Such a personage, coming in such style, was, of course, likely to be
honoured in every possible way by the landlord of the inn, and
accordingly he was shown most obsequiously to the handsomest apartment
in the house, and the whole establishment was put upon the alert to
attend to any orders he might choose to give. He had not been long in the place when he sent for the landlord, who,
hastily scrambling on his best coat, and getting his wife to arrange the
tie of his neckcloth, proceeded to obey the orders of his illustrious
guest, whatever they might chance to be. He found the Baron Stolmuyer reclining upon a sofa, and having thrown
aside his velvet cloak, trimmed with rich fur, he showed that underneath
it he wore a costume of great richness and beauty, although, certainly,
the form it covered was not calculated to set it off to any great
advantage, for the baron was merely skin and bone, and looked like a man
who had just emerged from a long illness, for his face was ghastly pale,
and the landlord could not help observing that there was a strange
peculiarity about his eyes, the reason of which he could not make out. "You are the landlord of this inn, I presume," said the baron, "and,
consequently, no doubt well acquainted with the neighbourhood?" "I have the honour to be all that, sir. I have been here about sixteen
years, and in that time I certainly ought to know something of the
neighbourhood." "'Tis well; some one told me there was a little cottage sort of place to
let here, and as I am simple and retired in my habits I thought that it
might possibly suit me." "A little cottage, sir! There are certainly little cottages to let, but
not such as would suit you; and if I might have presumed, sir, to think,
I should have considered Anderbury-on-the-Mount, which is now to let,
would have been the place for you. It is a large place, sir, and
belonged to a good family, although they are now all dead and gone,
except one, and it's he who wants to let the old place." "Anderbury-on-the-Mount," said the baron, "was the name of the place
mentioned to me; but I understood it was a little place." "Oh! sir, that is quite a mistake; who told you so? It's the largest
place about here; there are a matter of twenty-seven rooms in it, and it
stands altogether upon three hundred acres of ground." "And have you the assurance," said the baron, "to call that anything but
a cottage, when the castle of the Stolmuyers, at Saltzburgh, has one
suite of reception rooms thirty in number, opening into each other, and
the total number of apartments in the whole building is two hundred
and sixty, it is surrounded by eight miles of territory." "The devil!" said the landlord. "I beg your pardon, sir, but when I am
astonished, I generally say the devil. They want eight hundred pounds a
year for Anderbury-on-the-Mount." "A mere trifle. I will sleep here to-night, and in the morning I will go
and look at the place. It is near the sea?" "Half a mile, sir, exactly, from the beach; and one of the most curious
circumstances of all connected with it is, that there is a subterranean
passage from the grounds leading right away down to the sea-coast. A
most curious place, sir, partly cut out of the cliff, with cellars in it
for wine, and other matters, that in the height of summer are kept as
cool as in the deep winter time. It's more for curiosity than use, such
a place; and the old couple, that now take care of the house, make a
pretty penny, I'll be bound, though they won't own it, by showing that
part of the place." "It may suit me, but I shall be able to give a decisive answer when I
see it on the morrow. You will let my attendants have what they require,
and see that my horses be well looked to." "Certainly, oh! certainly, sir, of course; you might go far, indeed,
sir, before you found an inn where everything would be done as things
are done here. Is there anything in particular, sir, you would like for
dinner?" "How can I tell that, idiot, until the dinner time arrives?" "Well, but, sir, in that case, you know, we scarcely know what to do,
because you see, sir, you understand--"

"It is very strange to me that you can neither see nor understand your
duty. I am accustomed to having the dinner tables spread with all that
money can procure; then I choose, but not before, what it suits me to
partake of." "Wil, sir, that is a very good way, and perhaps we ain't quite so used
to that sort of thing as we ought to be in these parts; but another
time, sir, we shall know better what we are about, without a doubt, and
I only hope, sir, that we shall have you in the neighbourhood for a long
time; and so, sir, putting one thing to another, and then drawing a
conclusion from both of them, you see, sir, you will be able to
understand." "Peace! begone! what is the use of all this bellowing to me--I want it
not--I care not for it." The baron spoke these words so furiously, that the landlord was rather
terrified than otherwise, and left the room hastily, muttering to
himself that he had never come across such a tiger, and wondering where
the baron could have possibly come from, and what amount of wealth he
could be possessed of, that would enable him to live in such a princely
style as he mentioned. If the Baron Stolmuyer of Saltzburgh had wished ever so much to impress
upon the minds of all persons in the neighbourhood the fact of his
wealth and importance, he could not have adopted a better plan to
accomplish that object than by first of all impressing such facts upon
the mind of the landlord of the Anderbury Arms, for in the course of
another hour it was tolerably well spread all over the town, that never
had there been such a guest at the Anderbury Arms; and that he called
Anderbury-on-the-Mount, with all its rooms--all its outbuildings, and
its three hundred acres of ground, a cottage. This news spread like wildfire, awaking no end of speculation, and
giving rise to the most exaggerated rumours, so that a number of persons
came to the inn on purpose to endeavour to get a look at the baron; but
he did not stir from his apartments, so that these wondermongers were
disappointed, and even forced to go away as wise as they came; but in
the majority of cases they made up their minds that in the morning they
should surely be able to obtain a glimpse of him, which was considered a
great treat, for a man with an immense income is looked upon in England
as a natural curiosity. The landlord took his guest at his word as regards the dinner, and
provided such a repast as seldom, indeed, graced the board at the
Anderbury Arms--a repast sufficient for twenty people, and certainly
which was a monstrous thing to set before one individual.