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yJr 146 THE OADER, rx\ T o. 401. Novi^t™...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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our p laces in one of the plainest , neatest , and most perfect pieces of bijouterie in carriage-building you could meet with , even in the Rue de Hivoli , I or the whole course of the Champs-Elysees . Lawford took it all as a matter of course , and so did I ; but I began to realize the completeness of the young , merchant ' s hospitality , even at -the railway station . An . easy and iilmost noiseless roll over the common and up a few lanes brought us to Leicester ' s—more truly a c box' than anything I have seen -calledso . Outside you see nothing ; but as we drew up , some one opened a door m the high ivy-clad walls , and we entered a garden which seemed to extend beyond the immediate view , but which was shut out by some rare specimens of pines and firs , with a foreground of evergreens . It was too dark for me to tell exactly what I did see , but I know there were laurels , young American ^ oaks , yews , and plenty of bright holly covered with berries . I could distinguish no flowers in bloom hut chrysanthemums , which were growing in magnificent profusion , hut the glimpse I had was sufficient to tell me that the garden , of whatever size it might prove , was perfectly kept . The house itself , of dark ; brick , with dark door of mahogany and coloured
CTifiBs : I rirtlr ^ rT'n f " . "fii * Qf . nc i ^* it : ' /» r & Til / 1 Via r » nfl * Tnnr TYirt ^ ci 4-lirt « -w «« n 4-U n « « " U ! ~ — glass , looked at first as if it could be nothing more than rather a bi « - square ^ ate-lodge rit is so small and low . An assiduous man-servant ushered us through the small hall into a room larger than I could have expected , and Leicester advanced to meet us with his cordial , graceful , and gay greeting . ' •' Lawford has made a slow guide , Wilson , " he said ; " wewere beginnm ^ to debate a storm on the dinner . " ITou notice he called me by my name only ; a certain audacious familiarity is among his ways , and it does not sit badly pn a man who is so agreeable and so rich ! Lawford made some bantering retaliation to which I did not attend , and I had time to survey the place and party . " We were in a room fitted up for comfort rather than show ; the prevailing colour of the walls , the floor , and the furniture being very dark green , relieved by red almost as dark . Books modestly signified iheir presence from cases buried in the wall , and almost concealed by hangings . Solid easy-chairs , small couches , ottomans covered with velvet , moreen , or leather , courted the lounger . One thing impressed me by its -effect , though I could not tell what it was ; it occurred to me afterwards it was the total absence of any sort of ornament . The company was the most
various part of the picture , presenting all degrees or propriety . I take myself as the standard , for I went in an ordinary dress for dinner , and you know -what a ' perfect gentleman * any ore of our clan looks in that comme ilfaut costume . Leicester was a cut above me , though not so proper , with ^ a sort of light black surtout , or doublet— -I don't know what to call iteasily fitting his figure , loose trousers of some soft stuff ; all dark , and nothing round his throat but a strip . of white linen , whichjust peeped above the edge of Hs collarless garment , like a figure out of one of ! Stothard ' s pictures , only with more fire and manliness . The only other stranger was tiord Baddeley , a tallj ci-devant jeune homme , or a veritable youth grown grey and grisly , in a loose , free-and-easy coat and trousers of light grey , rather ' cut away' in styles turned-down collar , and protrusively negligent necktie , as if he had aped but had only succeeded in caricaturing Ben -Jonson ' s- ' sweet neglect . ' His complexion was fair and rather florid ; his hair , once ' golden / but now clouded with grey , though still luxuriantly clustering round his forehead and dropping about hia face in the shape of eyebrows , whiskers , moustache , imperial , and stray hairs that asserted
themselves everywhere , on his cheeks , his nose , and round his neck , a roughlooking , ' aristocratic , ' smiling , sneering , gay , indignant , fast , travelled , English gentleman , that was the idea he gave me . Lawford , with his -eternal black suit and tail-coat a la First Violin , and his inflexibly strungalp ease of manner , looked strange beside the other two . We had scarcely become aware of each other , before , at some quiet summons , Leicester tacitly presented himself as our guide into the room opposite—anew scene—a bui-st of warmth , the light of a splendid fire glowing
