Rigou's house, the handsomest in the village, was built of the large rubble-stone peculiar to Burgundy, imbedded in yellow mortar smoothed by the trowel, which produced an uneven surface, still further broken here and there by projecting points of the stone, which was mostly black.A band of cement, in which no stones were allowed to show, surrounded each window with a sort of frame, where time had made some slight, capricious cracks, such as appear on plastered ceilings.The outer blinds, of a clumsy pattern, were noticeable for their color, which was dragon-green.A few mosses grew among the slates of the roof.The type is that of Burgundian homesteads; the traveller will see thousands like it when visiting this part of France.
A double door opened upon a passage, half-way down which was the well of the staircase.By the entrance was the door of a large room with three windows looking out upon the square.The kitchen, built behind and beneath the staircase, was lighted from the courtyard, which was neatly paved with cobble-stones and entered by a porte-cochere.Such was the ground-floor.The first floor contained three bedrooms, above them a small attic chamber.
A wood-shed, a coach-house, and a stable adjoined the kitchen, and formed two sides of a square around the courtyard.Above these rather flimsy buildings were lofts containing hay and grain, a fruit-room, and one servant's-chamber.
A poultry-yard, the stable, and a pigsty faced the house across the courtyard.
The garden, about an acre in size and enclosed by walls, was a true priest's garden; that is, it was full of wall-fruit and fruit-trees, grape-arbors, gravel-paths, closely trimmed box-trees, and square vegetable patches, made rich with the manure from the stable.
Within, the large room, panelled in wainscot, was hung with old tapestry.The walnut furniture, brown with age and covered with stuffs embroidered in needle-work, was in keeping with the wainscot and with the ceiling, which was also panelled.The latter had three projecting beams, but these were painted, and between them the space was plastered.The mantel, also in walnut, surmounted by a mirror in the most grotesque frame, had no other ornament than two brass eggs standing on a marble base, each of which opened in the middle; the upper half when turned over showed a socket for a candle.These candlesticks for two lights, festooned with chains (an invention of the reign of Louis XV.), were becoming rare.On a green and gold bracket fastened to the wall opposite to the window was a common but excellent clock.The curtains, which squeaked upon their rods, were at least fifty years old; their material, of cotton in a square pattern like that of mattresses, alternately pink and white, came from the Indies.A sideboard and dinner-table completed the equipment of the room, which was kept with extreme nicety.