"Do let me go down-stairs, madam; I am so cold and dull here."
"I desire nothing better, if you are strong enough to bear the
change," was her reply. "Come then; here is an arm." And she offered
me hers: I took it, and we descended one flight of carpeted steps to a
landing where a tall door, standing open, gave admission into the
blue-damask room. How pleasant it was in its air of perfect domestic
comfort! How warm in its amber lamp-light and vermilion fire-flush! To
render the picture perfect, tea stood ready on the table--an English
tea, whereof the whole shining service glanced at me familiarly; from
the solid silver urn, of antique pattern, and the massive pot of the
same metal, to the thin porcelain cups, dark with purple and gilding.
I knew the very seed-cake of peculiar form, baked in a peculiar mould,
which always had a place on the tea-table at Bretton. Graham liked it,
and there it was as of yore--set before Graham's plate with the silver
knife and fork beside it. Graham was then expected to tea: Graham was
now, perhaps, in the house; ere many minutes I might see him.
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