The ceiling of this apartment was richly painted, and richly gilt: from
it were suspended three lustres by golden cords, which threw a softened
light upon the floor of polished and curiously inlaid woods. At the end
of the apartment was an orchestra.
Round the room waltzed the elegant revellers. Softly and slowly, led by
their host, they glided along like spirits of air; but each time that
the Duke passed the musicians, the music became livelier, and the motion
more brisk, till at length you might have mistaken them for a college of
spinning dervishes. One by one, an exhausted couple retreated from the
lists. Some threw themselves on a sofa, some monopolised an easy chair;
but in twenty minutes the whirl had ceased. At length Peacock Piggott
gave a groan, which denoted returning energy, and raised a stretching
leg in air, bringing up, though most unwittingly, upon his foot, one of
the Bird's sublime and beautiful caps.
'Halloa! Piggott, armed _cap-au-pied_, I see,' said Lord Squib. This
joke was a signal for general resuscitation.
The Alhambra formed a quadrangle: all the chambers were on the basement
story.
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