Page:The Blind Bow-Boy (IA blindbowboy00vanv).pdf/142

 Penic, the Serbian sculptor, a pair of yellow-green glass candlesticks in the shape of inverted dolphins, De Berg van Licht by Louis Couperus, boxes of cravats from Charvet, consignments of pleasant odours from Bichara, and a hand-illuminated quotation from Goethe:

neatly framed in gold. As the Duke had a fancy for frequently changing his clothes, it was well-nigh impossible for the Ceylonese servants, tall, brown fellows with combs in their straight ebony hair, to put away the procession of trousers, coats, boots, and stockings which marched over the floor and the chairs. The front chamber was a serene little Louis XIV room, and always gave the appearance of never having been occupied, even after some one had been living in it for several days. These apartments were connected by the bath, panelled in alternating squares of malachite and lapis lazuli, with a tub of rose-jade with golden faucets. The floor was paved with diamond-shaped bloodstone flags. Two full-length mirrors, set in the wall, were backed with black instead of quicksilver. The long dressing-table, gilded, and surmounted by an oval, black mirror, held a mysterious array of luxurious objects and a profusion of crystal bottles with gold tops. The Duke admitted frankly that he had taken the house for the sake of this bathroom, and confessed