And then we were taken down to the drawing-room which opened on the
right-hand side of the hall; and she would take off the covers of the
old French furniture to show us the beautiful old chintzes with which
they were upholstered. Also she would have us admire the Italian
mantelpieces inlaid with coloured marble, and the decoration of the
walls and ceilings which were very fine indeed, and the picture by
Angelica Kauffmann of the Lady St. Leger of that day as St. Cecilia
playing on her organ, and the other beautiful things which the rooms
contained. All the time she sighed over the years during which the house
had been closed up.
"Sure, it's time it was all forgotten," she said, "and that his Lordship
and her Ladyship came back to where many a one would welcome them. It
was fine, Miss Bawn, when the wax lights were lit in all the chandeliers
and the flashing of them was nearly as fine as the ladies' diamonds.
There used to be the height of fashion and beauty here but never one
that I'd compare to her Ladyship. Ah, sure, they were great days!"
"And who knows but they may come again?" said Anthony Cardew.
We were in the inner drawing-room by this time, and as it happened there
was a picture of Theobald as a little boy sitting on his pony, above the
fireplace.
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