Page:Lady Anne Granard 1.pdf/45

40

The drawing-rooms of the house in Welbeck Street were light and pretty looking; true, there was not much furniture, neither was it of a costly description; but the colours were cheerful, with a preponderance of pink, and a thousand feminine trifles gave their own grace and gaiety. The ottomans were embroidered, the screens exquisitely painted, the flower-stand carefully tended; while toys, the result of ingenuity and industry, were scattered prodigally round. No curtains were lined with a more judicious couleur de rose, and the general effect left no room for minute criticism, which was moreover disarmed by three or four very pretty faces. No one ever spoke of them but as "light, elegant rooms." The next floor had also cheerfulness and comfort: it had many relics of Granard Park: there was the large arm-chair, the sofa, and the glass à la Psyche. Lady Anne indulged in very late hours. Mr. Granard had noted it in one of his pocket-books as a remarkable fact, that his wife had breakfasted with him three times in his life. The back bedroom was occupied by her French