His domestic establishment is enormously expensive, not so much
from any great outward parade as from the great consumption of
solid beef and pudding, the vast number of followers he feeds and
clothes, and his singular disposition to pay hugely for small
services. He is a most kind and indulgent master, and, provided
his servants humor his peculiarities, flatter his vanity a little
now and then, and do not peculate grossly on him before his face
they may manage him to perfection. Everything that lives on him
seems to thrive and grow fat. His house-servants are well paid
and pampered and have little to do. His horses are sleek and lazy
and prance slowly before his state carriage; and his house-dogs
sleep quietly about the door and will hardly bark at a
housebreaker.
His family mansion is an old castellated manor-house, gray with
age, and of a most venerable though weather-beaten appearance. It
has been built upon no regular plan, but is a vast accumulation
of parts erected in various tastes and ages. The centre bears
evident traces of Saxon architecture, and is as solid as
ponderous stone and old English oak can make it. Like all the
relics of that style, it is full of obscure passages, intricate
mazes, and dusty chambers, and, though these have been partially
lighted up in modern days, yet there are many places where you
must still grope in the dark.
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