At length, we have found a house to suit us, and a delightful one it is; once the property of the Marechal Ney, but now belonging to the Marquis de Lillers.  It is situated in the Rue de Bourbon, but the windows of the principal apartments look on the Seine, and command a delightful view of the Tuilerie Gardens.  It is approached by an avenue bounded by fine trees, and is enclosed on the Rue de Bourbon side by high walls, a large porte-cochere, and a porter’s lodge; which give it all the quiet and security of a country house.

This hotel may be viewed as a type of the splendour that marked the dwellings of the imperial noblesse, and some notion of it may be conceived from the fact that the decorations of its walls alone cost a million of francs.  These decorations are still—­thanks to the purity of the air of Paris—­as fresh as if only a year painted, and are of great beauty; so much so, that it will be not only very expensive but very difficult to assort the furniture to them; and, unfortunately, there is not a single meuble in the house.

The rent is high, but there are so many competitors for the hotel, which has only been three days in the market, that we consider ourselves fortunate in having secured it.

A small garden, or rather terrace, with some large trees and plenty of flowers, separates the house from the Quai d’Orsay, and runs back at its left angle.  The avenue terminates in a court, from which, on the right, a gate opens into the stable offices; and a vestibule, fitted up as a conservatory, forms an entrance to the house.  A flight of marble steps on each side of the conservatory, leads to a large ante-room, from which a window of one immense plate of glass, extending from the ceiling to the floor, divides the centre, permitting the pyramids of flowers to be seen through it.  A glass door on each side opens from the vestibule to the steps of the conservatory.

The vestibule, lofty and spacious, is lighted also by two other windows, beyond the conservatory, and is ornamented with pilasters with Corinthian capitals.

On the right hand is the salle a manger, a fine room, lighted by three windows looking into the court-yard, and architecturally arranged with pilasters, a rich cornice and ceiling:  the hall is stuccoed, painted in imitation of marble, and has so fine a polish as really to deceive the eye.  In the centre of this apartment is a large door between the pilasters, opening into a drawing-room, and at the opposite end from the door that opens from the vestibule is that which leads to the kitchen offices, and by which dinner is served.

Vis-a-vis to the salle a manger, and divided from it by the large vestibule, is a dressing and bed-chamber with an alcove, both rooms being ornamented with columns and pilasters, between which are mirrors of large dimensions inserted in recesses.  A corridor and escalier derobe at the back of these two apartments admit the attendance of servants, without their passing through the vestibule.