on walls , hangings , floor , and seats of rich crimson , tastefully and solidly , but not lavishly , picked out with gold ; a few wax candles in branches on the table or on the walls kept up the play of light , which was sparkling without glaring ; and the very fruits and confections on the table , with flowers crowning the foreground , the glass , the silver , the wines , all threw in sparkling colours , which almost made the picture sing with an inviting piquancy . " When we had taken our seats at the round table , I noticed that clothed costume
a young man , m some foreign , was at the back of each chair ; a tall , beardless Black in a light blue robe , who never spoke , stood behind Leicester ; a black-eyed , bearded Oriental with red jacket , turban , pistol , and dagger , threatened JEJaddeley with all the dainties of the season ; Lawf ' ord selected his refreshments with studious indifference , as if it were a matter of course to receive one ' s dinner at the hands of & gay Greek pirate ; ¦ but to you , my own , brother , I may frankly confess that I scarcely knew the name of any one thing at table except the fruit 3 and the winea , and
that it was several minutes before I could feel at home on the borders of Cockney Richmond Park in taking what I wanted , and a great deal more that beggared fancy , from the hands of a Spanish contrabandist . But it I tell you everything of this strange lesson in the way British merchants ought to live , 1 shall never have done . I can only tell you that the . great young Leicester , who , whisper hia enemies , has part of his capital in some Spanish or African trade , or both , must have a real genius for his ¦ cookfoeverything seemed in ita
; r way perfect , nothing too rich , ' overseasoned , or spoiled of ita purity . As the dinner gradually sank , into the dessert , Baddoley emerged from hia laborious industry , Lawford relaxed from the responsibilities of selecting his food and telling the latest intelligence , and the conversation grew general . But how could it be general between four strangers ? Leicester would have made it so if Baddeley would have left oiF referring everything talked about to something that he had heard or seen at " Venice , at Constantinople , Lahore , or Siam , or some other
distant scene ; or if Lawlord could have forgotten his own position , political and social , or if I could have quite left off ruminating . Leicester left us very much to ourselves ; if he paid special attention to any one it was to me ^ and 1 can assure you nothing could exceed the good taste with , which occasionally he directed my choice amid the poetry of his cuisine , or explained allusions made by Baddeley or Lawford to incidents
beyond the verge of a poor traveller who has never been beyond Killarnev Naples , or the Rhine Sometimes I could not help thinking that h <; w £ enlightening Lawford through me ; but not a glance did he cast at oS statesman . His taste in thus tutoring me was even , more exquisite than if he had affected to avoid noticing my ignorance as a discredit It was lik < - an elder brother teaching a younger , though I doubt his being older , or even so old as 1 am . Baddeley was the only one who taruighed the feast bv e ^ cess ; for although I saw Lawford ' s sleek little white hand pretty often oa the bottle , be seldom cared to fill , and never lost his coolness . Baddelev fell to anecdotes , stories , boasting , and wonder-making . He ' voted' lin . gering over the table ' slow , ' and wanted to have a turn at billiards—in that little box ;—and though I am not squeamish , you know , became rather disagreeable in his anecdotes . Once 1 could see our host's eye rest severely on his ill-mannered guest , and the mode he took to cool him was a masterstroke . He had pooh-poohed billiards , and had cut off s onie of the worst anecdotes by adroit ; interruptions ; but it was when Baddeley challenged him to throw the jareed that he laughed d said mil
an , "You make me cool you !¦ " ¦ Our host drew from his breast a little silver whistle I had not noticed before , the speechless Black appeared , and retired on a few words from his master . . ct You are not afraid of the cold , "" said Leicester to Lawford and me , as he rose from- table ; and we replied by rising and following him . He ledus through lighted passages outof the cottage into a shrubbery scarcely lighted by the moon , through a few winding paths ; and , as we came out on to an open space , that I felt to be a closely-shaven lawn , as if by magic the whole garden was lighted up by a bright blue light , and two of our Eastern attendants appeared , leading on to the lawn a beautiful white , and a still more beautiful black Iiorse . Before Baddeley mounted , Leicester was on the back of the white steed . A jareed is placed in the hand of each . Leicester is whirling round his antagonist , who wheels and twists in the effort to take aim . At last Baddeley ' s jareed is thrown—it is lield aloft in Leicester ' s hand—it Hies right across the back of the black horse , now riderless , for in . throwing himself aside to avoid the shaft , the grey-haired vouth has
