He was sitting in the middle of the room on a rich purple ottoman, enfolded in a red burnous, sucking away at a huge chibook, puffing smoke all round him, and contemplating himself in a large mirror exactly opposite to him.

At the opposite end of the ottoman sat a huge orang-outang of about his own size, in a similarly charming position, wrapped in a similar burnous, also smoking a chibook, and regarding himself in the mirror.
Scattered all about were heaps of scented _billet-doux_, verses, musical notes, and other perishable articles of the same sort.

Round about the walls hung all kinds of select pictures, which would certainly have been very much ashamed if they could have seen each other.

On the table, in a vase of genuine Herculanean bronze, were the visiting-cards of a number of notable men and women of the smartest set.

The carpets were all woven by delicate feminine hands, and bore the figures of dogs, horses, and huntsmen.