around them. It was a quadrangular building of
considerable extent, and the front which lay towards us, and in which
the great entrance was placed, bore unequivocal marks of antiquity; the
time-worn, solemn aspect of the old building, the ruinous and deserted
appearance of the whole place, and the associations which connected
it with a dark page in the history of my family, combined to depress
spirits already predisposed for the reception of sombre and dejecting
impressions.

When the carriage drew up in the grass-grown court yard before the
hall-door, two lazy-looking men, whose appearance well accorded with
that of the place which they tenanted, alarmed by the obstreperous
barking of a great chained dog, ran out from some half-ruinous
out-houses, and took charge of the horses; the hall-door stood open, and
I entered a gloomy and imperfectly lighted apartment, and found no one
within. However, I had not long to wait in this awkward predicament, for
before my luggage had been deposited in the house, indeed, before I
had well removed my cloak and other wraps, so as to enable me to look
around, a young girl ran lightly into the hall, and kissing me heartily,
and somewhat boisterously, exclaimed:

'My dear cousin, my dear Margaret--I am so delighted--so out of breath.
We did not expect you till ten o'clock; my father is somewhere about the
place, he must be close at hand. James--Corney--run out and tell
your master--my brother is seldom at home, at least at any reasonable
hour--you must be so tired--so fatigued--let me show you to your
room--see that Lady Margaret's luggage is all brought up--you must lie
down and rest yourself--Deborah, bring some coffee--up these stairs;
we are so delighted to see you--you cannot think how lonely I have
been--how steep these stairs are, are not they? I am so glad you are
come--I could hardly bring myself to believe that you were really
coming--how good of you, dear Lady Margaret.'

There was real good-nature and delight in my cousin's greeting, and a
kind of constitutional confidence of manner which placed me at once at
ease, and made me feel immediately upon terms of intimacy with her. The
room into which she ushered me, although partaking in the general air of
decay which pervaded the mansion and all about it, had nevertheless been
fitted up with evident attention to comfort, and even with some dingy
attempt at luxury; but what pleased me most was that it opened, by
a second door,