rs, and impedimenta, but which revealed itself to our eyes as
an ideal sun-parlour for chilly days. Sheltered from draughts by the
outstanding walls, yet with a glass roof and frontage to catch every ray
of sun, the parlour would be an ideal refuge for spring and autumn. So
far as public rooms went, we were well off with five apartments at the
disposal of two people.

"Mine!--yours!--_ours_!" cried Charmion, waving her hands descriptively,
first towards the two smaller rooms, and then to the other three in
turn.

"In the hall we will eat; the big room shall be no ordinary formal
drawing-room, but a living-room _a deux_. The sun-parlour also we shall
share, but the `sulkies' shall be private ground, hermetically sealed
against intruders! There is a spare room upstairs which can be spared
for muddles. I have a fastidiously tidy eye. It _offends_ me to see
things scattered about, but my hands _will_ go on scattering them, so it
is necessary for my peace of mind to have a muddle-room where I can
deposit bundles at a moment's notice, and feel sure that they will not
be tidied away. Well, shall we go upstairs and see the bedrooms?"

"Where _are_ the stairs?" I asked curiously, for from no corner of the
hall was there a glimpse of staircase visible. I had not thought about
it before, but now I realised that it was just this absence which gave
that touch of comfort and privacy which is wanting in the ordinary
entrance "lounge". There was no draughty well, no galleried space
overhead, from which curious ears could overhear private confidences. I
stared round mystified, till Charmion opened yet another doorway, and
behold! there was the staircase, the oddest, curliest specimen of its
kind, mounting up and up within a narrow well, for all the world like
the steps in a church tower, except that these were wide and shallow,
and that a thick brass rod had been placed on the outer wall to act as a
banister in the case of need. Whoever had built Pastimes had plainly
believed that stairs were needed for the purpose of transit only, and
had refused to waste space on their adornment.

On the first landing were several good bedrooms, two of which possessed
big sunny balconies, facing south.

"That settles it!" I told Charmion. "If I had had any doubts before,
the balconies would have decided me, once for all. All my life I have
yearned to have a bedroom opening on to a really big balcony. I'm crazy
about balconies! Th