room, hung with pink satin, covered
with white Indian muslin. The chairs were of ancient workmanship
and materials; over the doors were painted sketches of shepherds and
shepherdesses, after the style and manner of Boucher; and at each side
pretty medallions in crayons, harmonizing well with the furnishings of
this charming apartment, the only one throughout the great mansion
in which any distinctive taste prevailed. The truth was, it had been
entirely overlooked in the plan arranged and followed out by M. Danglars
and his architect, who had been selected to aid the baron in the great
work of improvement solely because he was the most fashionable and
celebrated decorator of the day. The decorations of the boudoir had then
been left entirely to Madame Danglars and Lucien Debray. M. Danglars,
however, while possessing a great admiration for the antique, as it
was understood during the time of the Directory, entertained the most
sovereign contempt for the simple elegance of his wife's favorite
sitting-room, where, by the way, he was never permitted to intrude,
unless, indeed, he excused his own appearance by ushering in some more
agreeable visitor than himself; and even then he had rather the air and
manner of a person who was himself introduced, than that of being
the presenter of another, his reception being cordial or frigid, in
proportion as the person who accompanied him chanced to please or
displease the baroness.

Madame Danglars (who, although past the first bloom of youth, was still
strikingly handsome) was now seated at the piano, a most elaborate piece
of cabinet and inlaid work, while Lucien Debray, standing before a small
work-table, was turning over the pages of an album. Lucien had found
time, preparatory to the count's arrival, to relate many particulars
respecting him to Madame Danglars. It will be remembered that Monte
Cristo had made a lively impression on the minds of all the party
assembled at the breakfast given by Albert de Morcerf; and although
Debray was not in the habit of yielding to such feelings, he had never
been able to shake off the powerful influence excited in his mind by the
impressive look and manner of the count, consequently the description
given by Lucien to the baroness bore the highly-colored tinge of his own
heated imagination. Already excited by the wonderful stories related of
the count by De Morcerf, it is no wonder that Madame Danglars eagerly
listened to, and fully credited,