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The Wentworth House, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

THE SCENE OF THE ROMANCE OF LADY WENTWORTH When, in 1750, Governor Benning Wentworth began to rebuild for his mansion at Little Harbor, two miles from the business centre of Portsmouth a farm-house which dated from the latter part of the sixteenth century, he thought more of comfort than of architecture. Evidently those who later added to the house thought as little of architecture as the original builder; the product became such a strange conglomeration of wings and "L's" that it is difficult to see which is the original portion. Once the house contained fifty-two rooms, but a portion has been torn away, and the structure as it stands is not quite so spacious, though still large enough for a hotel. Even the cellar is tremendous, for Governor Wentworth provided there a place for his horses, to be used in time of danger. Thirty animals could be accommodated there.

Many of the rooms are small, but some are of impressive size, notably the Council Chamber, where meetings that helped to make history were held, and the billiard room, where the owner and his associates were accustomed to go when the strain of business became too great.

Longfellow thus describes the house: "It was a pleasant mansion, an abode Near and yet hidden from the great high-road, Sequestered among trees, a noble pile, Baronial and colonial in its style; Gables and dormer-windows everywhere, And stacks of chimneys rising high in air- Pandæan pipes, on which all winds that blew Made mournful music the whole winter through.

Within, unwonted splendors met the eye, Panels, and floors of oak, and tapestry; Carved chimney-pieces, where on brazen dogs Revelled and roared the Christmas fire of logs; Doors opening into darkness unawares, Mysterious passages, and flights of stairs, ALL THE WAY BACK TO NEW ENGLAND 397 And on the walls, in heavy gilded frames, The ancestral Wentworths with Old-Scripture names."

While Governor Wentworth was an important figure during the days preceding the Revolution, the mansion is celebrated not so much because of his political service as because of the romance of his second marriage.