FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   198   199   200   201  
202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   >>   >|  
vid had one, Barkilphedro the other. However, to enter straight into a bedchamber was, in the old code of manners, a thing not in the least out of the way. Thence resulted incidents. La Ferte, suddenly drawing back the bed curtains of Mademoiselle Lafont, found inside Sainson, the black musketeer, etc., etc. Barkilphedro excelled in making the cunning discoveries which place the great in the power of the little. His walk in the dark was winding, soft, clever. Like every perfect spy, he was composed of the inclemency of the executioner and the patience of a micograph. He was a born courtier. Every courtier is a noctambulist. The courtier prowls in the night, which is called power. He carries a dark lantern in his hand. He lights up the spot he wishes, and remains in darkness himself. What he seeks with his lantern is not a man, it is a fool. What he finds is the king. Kings do not like to see those about them pretend to greatness. Irony aimed at any one except themselves has a charm for them. The talent of Barkilphedro consisted in a perpetual dwarfing of the peers and princes to the advantage of her Majesty's stature, thus increased in proportion. The master-key held by Barkilphedro was made with two sets of wards, one at each end, so as to open the inner apartments in both Josiana's favourite residences--Hunkerville House in London, Corleone Lodge at Windsor. These two houses were part of the Clancharlie inheritance. Hunkerville House was close to Oldgate. Oldgate was a gate of London, which was entered by the Harwich road, and on which was displayed a statue of Charles II., with a painted angel on his head, and beneath his feet a carved lion and unicorn. From Hunkerville House, in an easterly wind, you heard the peals of St. Marylebone. Corleone Lodge was a Florentine palace of brick and stone, with a marble colonnade, built on pilework, at Windsor, at the head of the wooden bridge, and having one of the finest courts in England. In the latter palace, near Windsor Castle, Josiana was within the queen's reach. Nevertheless, Josiana liked it. Scarcely anything in appearance, everything in the root, such was the influence of Barkilphedro over the queen. There is nothing more difficult than to drag up these bad grasses of the court--they take a deep root, and offer no hold above the surface. To root out a Roquelaure, a Triboulet, or a Brummel, is almost impossible. From day to day, and more and more, did the qu
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   195   196   197   198   199   200   201  
202   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Barkilphedro

 

courtier

 

Windsor

 

Josiana

 

Hunkerville

 

lantern

 

Corleone

 

palace

 
Oldgate
 
London

carved

 

beneath

 
easterly
 

unicorn

 

Harwich

 

residences

 

houses

 
favourite
 

apartments

 
Clancharlie

inheritance

 
statue
 

Charles

 

painted

 

displayed

 

entered

 

pilework

 

grasses

 

difficult

 

Brummel


impossible
 

Triboulet

 
surface
 

Roquelaure

 

influence

 

bridge

 

wooden

 

finest

 

courts

 

Florentine


marble

 

colonnade

 

England

 

Scarcely

 

appearance

 

Nevertheless

 
Castle
 

Marylebone

 

discoveries

 

cunning