f
the destitute, and a fly being hired from the village inn, and Mrs
Asplin invited to take the fourth seat, the little party drove off to
inspect the house in mingled hope and fear.

The thick hedge which gave the name to the house skirted the country
road for some hundreds of yards, while a carriage drive of commonplace
propriety led up to a square stone house, which could by no possibility
have been termed either beautiful or picturesque. Mrs Saville's face
fell into an expression of martyr-like despair, and the colonel looked
fierce and frowning; but, like many good things, and people also, Yew
Hedge showed its worst points on the surface, and modestly hid its
Virtues out of sight. There was a large flower and vegetable garden
behind the house, the entrance hall was roomy with an old-fashioned
fireplace in the corner, the drawing-room contained an abundance of
those nooks and corners beloved of modern decorators, and Peggy fairly
capered about with exultation when she entered the dining-room and
beheld panelled oak walls and a frescoed ceiling.

"Father, it's settled! We take this house on the spot. These walls
decide it. Think how inspiring it will be to live our lives against a
background of carved oak!" she cried in a rapture, and the colonel
tugged at his moustache with a smile of complacent satisfaction.

"Looks about right, Peg, doesn't it? That Indian furniture would look
well in here, and the old delf. We'll put all the delf here, I fancy,
and--"

"And have blue walls in the drawing-room--blue paper and white wood, and
a touch of yellow in the draperies. I saw some brocade at Liberty's
which would be the very thing!" chimed in his wife, while Mrs Asplin
gasped and looked askance at the extraordinary trio who began to discuss
the furnishings of a house before they had even ascended the staircase.
She coughed in a deprecatory manner, and said:

"The reception rooms are certainly fine--they have always been
considered the strong point of the house, but the bedroom accommodation
is not nearly so good. There are fewer rooms than you would expect, and
they are mostly small. I'm afraid you will be disappointed when you see
them."

"If there are three or four decent rooms, that is all we need. I want
my home for myself, and not for a crowd of visitors. One spare room, or
two at most, is all I would have furnished if there were a dozen empty.
Give me retirement and a quiet home life!" cried the col