He fancied he should never be weary in showing Eustace the
particular places which were signalized by conspicuous actions; the hall
where Walter the Inflexible sat in judgment; the tower from whence
Rodolph the Bold overlooked the tournament; the postern where Allan the
Magnificent welcomed his princely guests with the courtly subservience
of an humble host; or the chamber in which Orlando the Good paid the
debt of nature, while the monks told their beads in the anti-room, and
the inner court of the castle was crowded by the pensioners whom he
supported, and the way-faring pilgrims he relieved. But Neville soon
discovered that prosperity has its disappointments as well as adversity
its comforts. The woods which Earl Henry planted were cut down, the
shield and trophies which Sir Edmund won at Agincourt were defaced, the
family heirlooms were carried away, the precious manuscripts burnt, the
state-furniture sold. Bellingham-Castle was merely the despoiled shell
of greatness, requiring, for its re-edifying, that energy and anxiety
which a worn-out invalid could not exercise.
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