Around the
buildings, the sound of our footsteps was deadened by the dust
accumulated from the straw in the lofts.
Four large towers connected by curtains showed battlements beneath their
pointed roofs; the openings in the towers, like those in the main part
of the castle, are small, irregular windows, which form uneven black
squares on the grey stones. A broad stoop, comprising about thirty
steps, reaches to the first floor, which has become the ground-floor of
the interior apartments, since the trenches have been filled up.
The yellow wall-flower does not grow here, but instead, one finds
nettles and lentisks, greenish moss and lichens. To the left, next to
the turret, is a cluster of chestnut-trees reaching up to the roof and
shading it.
After the key had been turned in the lock and the door pushed open with
kicks, we entered a dark hallway filled with boards and ladders and
wheelbarrows.
This passage led into a little yard enclosed by the thick interior walls
of the castle. It was lighted from the top like a prison yard. In the
corners, drops of humidity dripped from the stones. We opened another
door. It led into a large, empty, sonorous hall; the floor was cracked
in a hundred places, but there was fresh paint on the wainscoting.
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