{"product_id":"2940013703278","title":"The Mysterious Mansion","description":"About a hundred yards from the town of Vendôme, on the borders of the\u003cbr\u003eLoire, there is an old gray house, surmounted by very high gables, and\u003cbr\u003eso completely isolated that neither tanyard nor shabby hostelry, such\u003cbr\u003eas you may find at the entrance to all small towns, exists in its\u003cbr\u003eimmediate neighborhood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn front of this building, overlooking the river, is a garden, where\u003cbr\u003ethe once well-trimmed box borders that used to define the walks now\u003cbr\u003egrow wild as they list. Several willows that spring from the Loire\u003cbr\u003ehave grown as rapidly as the hedge that encloses it, and half conceal\u003cbr\u003ethe house. The rich vegetation of those weeds that we call foul adorns\u003cbr\u003ethe sloping shore. Fruit trees, neglected for the last ten years, no\u003cbr\u003elonger yield their harvest, and their shoots form coppices. The wall-\u003cbr\u003efruit grows like hedges against the walls. Paths once graveled are\u003cbr\u003eovergrown with moss, but, to tell the truth, there is no trace of a\u003cbr\u003epath. From the height of the hill, to which cling the ruins of the old\u003cbr\u003ecastle of the Dukes of Vendôme, the only spot whence the eye can\u003cbr\u003eplunge into this enclosure, it strikes you that, at a time not easy to\u003cbr\u003edetermine, this plot of land was the delight of a country gentleman,\u003cbr\u003ewho cultivated roses and tulips and horticulture in general, and who\u003cbr\u003ewas besides a lover of fine fruit. An arbor is still visible, or\u003cbr\u003erather the débris of an arbor, where there is a table that time has\u003cbr\u003enot quite destroyed. The aspect of this garden of bygone days suggests\u003cbr\u003ethe negative joys of peaceful, provincial life, as one might\u003cbr\u003ereconstruct the life of a worthy tradesman by reading the epitaph on\u003cbr\u003ehis tombstone. As if to complete the sweetness and sadness of the\u003cbr\u003eideas that possess one's soul, one of the walls displays a sun-dial\u003cbr\u003edecorated with the following commonplace Christian inscription:\u003cbr\u003e\"Ultimam cogita!\" The roof of this house is horribly dilapidated, the\u003cbr\u003eshutters are always closed, the balconies are covered with swallows'\u003cbr\u003enests, the doors are perpetually shut, weeds have drawn green lines in\u003cbr\u003ethe cracks of the flights of steps, the locks and bolts are rusty.\u003cbr\u003eSun, moon, winter, summer, and snow have worn the paneling, warped the\u003cbr\u003eboards, gnawed the paint. The lugubrious silence which reigns there is\u003cbr\u003eonly broken by birds, cats, martins, rats and mice, free to course to\u003cbr\u003eand fro, to fight and to eat each other. Everywhere an invisible hand\u003cbr\u003ehas graven the word mystery.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073755726064,"sku":"2940013703278","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013703278_p0.jpg?v=1763584754","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013703278","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}