The banqueting hall was in better repair, for the Carnes had
been hospitable to the last; but the windows kept no wind off, neither
did the roof repulse the rain. In short, all the front was in a pretty
state of ruin, very nice to look at, very nasty to live in, except for
toads, and bats, and owls, and rats, and efts, and brindled slugs with
yellow stripes; or on a summer eve the cockroach and the carrion-beetle.
At the back, however, and above the road which Cheeseman travelled in
his pony-chaise, was a range of rooms still fit to dwell in, though
poorly furnished, and floored with stone. In better times these had been
the domain of the house-keeper and the butler, the cook and the other
upper servants, who had minded their duty and heeded their comfort more
truly than the master and mistress did. For the downfall of this family,
as of very many others, had been chiefly caused by unwise marriage.
Instead of choosing sensible and active wives to look after their home
affairs and regulate the household, the Carnes for several generations
now had wedded flighty ladies of good birth and pretty manners, none
of whom brought them a pipkinful of money, while all helped to spend a
potful. Therefore their descendant was now living in the kitchens, and
had no idea how to make use of them, in spite of his French education;
of comfort also he had not much idea, which was all the better for him;
and he scarcely knew what it was to earn and enjoy soft quietude.
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