the arrival of the two distinguished foreigners reanimated the dying season. all vied in testifying their consideration, and the duke of st. james exceeded all. he took them to see the alterations at hauteville house, which no one had yet witnessed; and he asked their opinion of his furniture, which no one had yet decided on. two fêtes in the same week established, as well as maintained, his character as the archduke of fashion. remembering, however, the agreeable month which he had spent in the kingdom of john the twenty-fourth, he was reminded, with annoyance, that his confusion at hauteville prevented him from receiving his friends en grand seigneur in his hereditary castle. metropolitan magnificence, which, if the parvenu could not equal, he at least could imitate, seemed a poor return for the feudal splendour and impartial festivity of an hungarian magnate. while he was brooding over these reminiscences, it suddenly occurred to him that he had never made a progress into his western territories. pen bronnock palace was the boast of cornwall, though its lord had never paid it a visit. the duke of st. james sent for sir carte blanche.
besides entertaining the foreign nobles, the young duke could no longer keep off the constantly-recurring idea that something must be done to entertain himself. he shuddered to think where and what he should have been been, had not these gentlemen so providentially arrived. as for again repeating the farce of last year, he felt that it would no longer raise a smile. yorkshire he shunned. doncaster made him tremble. a week with the duke of burlington at marringworth; a fortnight with the fitz-pompeys at malthorpe; a month with the graftons at cleve; and so on: he shuddered at the very idea. who can see a pantomime more than once? who could survive a pantomime the twentieth time? all the shifting scenes, and flitting splendour; all the motley crowds of sparkling characters; all the quick changes, and full variety, are, once, enchantment. but when the splendour is discovered to be monotony; the change, order, and the caprice a system; when the characters play ever the same part, and the variety never varies; how dull, how weary, how infinitely flat, is such a world to that man who requires from its converse, not occasional relaxation, but constant excitement!
pen bronnock was a new object. at this moment in his life, novelty was indeed a treasure. if he could cater for a month, no expense should be grudged; as for the future, he thrust it from his mind. by taking up his residence, too, at pen bronnock, he escaped from all invitations; and so, in a word, the worthy knight received orders to make all preparations at the palace for the reception of a large party in the course of three weeks.
sir carte, as usual, did wonders. there was, fortunately for his employer, no time to build or paint, but some dingy rooms were hung with scarlet cloth; cart-loads of new furniture were sent down; the theatre was reburnished; the stables put in order; and, what was of infinitely more importance in the estimation of all englishmen, the neglected pile was ‘well aired.’
