The interior of this charming dwelling harmonized with its exterior.
The salon, floored entirely with iron-wood, was painted in a style
that suggested the beauties of Chinese lacquer. On black panels edged
with gold, birds of every color, foliage of impossible greens, and
fantastic oriental designs glowed and shimmered. The dining-room was
entirely sheathed in Northern woods carved and cut in open-work like
the beautiful Russian chalets. The little antechamber formed by the
landing and the well of the staircase was painted in old oak to
represent Gothic ornament. The bedrooms, hung with chintz, were
charming in their costly simplicity. The study, where the cashier and
his wife now slept, was panelled from top to bottom, on the walls and
ceiling, like the cabin of a steamboat. These luxuries of his
predecessor excited Vilquin's wrath. He would fain have lodged his
daughter and her husband in the cottage. This desire, well known to
Dumay, will presently serve to illustrate the Breton obstinacy of the
latter.
The entrance to the Chalet is by a little trellised iron door, the
uprights of which, ending in lance-heads, show for a few inches above
the fence and its hedge.
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