"mansion, the cask." There was an air of gloom in the tapestry
hangings, which, with their worn-out graces, curtained the walls
of the little chamber, and gently undulated as the autumnal
breeze found its way through the ancient lattice window, which
pattered and whistled as the air gained entrance. The toilet,
too, with its mirror, turbaned after the manner of the beginning
of the century, with a coiffure of murrey-coloured silk, and its
hundred strange-shaped boxes, providing for arrangements which
had been obsolete for more than fifty years, had an antique, and
in so far a melancholy, aspect. But nothing could blaze more
brightly and cheerfully than the two large wax candles; or if
aught could rival them, it was the flaming, bickering fagots in
the chimney, that sent at once their gleam and their warmth
through the snug apartment, which, notwithstanding the general
antiquity of its appearance, was not wanting in the least
convenience that modern habits rendered either necessary or
desirable.

"This is an old-fashioned sleeping apartment, General," said the
young lord; "but I hope you find nothing that makes you envy your
old tobacco-cask."

"I am not particular respecting my lodgings," replied the
General; "yet were I to make any choice, I would prefer this
chamber by many degrees to the gayer and more modern rooms of
your family mansion. Believe me that, when I unite its modern
air of comfort with its venerable antiquity, and recollect that
it is your lordship's property, I shall feel in better quarters
here than if I were in the best hotel London could afford."