l of chinks and crannies, are of that immense thickness which proves
that our ancestors built for their remote descendants, and not in our
modern fashion; for we are beginning to build in the English style, that
is, barely for one generation. The stone stairs had been trodden by so
many feet that one had to be very careful in going up or down. The floor
was all of bricks, and as it had been renewed at various epochs with
bricks of divers colours it formed a kind of mosaic, not very pleasant to
look upon. The windows were of a piece with the rest; they had no glass
in them, and the sashes having in many instances given way they were
always open; shutters were utterly unknown there. Happily the want of
glass was not much felt in the genial climate of the country. The
ceilings were conspicuous by their absence, but there were heavy beams,
the haunts of bats, owls, and other birds, and light ornament was
supplied by the numerous spiders' webs.

In this great Gothic palace--for palace it was rather than castle, for it
had no towers or other attributes of feudalism, except the enormous
coat-of-arms which crowned the gateway--in this palace, I say, the
memorial of the ancient glories of the Counts A---- B----, which they
loved better than the finest modern house, there were three sets of rooms
better kept than the rest. Here dwelt the masters, of whom there were
three; the Count A---- B----, my friend, Count Ambrose, who always lived
there, and a third, an officer in the Spanish Walloon Guards. I occupied
the apartment of the last named. But I must describe the welcome I
received.

Count Ambrose received me at the gate of the castle as if I had been some
high and puissant prince. The door stood wide open on both sides, but I
did not take too much pride to myself on this account, as they were so
old that it was impossible to shut them.

The noble count who held his cap in his hand, and was decently but
negligently dressed, though he was only forty years old, told me with
high-born modesty that his brother had done wrong to bring me here to see
their miserable place, where I should find none of those luxuries to
which I had been accustomed, but he promised me a good old-fashioned
Milanese welcome instead. This is a phrase of which the Milanese are very
fond, but as they put it into practice it becomes them well. They are
generally most worthy and hospitable people, and contrast favourably with
the Piedmontese and Genoese.

T