There were also two or three Dutch drolleries, as the
pictures of Ostade and Teniers were then termed, with one good painting
of the Italian school. There was, besides, a noble full-length of the
Lord Keeper in his robes of office, placed beside his lady in silk and
ermine, a haughty beauty, bearing in her looks all the pride of
the house of Douglas, from which she was descended. The painter,
notwithstanding his skill, overcome by the reality, or, perhaps, from a
suppressed sense of humour, had not been able to give the husband on the
canvas that air of awful rule and right supremacy which indicates the
full possession of domestic authority. It was obvious at the first
glance that, despite mace and gold frogs, the Lord Keeper was somewhat
henpecked. The floor of this fine saloon was laid with rich carpets,
huge fires blazed in the double chimneys, and ten silver sconces,
reflecting with their bright plates the lights which they supported,
made the whole seem as brilliant as day.
"Would you choose any refreshment, Master?" said Sir William Ashton, not
unwilling to break the awkward silence.
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