coat. It was not
without some difficulty that he found his way through the maze of rooms
and corridors to the antechamber where he had deposited his hat and
coat. Having found it at last, however, he set out to retrace his steps;
but whether it was that the fresh air of the cool galleries, or the
walking, or that the wine was only then producing its effects, certain
is it Mr. Ffrench's faculties became wonderfully confused. He thought
he remembered a certain door; but, to his misery, there were at least
half-a-dozen exactly like it; he knew that he turned off into a passage,
but passages and corridors opened on all sides of him. How heartily did
he curse the architect that could not build a house like all the world,
with a big hall, having the drawing-room to the left and the dinner-room
to the right,--an easy geography that any one could recollect after
dinner as well as before. With many a malediction on all newfangled
notions, he plodded on, occasionally coming to the end of an impassable
gallery, or now straying into rooms in total darkness. "A blessed way
to be spending the evening," muttered he to himself; "and maybe these
rascals are quizzing me all this time." Though he frequently stopped to
listen, he never could catch the sounds of a conviviality that he well
knew was little measured, and hence he opined that he must have wandered
far away from the right track. In the semi-desperation of the moment, he
would gladly have made his escape by a window, and trusted to his chance
of discovering the hall door; but unfortunately the artifices of
a modern window-bolt so completely defied his skill that even this
resource was denied him. "'I'll take one 'cast' more," muttered he, "and
if that fails, I 'll lie down on the first snug place I can find till
morning." It became soon evident to him that he had, at least, entered
new precincts; for he now found himself in a large corridor, splendidly
lighted, and with a rich carpeting on the floor. There were several
doors on either side, but although he tried them each in turn, they were
all locked. At last he came to a door at the extreme end of the
gallery, which opened to his hand, and admitted him into a spacious
and magnificently furnished apartment, partially lit up, and by this
deceptive light admitting glimpses of the most rare and costly objects
of china, glass, and marble. It needed not the poetizing effects of
claret to make Bob fancy that this was a fairy palace; bu