chambre,
which, strange to say, was a literal one, as he assisted her maid in
her toilet, sat up at night in her room when her frequent illnesses
required it, brought her her coffee every morning before she got up,
and was servant, nurse, confidential adviser, as the occasion needed.

Another old man in the establishment, who held a post somewhat
equivalent to the duties of house and land steward, had entered the
service of the marchesa's father when a boy, and on her marriage had
followed her to her new abode; he died not long after my arrival,
and was mourned by the whole family with a degree of regret alike
creditable to themselves and the departed. Indeed, the attachment
mutually subsisting between masters and servants in the old families
of the Italian nobility is one of the most amiable features of the
national character. Almost every family we knew had at least one or
two of these faithful old domestics in their employment, who, when
no longer capable of even the moderate exertion demanded of them,
were either retained as supernumeraries, or dismissed to their native
villages with a pension sufficient to support them during the remainder
of their days. It is very rare to hear of a servant being sent away;
their slatternly and inefficient manner of discharging the duties
allotted to them being overlooked, if compensated by honesty and
attachment. A much larger number of servants are kept than the style of
living would seem to require, or the amount of fortune in general to
authorize; but it appears to be a point of dignity to have a numerous
household, a remnant of the feeling of olden times, when the standing
of the family was estimated by the number of its retainers. Many more
men than women are employed; and to this it is owing that the former
discharge duties we are brought up to consider exclusively devolving
upon females. Besides the culinary department, which is invariably
filled by them, they sweep the rooms, make the beds, and are very
efficient as sick-nurses. We knew a lady whose man-servant sat 