The
boudoir was lined with some red stuff, over which an Indian muslin was
stretched, fluted after the fashion of Corinthian columns, in plaits
going in and out, and bound at the top and bottom by bands of
poppy-colored stuff, on which were designs in black arabesque.
Below the muslin the poppy turned to rose, that amorous color, which
was matched by window-curtains, which were of Indian muslin lined with
rose-colored taffeta, and set off with a fringe of poppy-color and
black. Six silver-gilt arms, each supporting two candles, were
attached to the tapestry at an equal distance, to illuminate the
divan. The ceiling, from the middle of which a lustre of unpolished
silver hung, was of a brilliant whiteness, and the cornice was gilded.
The carpet was like an Oriental shawl; it had the designs and recalled
the poetry of Persia, where the hands of slaves had worked on it. The
furniture was covered in white cashmere, relieved by black and
poppy-colored ornaments. The clock, the candelabra, all were in white
marble and gold. The only table there had a cloth of cashmere. Elegant
flower-pots held roses of every kind, flowers white or red. In fine,
the least detail seemed to have been the object of loving thought.
Never had richness hidden itself more coquettishly to become elegance,
to express grace, to inspire pleasure. Everything there would have
warmed the coldest of beings. The caresses of the tapestry, of which
the color changed according to the direction of one's gaze, becoming
either all white or all rose, harmonized with the effects of the light
shed upon the diaphanous tissues of the muslin, which produced an
appearance of mistiness.
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