The two rooms which had been allotted to him seemed, to his delighted eyes, the most beautiful in the house. They were quite high up, and quite simply furnished; but the windows of both looked out over the square, where all the life and bustle that were so fascinating went on; and each seemed to contain exactly everything that a boy could possibly need. In the sitting room were pictures of battle scenes, and deeds of daring generally, choice engravings and etchings for the most part; and on the tables and on shelves were numbers of books, beautifully bound, whose very titles, as he glanced at them, gave promise of the delights to be found within.
Miss Charlotte Carlaw stood perfectly still, with her hand upon his shoulder, until she heard his astonished gasps; then she chuckled with satisfaction and marched him through into the bedroom. Here a young man in a sober brown suit was unpacking his box and carefully arranging its contents in the wardrobe and in a huge press that stood at one side of the room. He was a round-faced, good-humoured-looking young man, and Comethup liked his appearance.
"Ah, is that you, Gwilt?" cried Miss Carlaw. "This is your young master, Master Willis.--Comethup, Gwilt will attend to you, and do everything you want--brush your clothes and keep them in order, and assist you to dress when necessary. He is your special servant, and will have no other duties. Now tell me; do you like these rooms?"
"I think they're beautiful," said Comethup.
"Well, just look round them, and tell me if you think there's anything else you would like. What do you think of the pictures? I got a man specially to choose them, told him they must be bright, and just the sort of things a boy would like; no sickly love-making, or cottage interiors, or nonsense of that kind, but just a few with some blood in 'em--fighting, and chopping up, and highwaymen, and nice little delicacies of that kind. Like 'em, eh?"
"I don't think I shall ever get tired of looking at them," said Comethup. "And there are a heap of books here, too, aunt--quite the most beautiful books I've ever seen," he added.
"Of course, I'd forgotten the books. I wrote to a bookseller to send me all he could think of that would be likely to appeal to you--same style as the pictures, you know. Now there isn't much time before dinner, so just wash your hands, and come down to the drawing room when you hear the first bell. I'll go and change my frock."