A spiteful desire to show that contempt sparkled in his eyes as he took his seat at the table this evening; but for a minute or two after he had begun his meal he kept silence.
On a mind such as his, outward things have small effect; otherwise the cheerful homeliness of the scene must have soothed him.

The lamp, telling of present autumn and approaching winter, had been lit: a wood-fire crackled pleasantly in the great fireplace and was reflected in rows of pewter plates on either dresser: a fragrant stew scented the air; all that a philosopher of the true type could have asked was at his service.

But Basterga belonged rather to the fifteenth century, the century of the south, which was expiring, than to the century of the north which was opening.

Splendour rather than comfort, the gorgeousness of Venice, of red-haired dames, stiff-clad in Titian velvets, of tables gleaming with silk and gold and ruby glass, rather than the plain homeliness which Geneva shared with the Dutch cities, held his mind.
To-night in particular his lip curled as he looked round.

To-night in particular ill-pleased and ill-content he found the place and the company well matched, the one and the other mean and contemptible! One there--Gentilis--marked the great man's mood, and, cringing, after his kind, kept his eyes low on his platter.