The approach to the castle was through a broad avenue nearly half a mile
long, bordered by a double row of gigantic elms probably four centuries
old. A broad esplanade, ornamented with enormous orange-trees in boxes,
and bordered with a massive stone balustrade extended across the entire
front of the chateau, afforded a superb view of the surrounding country,
and served as a court of honour for the castle, which was a _chef
d'oeuvre_ of the renaissance type of architecture, with big
cylindrical cone-roofed towers with highly decorated dormer windows, and
tall chimneys that strongly reminded the beholder of the grand yet
fairy-like ensemble of the famous Chateau de Chambord.
Frederick and his mother had never seen this imposing structure before
except at a distance, and on reaching the middle of the broad esplanade
they both paused, struck with admiration as they viewed all these
marvellous details and the rich carvings and traceries of stone, the
existence of which they had never even suspected before, while the good
doctor, as pleased as if the chateau had belonged to him, rubbed his
hands joyfully, as he complacently exclaimed:
"Oh, the outside is nothing; just wait until you have entered this
enchanted palace."
"Oh, mother," cried Frederick, "look at that colonnade at the base of
the main tower; how light and airy it is!"
"And those balconies," responded his mother, "one would almost think
they were made of lace! And the ornamentations on those window-caps,
how elaborate yet how delicate they are."
"I declare we sha'n't get away from the chateau before to-morrow if we
waste so much time admiring the walls," protested the doctor.
"M. Dufour is right. Come, Frederick," said Marie, taking her son's arm.
"And those buildings which look like another chateau connected with the
main buildings by circular wings, what are they?" asked the youth,
turning to the doctor.
"The stables and servants' quarters, my boy."
"Stables!" exclaimed Madame Bastien. "Impossible! You must be mistaken,
my dear doctor."
"What! you have no more confidence than that in your cicerone!"
exclaimed the doctor. "You will find that I am right, madame. There are
so many stalls in the stable that when the great-grandfather, or
great-great-grandfather of the present marquis lived here, he kept a
regiment of cavalry here, horses and men at his own expense, just for
the pleasure of seeing them go through their manoeuvres every morning
before breakfast on the esplanade. It seemed to give the worthy man an
appetite."
"It was a whim worthy of a great soldier like him," said Marie. "You
recollect with what interest we read the history of his Italian campaign
last winter, do you not, Frederick?"
"I should think I did remember," exclaimed Frederick, enthusiastically.
"Next to Charles XII., the Marechal de Pont Brillant is my favourite
hero."
Meanwhile the three visitors had crossed the esplanade, and Madame
Bastien, seeing M. Dufour turn to the right instead of keeping straight
on toward the front of the building, remarked:
"But, doctor, it seems to me that the heavily carved door in front of us
must lead into the inner courtyard."
"So it does; the grand personages enter by that door, but plebeians,
like ourselves, are lucky to get in the back way," replied the doctor,
laughing. "I should like to see M. le Suisse take the trouble to open
that armorial door for us."
"I ask your pardon for my absurd pretensions," said Madame Bastien,
gaily, while Frederick, making a sort of comical salute to the superb
entrance, said, laughingly:
"Ah, manorial doorway, we are only too well aware that you were not made
for us!"
M. Dufour, having rung at the servants' entrance and asked to see M.
Dutilleul, head superintendent of the gardens and conservatories, the
party was admitted into the courtyard. To reach M. Dutilleul's house, it
was necessary to cross one of the stable-yards. About thirty riding,
hunting, and carriage horses belonging to the young marquis had arrived
the evening before, and a number of English grooms and hostlers were
bustling in and out of the stables, some washing carriages, others
polishing bits and stirrups until they shone like burnished silver, all
under the vigilant eye of the chef of the stables, an elderly
Englishman, who, with a cigar between his lips, was presiding over this
work with truly British phlegm, cane in hand.
Suddenly, pointing to a massive gate that had just turned slowly upon
its hinges, the doctor exclaimed:
"See, there come some more horses! A whole regiment of them. One would
think we were living in the old marshal's time, Madame Bastien."
About twenty-five more horses, of different ages and sizes, all
concealed in blankets bearing the marquis's coat-of-arms, some ridden,
some led, began to file through the archway. Their dusty legs and
housings indicated that they had just made a long journey. A handsome
caleche, drawn by two spirited horses, ended the procession. A
handsomely dressed young man alighted from it, and gave some order in
English to one of the grooms, who listened, cap in hand.
"Do the horses that just came also belong to M. le marquis, my friend?"
the doctor inquired of a passing servant.
"Yes, they are M. le marquis's racers and brood mares."
"And the gentleman that just got out of the carriage?"
"Is M. Newman, M. le marquis's trainer."
As the three visitors walked on toward the conservatories, they passed a
long passage in the basement. This passage evidently led to the
kitchens, for eight or ten cooks and scullions were engaged in unpacking
several hogsheads filled with copper cooking utensils so prodigious in
size that they seemed to have been made for Gargantua himself. The
visitors also viewed, with ever increasing astonishment, the incredible
number of servants of every kind.
"Well, Madame Bastien, if any one should tell this young marquis that
you and I and a host of other people had only one or two servants to
wait on us, and yet were tolerably well served, he would probably laugh
in his face," remarked M. Dufour.
"So much pomp and luxury bewilders me," replied Marie. "Why, there is a
little town right here in the chateau, and think of all those horses!
You will not want for models after this, Frederick. You are so fond of
drawing horses, but up to this time you have had only our venerable
cart-horse for a model."
"Really, mother, I had no idea that any one save the king, perhaps, was
rich enough to have such an immense number of servants and horses,"
replied Frederick. "Great Heavens! what a host of people and animals to
be devoted to the service or pleasure of a single person!"
