Yet they were amusing; and the Canalettis were unrivalled. There was a
regular ball-room, and a theatre; so resources were at hand. The scenes,
though dusty, were numerous; and the Duke had provided new dresses. The
park was not a park; by which we mean, that it was rather a chase than
the highly-finished enclosure which we associate with the first title.
In fact, Pen Bronnock Chase was the right name of the settlement; but
some monarch travelling, having been seized with a spasm, recruited his
strength under the roof of his loyal subject, then the chief seat of the
House of Hauteville, and having in his urgency been obliged to hold a
privy council there, the supreme title of palace was assumed by right.
The domain was bounded on one side by the sea; and here a yacht and
some slight craft rode at anchor in a small green bay, and offered an
opportunity for the adventurous, and a refuge for the wearied. When you
have been bored for an hour or two on earth, it sometimes is a change to
be bored for an hour or two on water.
The house was soon full, and soon gay. The guests, and the means
of amusing them, were equally numerous.
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