Not far from this oldest portion were some broken bits
of wall and stumps of columns, remnants of the chapel, and prettily
wreathed with ivy and clematis. We rejoiced in such a pretty and
distinctive ornament to our garden, and never troubled ourselves
about the desecration; and certainly ours was one of the most
delightful gardens that ever existed, what with green turf, bright
flowers, shapely shrubs, and the grand beech-trees enclosing it with
their stately white pillars, green foliage, and the russet arcades
beneath them. The stillness was wonderful to ears accustomed to the
London roar--almost a new sensation. Emily was found, as she said,
'listening to the silence;' and my father declared that no one could
guess at the sense of rest that it gave him.
Of space within there was plenty, though so much had been sacrificed
to the hall and staircase; and this was apparently the cause of the
modern additions, as the original sitting-rooms, wainscotted and
double-doored, were rather small for family requirements. One of
these, once the dining-room, became my father's study, where he read
and wrote, saw his tenants, and by and by acted as Justice of the
Peace. The opposite one, towards the garden, was termed the book-
room. Here Martyn was to do his lessons, and Emily and I carry on
our studies, and do what she called keeping up her accomplishments.
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