of his dear mistress (kissing it respectfully), the Empress Maria Theresa, whom he had had the honour to serve as an officer of Hungarian hussars many years. Whilst laying the miniature again on the table, he hurried out of the room, motioning me to follow him. The old man was quite chivalric when speaking on this subject, and apparently quite in earnest. Our next visit was to the kitchen, whither he took me to see the thickness of the walls, which were no less than 10 feet. Such a den as this never before sullied the respected name of kitchen. From the smallness of the windows, or port-holes, and the enormous thickness of the walls, it was, even at this time of day, almost dark enough to require candles; spacious and vaulted, with a floor all decayed--and no wonder, for it was in great part covered by an immense heap of potatoes, and quite devoid of furniture. Its occupants were a second Dame Leonarda, and three or four dirty boys, lounging indolently about. A wood-fire blazed on the ash-encumbered hearth, over which was suspended an iron pot filled with potatoes. He then led me through the casemates or subterraneous defences on the western side, before mentioned; and having thus completed our survey of the castle, we sallied from the portal to visit the gardens and _pleasaunce_, the Marquis stepping out with all the briskness of youth. We had got about half-way over the lawn, under one of the magnificent clumps of beeches, when suddenly my conductor, stopping, put his horn to his mouth and blew such a peal as made the woods ring again. No result followed, and as he had not explained himself, I was at a loss to conjecture the meaning of this, unless it were to let me hear the echo. After waiting impatiently a few minutes, the sound was repeated, and an instant afterwards out came all the boys scampering through the portal and over the turf towards us, with an activity strongly contrasted with their former listlessness. This, however, did not satisfy their master, who, rating them soundly for their inattention to his first summons, ordered them to bring out the _carriole_. In a few minutes one of the old carriages I had seen in the court was drawn out by a miserable half-starved-looking beast, hardly deserving the name of a horse, and with harness to match--that is, old, rusty, broken, and mended with bits of cord, &c. Into the suspicious-looking vehicle we both got, and having exchanged his hunting-spear for a shabby whip, the Marquis proceeded to do coachman, and conducted me through his lovely domain; for lovely it really was, in spite of the neglect evident in all directions--a circumstance, however, that one scarcely regretted, since it threw such an air of wildness over the scenery as to make it most charming.