of dome, soldered to the roof. Only, in consequence of some singular
fancy, in every one of the leaden plates, which concealed the four sides
of the belvedere, corresponding to the cardinal points, seven little
round holes had been bored in the form of a cross, and were easily
distinguishable from the outside. Everywhere else the plates of lead were
completely unpierced. Thanks to these precautions, and to the substantial
structure of the building, nothing but a few outward repairs had been
necessary; and the apartments, entirely removed from the influence of the
external air, no doubt remained, during a century and a half, exactly in
the same state as at the time of their being shut up. The aspect of walls
in crevices, of broken, worm-eaten shutters, of a roof half fallen in,
and windows covered with wall-flowers, would perhaps have been less sad
than the appearance of this stone house, plated with iron and lead, and
preserved like a mausoleum. The garden, completely deserted, and only
regularly visited once a week by Samuel, presented to the view,
particularly in summer, an incredible confusion of parasites and
brambles. The trees, left to themselves, had shot forth and mingled their
branches in all directions; some straggling vines, reproduced from
offshoots, had crept along the ground to the foot of the trees, and,
climbing up their trunks, had twined themselves about them, and encircled
their highest branches with their inextricable net. You could only pass
through this virgin forest by following the path made by the guardian, to
go from the grating to the house, the approaches to which were a little
sloped to let the water run off, and carefully paved to the width of
about ten feet. Another narrow path which extended all around the
enclosure, was every night perambulated by two or three Pyrenees dogs--a
faithful race, which had been perpetuated in the house during a century
and a half. Such was the habitation destined for the meeting of the
descendants of the family of Rennepont. The night which separated the
12th from the 13th day of February was near its close. A calm had