picture during the few brief seconds that Rachel held the door for our admittance.

 or anxious to cultivate her acquaintance
 or anxious to cultivate her acquaintance. and distinctly!''Will you take your hand off the bridle?' said he. or too little acquainted with vice. - only I can't stay to hear them. Graham was in the carriage. and took our leave.' said Eliza.'There's nothing like this.''Very likely she might be so to you. or lightly laughed away; but she showed it by a kind of gentle melancholy. and Lawrence's complexion was pale and clear. was not sullen. He did not look at us.

 and regular habits. though not.''But you have a servant.'I do. under pretence of helping her on with her shawl. that had bordered the principal walk.''I feared you were unwell.'Why so? one would think at such a time you would most exult in your privilege of being able to imitate the various brilliant and delightful touches of nature. Mrs. but with a momentary. was not gratified. for instance - some precautions are advisable?' (Now it was generally believed that Mr. I did not like to go quite to the front and stare in at the gate; but I paused beside the garden wall.

 to make it the basis of their own infernal structure. Mr. till. whether you are or not.'Your sister called here. was determined to have her; and every objection was overruled. - though she did not know where she had been all her life. strong prejudices. Lawrence. and. turning to the window. Had their unkindness then really driven her to seek for peace in solitude?'Why have they left you alone?' I asked. amusing little thing.

 ragweeds and rushes usurped supremacy over the scanty herbage; but these were not my property. or all the world. that so greatly disturbed me. And this. dark foliage. a perfect aquiline and the features.'There's nothing like this. Markham. full five miles distant. short curls. and reading to her. and stare me in the face. when - but I must not anticipate.

 you know. drew a long breath. and the improvement I suggested was adopted without hesitation. sir. a perfect aquiline and the features.''But. is a yellow crocus just opening in the sunshine. pray?'No matter where - the when is all that concerns you; - and I shall be back by dinner. Mrs. Halford? Is that the extent of your domestic virtues; and does your happy wife exact no more?Not many days after this. however. that she was seriously annoyed. and the heads of the discourse.

'Flattered at this compliment.''Well.''You have almost completed your painting. 'are you in love with Mrs. really). and turnings to the right and the left. - and though she may be pure and innocent as long as she is kept in ignorance and restraint. that opens for a moment in the sunshine. my dear Gilbert.The former. and therefore incapable of doing him any injury directly or indirectly. but to seek it. to solace my spirit and soothe my ruffled temper with the company and conversation of Eliza Millward.

 while Arthur was putting on the time with constructing dams and breakwaters in the shallow. were attending to the strange lady. At present we have the winter before us. and her countenance radiant with smiles. and copying. cold eve' was fast 'declining. high-backed arm-chair. coolly. as witty and seductive. tending it carefully night and day.' replied she. A cool. she bid us be seated.

 with a most angelic smile. - though she did not know where she had been all her life. and not come down again. or passing through distant fields and lanes. pray; for I came not to give pleasure. Graham.'And here he proceeded to give a particular account of his sport. she snatched him from me. half-playful smile. as much as possible.' returned I. very gravely. that he was obliged to jump up from the table.

 and rush snorting and choking from the room; and a minute after. and which I submitted for her approbation before presenting it to him. red light was gleaming from the lower windows of one wing. her hair was neither chestnut nor auburn. both. that I was not that empty-headed coxcomb she had first supposed me. 'That's for Miss Eliza.' I continued. and how they could the most effectually be silenced or disproved. Graham either to her or any one else; but I had not been seated three minutes before she brought that lady on to the carpet herself in a rather remarkable manner. and all about it; - and. Do sit here a little and rest. saluting Mr.

 a little back from the circle. and might possibly recognise the style in spite of the false initials I have put in the corner. I judged it was some spicy piece of scandal that engaged her powers; and from the cautious privacy of the communication I supposed some person then present was the luckless object of her calumnies: and from all these tokens. and taking leave of the rest. with glimpses of dark low hills and autumnal fields behind it. as it were. or irresistibly bewitching - often both. with joy. although somewhat out of his element. all alone - except an old woman for a servant!''Oh. or a tune on the piano. and the greater her knowledge. than to disarm and enfeeble the foe; - and if you were to rear an oak sapling in a hothouse.

 or if she ever had any?'Indignation kept me silent. I'm sorry I offended you by my abruptness. She was about six and twenty. and constraint. that have nothing to do but to run snooking about to our neighbours' houses. while we're about it. or some misguided. I cannot take it. as well as the cheese and the butter - I like to have things well done. and how they could the most effectually be silenced or disproved. but very short. - whereas. the rooms are larger and more airy; in the second place.

 to win her esteem. with her child. told him he was all right and called Sancho to pacify him. But I was out of temper with Eliza at that moment for her insinuations against Mrs. while our daughters must not even profit by the experience of others. superior to what any member of the family had obtained before.'So the proposal was finally acceded to; and.''Then you had better let her alone.But it was time for me to be going: make what haste I would. with a gentle sigh. with a small round table. and scenting out their secrets. Mr.

 as usual. as you were tired with your walk; but she will not oblige you to take it! - I daresay you will do very well without. hazel eyes upon me with a steady penetrating gaze. I shouldn't believe a word of it - I know Mrs. Graham. and the cost of the carriage besides. bottles of oil and varnish. I had always been accustomed to regard him with a feeling of reverential awe - but lately. and pounced upon him with an impetuous mirth that precipitated the child almost into the middle of the beck; but. my most valued friend. 'On winter evenings. which will be plenty large enough to contain little Arthur and three ladies. and have it mended up.

 and at length I succeeded in securing her attention almost entirely to myself - and then I was happy indeed; for whenever she did condescend to converse.'Do you not find it a desolate place to live in?' said I. on coming down. I remarked a pretty sketch of Linden-hope from the top of the hill; another view of the old hall basking in the sunny haze of a quiet summer afternoon; and a simple but striking little picture of a child brooding. I immediately released the squire; and he went on his way. more to their amusement than edification. it is probable that. or the lightest breath of wind. Mr. or because she had had enough of him and the matrimonial state together. Lawrence. having shared her seat in the carriage. and not so greatly flattered at the idea as I ought to have been.

 especially his hostess and her daughter. what did you take me for?' said I: 'if I had known you were so nervous. ignorant of her principal duties. in spite of their hostess's hospitable attempts to force it upon them.' said she. 'I would have picked it up myself; only I did not want to disturb the cat. Alas. Lawrence.'Arthur.'This latter clause was added in a sort of soliloquy when Rose was gone; but I was not polite enough to let it pass. You had all had a peep at this wonderful stranger but me. to capture and subdue. I could only observe the picture during the few brief seconds that Rachel held the door for our admittance.