. Their respective ladies hung by
their sides--feeble and watery, or fat and comfortable, as the case
might be; also their fathers and mothers-in-law, their brothers and
remoter relatives; their contemporary reigning princes, and their
intimate friends. Of the De Stancys pure there ran through the
collection a mark by which they might surely have been recognized as
members of one family; this feature being the upper part of the nose.
Every one, even if lacking other points in common, had the special
indent at this point in the face--sometimes moderate in degree,
sometimes excessive.

While looking at the pictures--which, though not in his regular line of
study, interested Somerset more than the architecture, because of their
singular dilapidation, it occurred to his mind that he had in his youth
been schoolfellow for a very short time with a pleasant boy bearing a
surname attached to one of the paintings--the name of Ravensbury. The
boy had vanished he knew not how--he thought he had been removed from
school suddenly on account of ill health. But the recollection was
vague, and Somerset moved on to the rooms above and below. In addition
to the architectural details of which he had as yet obtained but
glimpses, there was a great collection of old movables and other
domestic art-work--all more than a century old, and mostly lying as
lumber. There were suites of tapestry hangings, common and fine; green
and scarlet leather-work, on which the gilding was still but little
injured; venerable damask curtains; quilted silk table-covers,
ebony cabinets, worked satin window-cushions, carved bedsteads, and
embroidered bed-furniture which had apparently screened no sleeper for
these many years. Downstairs there was also an interesting collection of
armour, together with several huge trunks and coffers. A great many
of them had been recently taken out and cleaned, as if a long dormant
interest in them were suddenly revived. Doubtless they were those which
had been used by the living originals of the phantoms that looked down
from the frames.

This excellent hoard of suggestive designs for wood-work, metal-work,
and work of other sorts, induced Somerset to divert his studies from
the ecclesiastical direct