Within the apartments were commodious, and from several there were really beautiful views.

Some ancient furniture, handed down generation after generation, gave a character to the rooms; the oak staircase was much admired, and so was the wainscoating of one part.
The usual family portraits hung on the walls, but the present squire had rather pushed them aside in favour of his own peculiar hobby.

He collected antique Italian pictures--many on panels--in the pre-Raphaelite style.
Some of these he had picked up in London, others he had found and purchased on the Continent.

There were saints with glories or _nimbi_ round their heads, Madonnas and kneeling Magi, the manger under a kind of penthouse, and similar subjects--subjects the highest that could be chosen.

The gilding of the _nimbi_ seemed well done certainly, and was still bright, but to the ordinary eye the stiffness of the figures, the lack of grace, the absence of soul in the composition was distressingly apparent.