hortest path to the gamekeeper's
house, which was situated between the park and the forest.

The pavilion, or lodge, in which the count had established his steward,
was built a few years before the Revolution. It stood in the centre of
a large garden, one wall of which adjoined the court-yard of the stables
and offices of the chateau itself. Formerly its chief entrance was on
the main road to the village. But after the count's father bought the
building, he closed that entrance and united the place with his own
property.

The house, built of freestone, in the style of the period of Louis XV.
(it is enough to say that its exterior decoration consisted of a stone
drapery beneath the windows, as in the colonnades of the Place Louis
XV., the flutings of which were stiff and ungainly), had on the
ground-floor a fine salon opening into a bedroom, and a dining-room
connected with a billiard-room. These rooms, lying parallel to one
another, were separated by a staircase, in front of which was a sort of
peristyle which formed an entrance-hall, on which the two suits of rooms
on either side opened. The kitchen was beneath the dining-room, for the
whole building was raised ten steps from the ground level.

By placing her own bedroom on the first floor above the ground-floor,
Madame Moreau was able to transform the chamber adjoining the salon into
a boudoir. These two rooms were richly furnished with beautiful pieces
culled from the rare old furniture of the chateau. The salon, hung
with blue and white damask, formerly the curtains of the state-bed, was
draped with ample portieres and window curtains lined with white silk.
Pictures, evidently from old panels, plant-stands, various pretty
articles of modern upholstery, handsome lamps, and a rare old cut-glass
chandelier, gave a grandiose appearance to the room. The carpet was a
Persian rug. The boudoir, wholly modern, and furnished entirely after
Madame Moreau's own taste, was arranged in imitation of a tent, with
ropes of blue silk on a gray background. The classic divan was there, of
course, with its pillows and footstools. The plant-stands, taken care of
by the head-gardener of Presles, rejoiced the eye with their pyramids of
bloom. The dining-room and billiard-room were furnished in mahogany.

Around the house the steward's wife had laid out a beautiful garden,
carefully cultivated, which opened into the great park. Groups of choice
parks hid the offices and stables. To impro