I declined the services of a maid, unpacked my trunk, and laid out my dinner dress upon the bed.
After this I knew not what to do, and sat down to rest.

I looked at the swelling couch over whose cushions the firelight wavered drowsily.

"We are not likely to have velvet couches at the farm," I thought, "and it is better to despise such foolish luxuries." So I drew out a stiff-backed chair, and sat down to muse before the fire.
I soon got tired of this, for I could not think without conjuring up my familiar wonders and forebodings, and these must be kept in the background in order that I might conduct myself properly in this house.
I opened my door and looked around me.

I knew the place well, but I did not care to be seen roaming about before I had received a welcome from my host or hostess.

Weariness enabled me to overcome this difficulty, and I presently found myself in the gallery where the pictures hung and the curiosities were displayed in their cabinets; where chairs were placed for people to sit upon, and screens erected to keep away the draughts; and where the light from the dome in the roof fell mellowly over the knight made of armour, who stood quite at the end of the gallery, near a narrow staircase which led down to the back premises of the house.