we are in the country, and such a country, that even in italy we think of thee, native hesperia! here, myrtles grow, and fear no blasting north, or blighting east. here, the south wind blows with that soft breath which brings the bloom to flesh. here, the land breaks in gentle undulations; and here, blue waters kiss a verdant shore. hail! to thy thousand bays, and deep-red earth, thy marble quarries, and thy silver veins! hail! to thy far-extending landscape, whose sparkling villages and streaky fields no clime can match!
some gales we owe to thee of balmy breath, some gentle hours when life had fewest charms. and we are grateful for all this, to say nothing of your cider and your junkets.
the duke arrived just as the setting sun crowned the proud palace with his gleamy rays. it was a pile which the immortal inigo had raised in sympathy with the taste of a noble employer, who had passed his earliest years in lombardy. of stone, and sometimes even of marble, with pediments and balustrades, and ornamental windows, and richly-chased keystones, and flights of steps, and here and there a statue, the structure was quite palladian, though a little dingy, and, on the whole, very imposing.
there were suites of rooms which had no end, and staircases which had no beginning. in this vast pile, nothing was more natural than to lose your way, an agreeable amusement on a rainy morning. there was a collection of pictures, very various, by which phrase we understand not select. yet they were amusing; and the canalettis were unrivalled. there was a regular ball-room, and a theatre; so resources were at hand. the scenes, though dusty, were numerous; and the duke had provided new dresses. the park was not a park; by which we mean, that it was rather a chase than the highly-finished enclosure which we associate with the first title. in fact, pen bronnock chase was the right name of the settlement; but some monarch travelling, having been seized with a spasm, recruited his strength under the roof of his loyal subject, then the chief seat of the house of hauteville, and having in his urgency been obliged to hold a privy council there, the supreme title of palace was assumed by right.
the domain was bounded on one side by the sea; and here a yacht and some slight craft rode at anchor in a small green bay, and offered an opportunity for the adventurous, and a refuge for the wearied. when you have been bored for an hour or two on earth, it sometimes is a change to be bored for an hour or two on water.
the house was soon full, and soon gay. the guests, and the means of amusing them, were equally numerous. but this was no common villeggiatura, no visit to a family with their regular pursuits and matured avocations. the host was as much a guest as any other. the young duke appointed lord squib master of the ceremonies, and gave orders for nothing but constant excitement. constant excitement his lordship managed to maintain, for he was experienced, clever, careless and gay, and, for once in his life, had the command of unbounded resources. he ordered, he invented, he prepared, and he expended. they acted, they danced, they sported, they sailed, they feasted, they masqueraded; and when they began to get a little wearied of themselves, and their own powers of diversion gradually vanished, then a public ball was given twice a week at the palace, and all the west of england invited. new faces brought new ideas; new figures brought new fancies. all were delighted with the young duke, and flattery from novel quarters will for a moment whet even the appetite of the satiated. simplicity, too, can interest. there were some misses gay-weather who got unearthed, who never had been in london, though nature had given them sparkling eyes and springing persons. this tyranny was too bad. papa was quizzed, mamma flattered, and the daughters’ simplicity amused these young lordlings. rebellion was whispered in the small ears of the gay weathers. the little heads, too, of the gay-weathers were turned. they were the constant butt, and the constant resource, of every lounging dandy.
the bird of paradise also arranged her professional engagements so as to account with all possible propriety for her professional visit at pen bronnock. the musical meeting at exeter over, she made her appearance, and some concerts were given, which electrified all cornwall. count frill was very strong here; though, to be sure, he also danced, and acted, in all varieties. he was the soul, too, of a masqued ball; but when complimented on his accomplishments, and thanked for his exertions, he modestly depreciated his worth, and panegyrised the dancing-dogs.
as for the prince, on the whole, he maintained his silence; but it was at length discovered by the fair sex that he was not stupid, but sentimental. when this was made known he rather lost ground with the dark sex, who, before thinking him thick, had vowed that he was a devilish good fellow; but now, being really envious, had their tale and hint, their sneer and sly joke. m. de whiskerburg had one active accomplishment; this was his dancing. his gallopade was declared to be divine: he absolutely sailed in air. his waltz, at his will, either melted his partner into a dream, or whirled her into a frenzy! dangerous m. de whiskerburg!
