The floor was
covered with a Persian carpet, the richness of which proved the
gallantry of the count; on the upper step of the bed stood a little
table, on which the waiting-woman served every night in a gold or
silver cup a drink prepared with spices.
After we have gone some way in life we know the secret influence
exerted by places on the condition of the soul. Who has not had his
darksome moments, when fresh hope has come into his heart from things
that surrounded him? The fortunate, or the unfortunate man, attributes
an intelligent countenance to the things among which he lives; he
listens to them, he consults them--so naturally superstitious is he.
At this moment the countess turned her eyes upon all these articles of
furniture, as if they were living beings whose help and protection she
implored; but the answer of that sombre luxury seemed to her
inexorable.
Suddenly the tempest redoubled. The poor young woman could augur
nothing favorable as she listened to the threatening heavens, the
changes of which were interpreted in those credulous days according to
the ideas or the habits of individuals.
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