el,
which was often let out for marriage-breakfasts and other purposes of
the like kind; it was octagonal in shape, not too large, and I had had
it most exquisitely decorated for the occasion. The walls were hung
with draperies of gold-colored silk and crimson velvet, interspersed
here and therewith long mirrors, which were ornamented with crystal
candelabra, in which twinkled hundreds of lights under rose-tinted
glass shades. At the back of the room, a miniature conservatory was
displayed to view, full of rare ferns and subtly perfumed exotics, in
the center of which a fountain rose and fell with regular and melodious
murmur. Here, later on, a band of stringed instruments and a choir of
boys' voices were to be stationed, so that sweet music might be heard
and felt without the performers being visible. One, and one only, of
the long French windows of the room was left uncurtained, it was simply
draped with velvet as one drapes a choice picture, and through it the
eyes rested on a perfect view of the Bay of Naples, white with the
wintery moonlight.

The dinner-table, laid for fifteen persons, glittered with sumptuous
appointments of silver, Venetian glass, and the rarest flowers; the
floor was carpeted with velvet pile, in which some grains of ambergris
had been scattered, so that in walking the feet sunk, as it were, into
a bed of moss rich with the odors of a thousand spring blossoms. The
very chairs wherein my guests were to seat themselves were of a
luxurious shape and softly stuffed, so that one could lean back in them
or recline at ease--in short, everything was arranged with a lavish
splendor almost befitting the banquet of an eastern monarch, and yet
with such accurate taste that there was no detail one could have wished
omitted.

I was thoroughly satisfied, but as I know what an unwise plan it is to
praise servants too highly for doing well what they are expressly paid
to do, I intimated my satisfaction to my landlord by a mere careless
nod and smile of approval. He, who waited on my every gesture with
abject humility, received this sign of condescension with as much
delight as though it had come from the king himself, and I could easily
see that the very fact of my showing no enthusiasm at the result of his
labors, made him consider me a greater man than ever. I now went to my
own apartments to don my evening attire; I found Vincenzo brushing
every speck of dust from my dresscoat with careful nicety--he had