Wives and Daughters

, and in that room there was a bed, and in that bed there lay a little girl; wide awake and longing to get up, but not daring to do so for fear of the unseen power in the next room-a

rly as it was, the room was f

nderneath it had been a flimsy fabric of gauze and lace and flowers, it would have been altogether "scomfished" (again to quote from Betty's vocabulary). But the bonnet was made of solid straw, and its only trimming was a plain white ribbon put over the crown, and forming the strings.

e pledge of the gay bright day to come. Then to the window, and after some tugging she opened the casement, and let in the sweet morning air. The dew was already off the flowers in the garden below, but still rising from the long hay-grass in the meadows directly beyond. At one side lay

town were very simple, and Molly had lived for twelve long years without the occurrence of any event so great as that which was now impending. Poor child! it is true that she had lost her mother, which was a jar to the whole tenour of her l

deal of liberal talk took place occasionally between two or three of the more enlightened freeholders living in Hollingford; and there was a great Tory family in the county who, from time to time, came forward and contested the election with the rival Whig family of Cumnor. One would have thought that the above-mentioned liberal-talking inhabitants would have, at least, admitted the possibility of their voting for the Hely-Harrison, and thus trying to vindicate their inde

Cumnor was a forbearing landlord; putting his steward a little on one side sometimes, and taking the reins into his own hands now and then, much to the annoyance of the agent, who was, in fact, too rich and independent to care greatly for preserving a post where his decisions might any day be overturned by my lord's taking a fancy to go "pottering" (as the agent irreverently expressed it in the sanctuary of his own home), which, being interpreted, meant that occasionally the earl asked his own questions of his own tenants, and used his own eyes and ears in the management of the smaller details of his property. But his tenants liked my lord all the better for this habit of his. Lord Cumnor had certainly a little time for gossip, which he contrived to combine with the failing of personal intervention

, when with much gracious and stately hospitality, Lady Cumnor and her daughters received all the school visitors at the Towers, the great family mansion standing in aristocratic seclusion in the centre of the large park, of which one of the lodges was close to the little town. The order of this annual festivity was this. About ten o'clock one of the Towers' carriages rolled through the lodge, and drove to different houses, wherein dwelt a woman to be honoured; picking them up by ones or twos, till the loaded carriage drove back again through the ready portals, bowled along the smooth tree-shaded road, and deposited its covey of smartly-dressed ladies on the great flight of steps leading to the ponderous doors of Cumnor Towers. Back again to the town; another picking up of womankind in their best clothes, and another return, and so on till the whol

ng out of the farm-house my lord was entering; and having some small question to ask the surgeon (Lord Cumnor seldom passed any one of his acquaintance without asking a question of some sort-not always attending to the answer; it was his mode of conversation), he accompanied Mr. Gibson to the out-building, to a ring in the wall of which the sur

hanks, who is a hardish man of business. What's his complaint? You'll come to our school-scrimmage on Thursday, little girl-what's-your-name? Mind you send her, or bring her, Gibson; and just give a word to your groom, for I'm sure that p

did not speak for some time. Then she said, "May I g

, wakening up out of his

. That gentleman" (she was shy of ca

rather a tiresome piece of gaiety-rather a tiring day,

said Molly,

to go then

you know. Don't you think I

ink we can manage it, if y

lent again. By-an

wish to go,-but I d

uble to get you there. I can easily manage it, however, so you may consider it settled. You'll want

Cumnor's invitation to Molly. He chose his time, with a little natural diplomacy; which, indeed, he had often to exercise in his intercourse with the great family. He rode into the stable-yard about twelve o'clock, a little before luncheon-time, and yet after the worry of opening the post-bag and discussing its contents was over. After he had put up his horse, he went in by the back-way to the house; the "House" on this

portunity of bringing Lady Agnes the plant I w

ma, look! this is the Drosera rotund

ne comes down for a fortnight of quiet, at Whitsuntide, and leaves half one's establishment in town, and as soon as people know of our being here, we get letters without end, longing for a breath of country air, or saying how lo

Friday the 18th," said Lady

ver the school visitors' affair. B

s-trees Farm yesterday, and he was kind enough to ask my little daughter, who was with me, to be one of the pa

azingly hospitable! Not but what the little girl will be quite welcome; only, you see

e school, mamma,"

e was another, he must needs ask her; so the carriage will have to go backwards and forwards four times now to fetch them all. So your daughter can come quite easily, Mr. Gibson, and

fter him, "Oh! by-the-by, Clare is here; you remember C

peated, in a b

verness," said Lady Agnes. "About twelve or four

the scarlet fever here; a very pretty del

nd became a stupid Mrs. Kirkpatrick; but we always kept on calling her 'Clare.' And now he's dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brai

op to-day. I have a long round to go; I've

arrange about Molly's accompanying them to the Towers. They were tall handsome women,

ave her with us. You should never have thought of as

s many a time; but somehow, though my name has been down on the visitors' list these three years, the countess has never named

ne when she didn't see Ph?be among the school visitors; but Ph?be has got a delicate mind, you see, Mr. Gibson, and all I could say she wouldn't go, but stopped here at home; and it

Ph?be; "but for all that, I think I was right in stoppin

ou see you are going this ye

beating against the window-panes. 'Goodness me!' said I to myself, 'whatever will become of sister's white satin shoes, if she has to walk about on soppy grass after such rain

," said Miss Browning. "We could perhaps lend her

cked up according to their fancy; he esteemed his old servant Betty's as the more correct, because the more simple. Miss Browning had just a shade of annoyance in her to