Page:The life and writings of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) (IA lifewritingsofal00spurrich).pdf/117

 kept vacant for him for a whole year, although he had long since ceased to pay for it. Dumas learnt later that the Duke, when he received his tickets, was wont to burst out laughing at the quixotic manager's "buffoonery"; and the proprietor then decided that the box should be devoted to public use in future, remarking that the yearly rent of a box was too high a price to pay for the privilege of making a prince laugh.

In July of this year Dumas, according to his pledge, gave a magnificent reception to six hundred guests, as a house-warming for his new palace of "Monte Cristo." The scheme had rapidly outgrown the first modest plan, and had been developed on the most lavish scale. A beautiful building, half-chateau, half-villa, had risen in the meantime," says Fitzgerald, "embowered in trees, and in the centre of a wild garden. Its white stone walls were covered with exquisite traceries and sculptures copied from those of Jean Goujon at the Louvre, and executed by Choistat, conspicuous in the centre being Dumas's arms, with the motto 'Jaime qui m'aime.' Inside, the walls were decorated from designs by Klagmann; while the 'Arabian chamber,' after the pattern of the Alhambra, was a marvel of Eastern gorgeousness and decoration. The gardens were charming, all leafy and shaded. On the little island in