'
'Is there a fire anywhere?'
'Only in the library, sir.'
'I will dine there. And let a fire be lit in my bedroom.'
'Yes, sir. Will you dine at once, sir?'
'In an hour. Something light; I don't care what it is.'
'Shall the fire be lit in your bedroom at once, sir?'
'At once, and a hot bath prepared. Come to the library and tell me
when it is ready.'
The servant silently departed. Hubert walked across the hall, giving
a glance here and there, and entered the library. Nothing had been
altered here since his father's, nay, since his grandfather's time.
That grandfather--his name Hubert--had combined strong intellectual
tendencies with the extravagant tastes which gave his already
tottering house the decisive push. The large collection of
superbly-bound books which this room contained were nearly all of
his purchasing, for prior to his time the Eldons had not been wont
to concern themselves with things of the mind. Hubert, after walking
to the window and looking out for a moment on the side lawn, pushed
a small couch near to the fireplace, and threw himself down at full
length, his hands beneath his head. In a moment his position seemed
to have become uneasy; he turned upon his side, uttering an
exclamation as if of pain. A minute or two and again he moved, this
time with more evident impatience.
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