The words were uttered in an ironical tone, but Madame Bastien did not
notice the fact, being so deeply interested as well as amused by what
she saw going on around her; nor had she noticed that her son's features
had contracted slightly several times, as if under the influence of some
disagreeable impression.
The fact is, though Frederick was not a particularly close observer, he
had been struck with the lack of respect shown to his mother and the
doctor by this crowd of noisy and busy domestics; some had jostled the
visitors as they passed, others had rudely obstructed the way, others,
surprised at Marie Bastien's rare beauty, had stared at her with bold,
almost insulting curiosity, facts which the young mother in her
unconsciousness had entirely failed to notice.
Not so with her son, however, and seeing that his mother, the doctor,
and himself were thus treated simply because they had owed their
admission to a servant, and sought admission at the servants' entrance,
Frederick's admiration became tinged with a slight bitterness, the
bitterness that had caused his ironical comment on the number of persons
and horses devoted to the pleasure and service of a single individual.
The sight of the magnificent gardens through which they were obliged to
pass to reach the greenhouses soon made the lad forget his bitterness.
The gardeners were no less numerous than the subordinates in the various
other departments, and by inquiring for M. le chef of the gardens and
conservatories, the visitors finally ascertained that this important
personage was in the main conservatory.
This building, which was circular in form, was two hundred feet in
diameter, with a conical roof, the apex of which rose to a height of
forty feet. This gigantic conservatory, constructed of iron, with
remarkable boldness yet lightness of design, was filled with the most
superb exotics. Banana-trees of all sizes and kinds, from the dwarf musa
to the paradisiaca, rose to a height of thirty feet, with leaves many
of them two yards in length. Here the green fans of the date-palm
mingled with the tall stems of the sugar-cane and bamboos, while the
clear water in a huge marble basin in the centre of the conservatory
reflected all sorts of aquatic plants, among them great arums from
India, with enormous round leaves, tall cyperus with their waving
plumes, and the lotus of the Nile, with its immense azure flowers so
intoxicating in their fragrance. A marvellous variety of vegetation of
every shape and kind and colour had been collected here, from the pale
mottled green of the begonia, to the richest hues of the maranta, with
its wonderful leaves of green velvet underneath and purple satin on top;
tall ficus side by side with ferns so delicate that the lace-like
foliage seemed to be supported with thin strands of violet silk; here a
strelitzia, with a flower that looked like a bird with orange wings and
a lapis lazuli crest, vied in splendour with the astrapea, with its
enormous cerise pompon, flecked with gold, while in many places the
immense leaves of the banana-trees formed a natural arch which so
effectually concealed the glass roof of the rotunda from view that one
might have supposed oneself in a tropical forest.
Marie Bastien and Frederick interchanged exclamations of surprise and
admiration at every step.
"Ah, Frederick, how delightful it is to see and touch these banana-trees
and date-palms, we have read of so often in books of travel," cried
Marie.
"Mother, mother, here is the coffee-tree," exclaimed Frederick, in his
turn, "and there, that plant with such thick leaves, climbing up that
column, is the vanilla."
"Frederick, look at those immense latania leaves. It is easy to
understand now that in India five or six leaves are enough to cover a
cabin."
"And mother, look, there is the beautiful passion-vine Captain Cook
speaks of. I recognised it at once by the flowers; they look like little
openwork china baskets, and yet you and I used to accuse the poor
captain of inventing impossible flowers."
"M. de Pont Brillant must spend most of his time in this enchanted
garden when he is at home," Marie Bastien remarked to the
superintendent.
"M. le marquis is like the late marquis, his father," replied the
gardener. "He doesn't care much for flowers. He prefers the stable and
kennels."
Madame Bastien and her son gazed at each other in amazement.
"Then, why does he have these magnificent conservatories, monsieur?"
inquired the young woman, ingenuously.
"Because every castle must have its conservatories, madame," replied the
functionary, proudly. "It is a luxury every self-respecting nobleman
owes to himself."
"So it is purely a matter of self-respect," Marie remarked to her son in
a whispered aside. "But all jesting aside, in winter, when the days are
so short, and the snow is flying, what delightful hours one could spend
here, safe from the frost."
At last the doctor was obliged to interfere.
"My dear madame, we shall have to spend at least a couple of days in the
conservatory, at this rate," he exclaimed, laughing.
"That is true, doctor," replied Madame Bastien, smiling; then, with a
sigh of regret, she added: "Come, let us leave the tropics,--for some
other part of the world, I suppose, as you told me this was a land of
wonders, M. Dufour."
"You thought I was jesting. Well, you shall see. If you are very good, I
will now take you to China."
"To China?"
"Certainly, and after remaining there a quarter of an hour we will make
a little excursion to Switzerland."
"And what then, doctor?"
"Well, when there are no more foreign lands to visit, we will inspect
all the different eras from the Gothic age down to the days of Louis the
Fifteenth, and all in an hour's time."
"Nothing can surprise me now, doctor," replied Madame Bastien, "for I
know for a certainty, now, that we are in fairy-land. Come, Frederick."
And the visitors followed M. le chef of the gardens and conservatories,
who smiled rather superciliously at the plebeian amazement of M.
Dufour's friends. Though the wonders of the conservatory had made
Frederick forget his bitter feelings for a time, the lad followed his
mother with a less buoyant step than usual, for the bitterness returned
as he thought of the young Marquis de Pont Brillant's indifference to
the beauties that would have given such joy and delight and congenial
occupation to the many persons capable of appreciating the treasures
collected here at such prodigious expense.