Page 158 of 1118

When he had closed the door behind him, the father perceived a

man stealing softly away through another, and he recognised him

as the aged domestic who had been his guide to the presence of

Don Roderick. Before the birth of that nobleman, he had been in

the service of his father, who was a man of a very different

character. At his death, the new master expelled all the

domestics, with the exception of this one, whom he retained on

account of two valuable qualifications; a high conception of the

dignity of the house, and a minute knowledge of the ceremonial

required to support that dignity. The poor old man had never

dared even to hint disapprobation of the daily proceedings at the

castle before the signor, but he would sometimes venture to allow

an exclamation of grief and disapproval to escape him before his

fellow servants, who were infinitely diverted by his simple

honesty, and his warm love of the good old times.