ble mind had at length nearly departed from her. She
wondered if her early notes had had the genuine ring in them, or whether
a poet who could be thrust by realities to a distance beyond recognition
as such was a true poet at all. Yet Ethelberta's gradient had been
regular: emotional poetry, light verse, romance as an object, romance as
a means, thoughts of marriage as an aid to her pursuits, a vow to marry
for the good of her family; in other words, from soft and playful
Romanticism to distorted Benthamism. Was the moral incline upward or
down?

37. KNOLLSEA--AN ORNAMENTAL VILLA

Her energies collected and fermented anew by the results of the vigil,
Ethelberta left town for Knollsea, where she joined Picotee the same
evening. Picotee produced a letter, which had been addressed to her
sister at their London residence, but was not received by her there, Mrs.
Chickerel having forwarded it to Knollsea the day before Ethelberta
arrived in town.

The crinkled writing, in character like the coast-line of Tierra del
Fuego, was becoming familiar by this time. While reading the note she
informed Picotee, between a quick breath and a rustle of frills, that it
was from Lord Mountclere, who wrote on the subject of calling to see her,
suggesting a day in the following week. 'Now, Picotee,' she continued,
'we shall have to receive him, and make the most of him, for I have
altered my plans since I was last in Knollsea.'

'Altered them again? What are you going to be now--not a poor person
after all?'

'Indeed not. And so I turn and turn. Can you imagine what Lord
Mountclere is coming for? But don't say what you think. Before I reply
to this letter we must go into new lodgings, to give them as our address.
The first business to-morrow morning will be to look for the gayest house
we can find; and Captain Flower and this little cabin of his must be
things we have never known.'

The next day after breakfast they accordingly sallied forth.

Knollsea had recently begun to attract notice in the world. It had this
year undergone visitation from a score of professional gentlemen and
their wives, a minor canon, three marine painters, seven young ladies
with books in their hands, and nine-and-thirty babies. Hence a few
lodging-houses, of a dash and pretentiousness far beyond the mark of the
old cottages which formed the original substance of the village, had been
erected to meet the wants of such as these. To a buil