As it was vacant, Kenyon had leisure to pace it once or twice, and examine it with a careless sort of scrutiny, before any person appeared.
This beautiful hall was floored with rich marbles, in artistically arranged figures and compartments.

The walls, likewise, were almost entirely cased in marble of various kinds, the prevalent, variety being giallo antico, intermixed with verd-antique, and others equally precious.

The splendor of the giallo antico, however, was what gave character to the saloon; and the large and deep niches, apparently intended for full length statues, along the walls, were lined with the same costly material.

Without visiting Italy, one can have no idea of the beauty and magnificence that are produced by these fittings-up of polished marble.

Without such experience, indeed, we do not even know what marble means, in any sense, save as the white limestone of which we carve our mantelpieces.