Chapter 2

Summary

• The chapter describes a humble house located in the suburban sprawl of Mulhouse, an industrial city in eastern France.
• Most of the living space is on the ground floor, but there are also two rooms upstairs. These rooms are always kept locked, and the window shutters are permanently closed.
• The upstairs bedroom is home to a young couple and is filled with opulent items such as a four-poster canopied bed with gold velour curtains and red satin sheets. It also contains multiple impressive carvings, ivory statuettes, and a golden tobacco box commissioned by Napoleon himself.
• The couple's bedroom also contains other luxurious and valuable items, such as a flower vase by Émile Gallé, a master French glassblower from the late 1800s, a silver goblet, small tobacco tins, and bronze pieces.
• American-Catherine’s side of the bed has its own nightstand, and other surfaces around the room are filled with more precious items like silver platters, bowls, cups, and gilded tea sets. Medieval weapons and pieces made from marble, crystal, and mother-of-pearl are spread throughout the room.
• The second room of the house also contains a variety of precious items, such as antique game boards, musical instruments, and more ivory carvings. There is also medieval artwork and items like a knight's helmet, a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, and ornate table clocks.
• The most valuable items in the house, however, are the oil paintings that hang on the walls. These pieces are primarily from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and are the work of masters of the late Renaissance and early Baroque styles.
• Art journalists have estimated the combined worth of the items in the house to be as much as two billion dollars. The couple essentially lives inside a treasure chest.