The entrance hall.
From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry.
symphony of amber and cream. The elaborately-worked cushions and foot-stools, the chairs, almost in miniature, and exquisitely draped, the tables positively loaded with gifts, are innumerable.
One table is set out with silver trinkets—silver ships, fishes, horses, scent bottles, and
even snuff boxes. At the far end of the room is a cabinet filled with valuable pieces of china, and close by is a bust of Madame Albani by the same Royal sculptor who executed that of her son. Here, too, is a harp, for the singer is a brilliant harpist, and her fingers often run over the strings. The piano is a useful-looking one, and it need be, for its keys are severely and incessantly worked. An interesting photo stands here on a crimson plush easel. It is that of the Princess Frederica of Hanover, who, being desirous of being photographed as Elsa in "Lohengrin," borrowed the real costume in the shape of the identical cloak and veil worn by Madame Albani when singing in the character. An interesting gift, too, is that of a fine vase presented to her by the Empress Augusta of Germany. It shows the palace and the window where the old Emperor was wont to stand and salute the guard. In a glass case, by the window, is a silver wreath—a reminiscence of the terrible inundations in Belgium, presented by the Mayor of Brussels when the artist sang in aid of a fund for the sufferers.
Master Ernest Gye.
But what strikes one most of all are the almost countless photos of nearly every member of the Royal family. Madame Albani may justly claim to be the favourite singer of the Queen. When the vocalist visited Berlin a few years ago the Queen sent a telegram to the Crown Princess, speaking in the highest terms of the great singer; and this telegram is here preserved. Once every year Her Majesty visits her favourite at Old Mar Lodge, and takes tea there, and many are the "private appearances" at Balmoral, when the Queen often listens to the delightful voice in many an old song and ballad of which she is so fond. It was when Her Majesty was paying her customary visit to the old hunting lodge of the Duke of Fife that she brought with her the Jubilee portrait of herself which hangs near the drawing-room mantel-board, framed in gold and surmounted with a crown. Look along the mantel-board—every photo bears the autograph of the giver. The Prince and Princess of Wales are in ivory frames,
