The Small Drawing Room at Inglewood, large in everything but name, was the only public apartment to show a feminine influence. It had been furnished once and for all by Sir Edwin on the advice of his sister and was based upon the style then prevailing at Balmoral, lightened with touches suggested by photographs of Sarah Bernhardt’s salon. Pink velvet drapes, tasselled at the edges, decorated the windows, the fireplace and the cozy corner; occasional tables stood by each chaise longue and the walls carried a burden of sunsets, highland livestock and autumnal glory by Farquharson, Yeend King and Landseer.
It was not at its best in midmorning for it had been designed for statuesque ladies seen by shaded lamps against a background of gentlemen in black with expanses of stiff white linen, maki
