as black as hair can be, and was parted near the middle of his
forehead. It was inclined to curl, but had not the length required by
this inclination. The dark brown mustache was the only ornament the
razor had spared on the wholesome face, the outline of which was clear
and keen. The face suited the hands--it had the refinement and
gentleness of one delicately bred, and the vigorous lines and color of
one equally at home in field and court; and the hands had the firm,
hard symmetry which showed they had done no work, and the bronze tinge
which is the imprint wherewith sky and air mark their lovers. His
clothes were of the fashion seen in the front windows of the
Knickerbocker Club in the spring of the year 187-, and were worn as
easily as a self-respecting bird wears his feathers. He seemed, in
short, one of those fortunate natures, who, however born, are always
bred well, and come by prescription to most of the good things the
world can give.

He sat in a room marked, like himself, with a kind of serious
elegance--one of those apartments which seem to fit the person like a
more perfect dress. All around the walls ran dwarf book-cases of carved
oak, filled with volumes bound in every soft shade of brown and tawny
leather, with only enough of red and green to save the shelves from
monotony. Above these the wall space was covered with Cordovan leather,
stamped with gold _fleurs-de-lis_ to within a yard of the top, where a
frieze of palm-leaves led up to a ceiling of blue and brown and gold.
The whole expression of the room was of warmth and good manners. The
furniture was of oak and stamped leather. The low book-cases were
covered with bronzes, casts, and figurines, of a quality so uniformly
good that none seemed to feel the temptation either to snub or to
cringe to its neighbor. The Owari pots felt no false shame beside the
royal Satsuma; and Barbedienne's bronzes, the vases of Limoges and