A lark hung
carolling blithely far above, and the sky was almost cloudless. I could
hear a steam reaper at work somewhere in the distance. This, with the
more intimate rattle of a lawn-mower wielded by a gardener who was not
visible from where I stood, alone disturbed the serene silence, except
that presently I detected the droning of many bees among the roses.
Sunlight flooded the prospect; but the veranda lay in shadow, and that
long, oaken room was refreshingly cool and laden with the heavy perfume
of the flowers.
From the windows, then, one beheld a typical English summer-scape, but
the library itself struck an altogether more exotic note. There were
many glazed bookcases of a garish design in ebony and gilt, and these
were laden with a vast collection of works in almost every European
language, reflecting perhaps the cosmopolitan character of the
colonel's household. There was strange Spanish furniture upholstered in
perforated leather and again displaying much gilt. There were suits of
black armour and a great number of Moorish ornaments. The pictures were
fine but sombre, and all of the Spanish school.
One Velasquez in particular I noted with surprise, reflecting that,
assuming it to be an authentic work of the master, my entire worldly
possessions could not have enabled me to buy it.
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