hotel and took their way, according to direction, along a
large straight road, past a series of fresh-looking villas embosomed
in shrubs and flowers and enclosed in an ingenious variety of wooden
palings. The morning was brilliant and cool, the villas were smart
and snug, and the walk of the young travelers was very entertaining.
Everything looked as if it had received a coat of fresh paint the day
before--the red roofs, the green shutters, the clean, bright browns and
buffs of the housefronts. The flower beds on the little lawns seemed to
sparkle in the radiant air, and the gravel in the short carriage sweeps
to flash and twinkle. Along the road came a hundred little
basket phaetons, in which, almost always, a couple of ladies were
sitting--ladies in white dresses and long white gloves, holding the
reins and looking at the two Englishmen, whose nationality was not
elusive, through thick blue veils tied tightly about their faces as if
to guard their complexions. At last the young men came within sight of
the sea again, and then, having interrogated a gardener over the paling
of a villa, they turned into an open gate. Here they found themselves
face to face with the ocean and with a very picturesque structure,
resembling a magnified chalet, which was perched upon a green embankment
just above it. The house had a veranda of extraordinary width all around
it and a great many doors and windows standing open to the veranda.
These various apertures had, in common, such an accessible, hospitable
air, such a breezy flutter within of light curtains, such expansive
thresholds and reassuring interiors, that our friends hardly knew which
was the regular entrance, and, after hesitating a moment, presented
themselves at one of the windows. The room within was dark, but in
a moment a graceful figure vaguely shaped itself in the rich-looking
gloom, and a lady came to meet them. Then they saw that she had been
seated at a table writing, and that she had heard them and had got up.
She stepped out into the light; she wore a frank, charming smile, with
which she held out her hand to Percy Beaumont.

"Oh, you must be Lord Lambeth and Mr. Beaumont," she said. "I have heard
from my husband that you would come. I am extremely glad to see you."
And she shook hands with each of her visitors. Her visitors were a
little shy, but they had very good manners; they responded with smiles
and exclamations, and they apologized for not knowing the front d