When all was ready for the proud
owners to come in and enjoy their splendid home, it was thrown open
for examination and admiration. All S----went to see the show, and
wander in dreamy amazement through parlors, halls, and chambers. I
went with the rest. The change seemed like the work of magic. I
could with difficulty make out the old landmarks. The spacious
rooms, newly painted and decked out in rich, modern furniture,
looked still more spacious. In place of the whitewashed ceilings and
dingy papered walls, graceful frescoes spread their light figures,
entrancing the eyes with their marvelous semblances. The great hall
received you with a statelier formality than before; for it, too,
had received also its gift of painting, and its golden broideries.
As you passed from room to room, you said--"This is the palace of a
prince--not the abode of a citizen."
The grounds around the mansion had been subject to as thorough a
renovation as the mansion itself. The old gate had given place to
one of larger proportions, and more imposing design. A new
carriage-road swept away in a grander curve from the gate to the
dwelling.
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