A Turkey carpet, curtains of crimson damask, some large
tables covered with papers, several easy chairs, against the walls some
iron cabinets, these were the furniture of the room, at one corner of
which was a glass door, which led to a vista of apartments fitted up as
counting-houses, filled with clerks, and which, if expedient, might be
covered by a baize screen, which was now unclosed.
A gentleman writing at a table rose as he came in, and extending his
hand said, as he pointed to a seat, 'I am afraid I have made you come
out at an unusual hour.'
The young man in spectacles in the meanwhile retired; Tancred had bowed
and murmured his compliments: and his host, drawing his chair a little
from the table, continued: 'Lord Eskdale tells me that you have some
thoughts of going to Jerusalem.'
'I have for some time had that intention.'
'It is a pity that you did not set out earlier in the year, and then you
might have been there during the Easter pilgrimage. It is a fine sight.'
'It is a pity,' said Tancred; 'but to reach Jerusalem is with me an
object of so much moment, that I shall be content to find myself there
at any time, and under any circumstances.'
'It is no longer difficult to reach Jerusalem; the real difficulty is
the one experienced by the crusaders, to know what to do when you have
arrived there.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187