But the council-room was
vacant.
It was not a very elegant apartment, this council-room of the
palace of the kings of Sweden. Although a royal apartment, its
appearance was ample proof that the art of decoration was as yet
unknown in Sweden. The room was untidy and disordered; the
council-table was strewn with the ungathered litter of the last
day's council, and even the remains of a coarse lunch mingled
with all this clutter. The uncomfortable-looking chairs all were
out of place, and above the table was a sort of temporary canopy
to prevent the dust and spiders' webs upon the ceiling from
dropping upon the councillors.
The courier gave a sneering look upon this evidence that the
refinement and culture which marked at least the palaces and
castles of other European countries were as yet little considered
in Sweden. Then, important and impatient, he turned to the
attendant. "Well," he said, "and is there none here to receive my
dispatches? They call for--houf! so! what manners are these?"
What manners indeed! The courier might well ask this. For, plump
against him, as he spoke, dashed, first a girl and then a boy who
had darted from somewhere into the council-chamber.
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