"
"That is very likely," said Captain Hatton, "from its neighborhood to
the kitchen."
"It is not exactly the apartment," she continued, "which I would
design for a lady's withdrawing room. But, if it satisfied the holy
father before it was thus improved, it is too good for a heretic like
me. I sometimes feel myself a profane intruder here, and, when I call
to mind whom this building belongs to, and see so many red-coated
gentry stalking at ease through dormitory, refectory and cloisters, I
think of rooks who have fled the rookery, before a flock of flamingoes
who usurp their place."
"The pious crows," said Captain Hatton, "would forgive our intrusion,
did they see the bird of paradise that attracts us hither."
"Put a weight on your fancy, Captain Hatton," said Lady Mabel. "Such
another flight and it may soar away altogether. Pray observe the
admirable effect of those hangings, with which Captain Cranfield has
concealed the dark and narrow passage that leads to the oratory."
Major Warren was provoked at the general admiration of Cranfield's
taste and skill, and stung by the repeated thanks with which Lady
Mabel repaid his labors, so he endeavored to turn them into ridicule.
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