he circular
saloon which, as in most villas of the Venetian mainland, formed the
central point of the house. If Odo had been charmed by the graceful
decorations of the theatre, he was dazzled by the airy splendour of this
apartment. Dance-music was pouring from the arched recesses above the
doorways, and chandeliers of coloured Murano glass diffused a soft
brightness over the pilasters of the stuccoed walls, and the floor of
inlaid marbles on which couples were rapidly forming for the
contradance. His eye, however, was soon drawn from these to the ceiling
which overarched the dancers with what seemed like an Olympian revel
reflected in sunset clouds. Over the gilt balustrade surmounting the
cornice lolled the figures of fauns, bacchantes, nereids and tritons,
hovered over by a cloud of amorini blown like rose-leaves across a rosy
sky, while in the centre of the dome Apollo burst in his chariot through
the mists of dawn, escorted by a fantastic procession of the human
races. These alien subjects of the sun--a fur-clad Laplander, a turbaned
figure on a dromedary, a blackamoor and a plumed American Indian--were
in turn surrounded by a rout of Maenads and Silenuses, whose flushed
advance was checked by the breaking of cool green waves, through which
boys wreathed with coral and seaweed disported themselves among shoals
of flashing dolphins. It was as though the genius of Pleasure had poured
all the riches of his inexhaustible realm on the heads of the revellers
below.

The Procuratessa brought Odo to earth by remarking that it was a
master-piece of the divine Tiepolo he was admiring. She added that at
Bellocchio all formalities were dispensed with, and begged him to
observe that, in the rooms opening into the saloon, recreations were
provided for every taste. In one of these apartments silver trays were
set out with sherbets, cakes, and fruit cooled in snow, while in another
stood gaming-tables around which the greater number of the company were
already gathering for tresette. A third room was devoted to music; and
hither Mirandolina, who was evidently allowed a familiarity of
intercourse not accorded to the other comedians, had withdrawn with the
pacified Marquess, and perched on the arm of a high gilt chair was
pinching the strings of a guitar and humming the first notes of a
boatman's song...

After completing the circuit of the rooms Odo stepped out on the
terrace, which was now bathed in the whiteness of a soaring mo