fallen" You do it better when you are cool , " said Leicester , consolingly , and he makes a signal to the Arab , -who mounts the black horse , and becomes in turn the assailant . The jareed is thrown with unerring aim— -it passes clean over the white horse ' s back , the rider disappearing as it passes , sitting in his place again as the whistling shaf t has gone . A wild , circling flight round the lawn ends abruptly at my feet , the horse like a beast of marble . " It is only knack , " cries Leicester ; " but you must be cold standin g still . Let us come in . " ° The horses are led away ; the meteor behind the shrubs—a blue light in the hands of the Spanish contrabandiero—is : eclipsed .. as we re-enter £ he cottage , and we again thread the passages , but not into the same room . Without perceiving that we had turned aside , I found myself following the others up a ^ narrow flight of steps , thickly muffled with carpeting , winTling and dimly lighted , ¦ and we emerged into tile strangest room I ever entered . It was of some size , but it would defy you to measure it . The open middle of the room was entirely surrounded by arches , pierced in a dark-green wall ; in some of these arches were divansothers were dark like the one
, through which we entered . The open space was partly covered , over the dark-green flooring of cloth , by a rich , soft , amber-coloured carpet of some thick silk , which reflected the lamplight through a broad , ground-glass skylight above ; and on the amber-coloured carpet were spread couches , chairs , and low sofa-like seats , of light-blue , rose-coloured , a . nd violet-coloured silk . I saw no fireplace , but a summer warmth , reigned throughout the room , thou gh occasionally from the grotto-shaped arches came a light , springlike breeze .
You will say , my dear George , that . I had drunk more wine than I will confess , and that the cold had made it get into my head ; but you are mistaken . I am telling only what I saw four nights ago , within omnibus ride of this great commercial city , in the very sound and crash of this great commercial crisis . "• It is comfortable after the cool , " cried Leicester , as if -we had gone back to fin ordinary drawing-room . Lawford imitated the host , in
throwing himself into a couch , liiiddeley had already done so , and as L took my seat , Leicester clapped his hands . At the signal—imagine my surprise ! —three beautiful girls—yes really lovely— -with rounded forms , blooming cheeks , pencilled eyebrows , and all that sort of thing , came in , one hearing coffee , the other two pipes—hookahs , chibouques , or -whatever they areand we had coffee a la Galand . I felt like Hindbad the Porter , and" should have asked Leicester if he was Sinbad the Sailor , only I did not feel quite sure how he would have taken it .
The girls retired , aiid as the spirit of the coffee ascended to the throne of intellect , as the pungent yet gentle and aromatic smoke circled in dreamy clouds about the saloon , there caine floating on the breezes , at first so soft , it was like a fancy , the sound of female voices in harmony , some soil strains that I did not recognize , though they would have voxxscdux , furore of app lause even in Gye ' s house . Even Lawford looked surprised as well as delighted , and Baddeluy ' s face
assumed a pleased expression . 44 Bisinilluhl" he cried , with an air of mock cnthusiam , " your slaves , my lord , are the most valuable in the world , and the different countries of the earth supply you with their best . " " I only doubt , " said 1 , " whether it is possible to enjoy many perfections at once . The perfume of the hookah and the aroma of the coffees lioighton one another , "but these sounds have taken away my taste . " " Leicester has exhausted hia treasures and shown us his best" said
, Lawford , intending to draw our host out , " If I show you nay beat it must be in a mirror , " answered Leicester , smiling ; " nay , I don't mean ia a . gross material mirror , but in amoral one ; for my best is my success if I try to please those who honour my poor efforts with tlioir favour . " " All , salaam ! " cried Baddeley , "if you grow poetic and Oriental in
Yjr 146 The Oader, Rx\ T O. 401. Novi^T™...
yJr THE OADER , rx \ o . 401 . Novi ^ t ™ . 9 . ft t ^ 7
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 28, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28111857/page/18/
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