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dolphins swam upon the walls with mermaids on their backs； when all this and much more than all this was plete and to his liking； Orlando walked through the house with his elk hounds following and felt content。 He had matter now； he thought； to fill out his peroration。 Perhaps it would be well to begin the speech all over again。 Yet； as he paraded the galleries he felt that still something was lacking。 Chairs and tables； however richly gilt and carved； sofas； resting on lions’ paws with swans’ necks curving under them； beds even of the softest swansdown are not by themselves enough。 People sitting in them； people lying in them improve them amazingly。 Accordingly Orlando now began a series of very splendid entertainments to the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood。 The three hundred and sixty–five bedrooms were full for a month at a time。 Guests jostled each other on the fifty–two staircases。 Three hundred servants bustled about the pantries。 Banquets took place almost nightly。 Thus； in a very few years； Orlando had worn the nap off his velvet； and spent the half of his fortune； but he had earned the good opinion of his neighbours。 held a score of offices in the county； and was annually presented with perhaps a dozen volumes dedicated to his Lordship in rather fulsome terms by grateful poets。 For though he was careful not to consort with writers at that time and kept himself always aloof from ladies of foreign blood； still； he was excessively generous both to women and to poets； and both adored him。
But when the feasting was at its height and his guests were at their revels； he was apt to take himself off to his private room alone。 There when the door was shut； and he was certain of privacy； he would have out an old writing book； stitched together with silk stolen from his mother’s workbox； and labelled in a round schoolboy hand； ‘The Oak Tree； A Poem’。 In this he would write till midnight chimed and long after。 But as he scratched out as many lines as he wrote in； the sum of them was often； at the end of the year； rather less than at the beginning； and it looked as if in the process of writing the poem would be pletely unwritten。 For it is for the historian of letters to remark that he had changed his style amazingly。 His floridity was chastened； his abundance curbed； the age of prose was congealing those warm fountains。 The very landscape outside was less stuck about with garlands and the briars themselves were less thorned and intricate。 Perhaps the senses were a little duller and honey and cream less seductive to the palate。 Also that the streets were better drained and the houses better lit had its effect upon the style； it cannot be doubted。
One day he was adding a line or two with enormous labour to ‘The Oak Tree； A Poem’； when a shadow crossed the tail of his eye。 It was no shadow； he soon saw； but the figure of a very tall lady in riding hood and mantle crossing the quadrangle on which his room looked out。 As this was the most private of the courts； and the lady was a stranger to him； Orlando marvelled how she had got there。 Three days later the same apparition appeared again； and on Wednesday noon appeared once more。 This time； Orlando was determined to follow her； nor apparently was she afraid to be found； for she slackened her steps as he came up and looked him full in the face。 Any other woman thus caught in a Lord’s private grounds would have been afraid； any other woman with that face； head–dress； and aspect would have thrown her mantilla across her shoulders to hide it。 For this lady resembled nothing so much as a hare； a hare startled； but obdurate； a hare whose timidity is overe by an immense and foolish audacity； a hare that sits upright and glowers at its pursuer with great； bulging eyes； with ears erect but quivering； with nose pointed； but twitching。 This hare； moreover； was six feet high and wore a head–dress into the bargain of some antiquated kind which made her look still taller。 Thus confronted； she stared at Orlando with a stare in which timidity and audacity were most strangely bined。
First； she asked him； with a proper； but somewhat clumsy curtsey； to forgive her her intrusion。 Then； rising to her full height again； which must have been something over six feet two； she went on to say—but with such a cackle of nervous laughter； so much tee–heeing and haw–hawing that Orlando thought she must have escaped from a lunatic asylum—that she was the Archduchess Harriet Griselda of Finster–Aarhorn and Scand–op–Boom in the Roumanian territory。 She desired above all things to make his acquaintance； she said。 She had taken lodging over a baker’s shop at the Park Gates。 She had seen his picture and it was the image of a sister of hers who was—here she guffawed—long since dead。 She was visiting the English court。 The Queen was her Cousin。 The King was a very good fellow but seldom went to bed sober。 Here she tee–heed and haw–hawed again。 In short； there was nothing for it but to ask her in and give her a glass of wine。
Indoors； her manners regained the hauteur natural to a Roumanian Archduchess； and had she not shown a knowledge of wines rare in a lady； and made some observations upon firearms and the customs of sportsmen in her country； which were sensible enough； the talk would have lacked spontaneity。 Jumping to her feet at last； she announced that she would call the following day； swept another prodigious curtsey and departed。 The following day； Orlando rode out。 The next； he turned his back； on the third he drew his curtain。 On the fourth it rained； and as he could not keep a lady in the wet； nor was altogether averse to pany； he invited her in and asked her opinion whether a suit of armour； which belonged to an ancestor of his； was the work of Jacobi or of Topp。 He inclined to Topp。 She held another opinion—it matters very little which。 But it is of some importance to the course of our story that； in illustrating her argument； which had to do with the working of the tie pieces； the Archduchess Harriet took the golden shin case and fitted it to Orlando’s leg。
That he had a pair of the shapliest legs that any Nobleman has ever stood upright upon has already been s