reflected that the footsteps of his ancestor had probably been the last
which had resounded through this dwelling, of which he had closed the
doors a hundred and fifty years before; for the faithful friend, in favor
of whom M. de Rennepont had made a feigned transfer of the property, had
afterwards parted with the same, to place it in the name of Samuel's
grandfather, who had transmitted it to his descendants, as if it had been
his own inheritance.

To these thoughts, in which Samuel was wholly absorbed, was joined the
remembrance of the light seen that morning through the seven openings in
the leaden cover of the belvedere; and, in spite of the firmness of his
character, the old man could not repress a shudder, as, taking a second
key from his bunch, and reading upon the label, The Key of the Red Room,
he opened a pair of large folding doors, leading to the inner apartments.
The window which, of all those in the house, had alone been opened,
lighted this large room, hung with damask, the deep purple of which had
undergone no alteration. A thick Turkey carpet covered the floor, and
large arm-chairs of gilded wood, in the severe Louis XIV. style, were
symmetrically arranged along the wall. A second door, leading to the next
room, was just opposite the entrance. The wainscoting and the cornice
were white, relieved with fillets and mouldings of burnished gold. On
each side of this door was a large piece of buhl-furniture, inlaid with
brass and porcelain, supporting ornamental sets of sea crackle vases. The
window was hung with heavy deep-fringed damask curtains, surmounted by
scalloped drapery, with silk tassels, directly opposite the chimney-piece
of dark-gray marble, adorned with carved brass-work. Rich chandeliers,
and a clock in the same style as the furniture, were reflected in a large
Venice glass, with basiled edges. A round table, covered with a cloth of
crimson velvet, was placed in the centre of this saloon.