f a mature woman, on his
shoulder.

Said she, "A boy's shoulder does very nice for a girl to put her nose
on."

One day the aspiring girl asked him what was that forest.

"That is Bassett's wood."

"I will go there with you some day, when papa is out."

"I'm afraid that is too far for you," said Compton.

"Nothing is too far for me," replied the ardent girl. "Why, how far is
it?"

"More than half a mile."

"Is it very big?"

"Immense."

"Belong to the queen?"

"No, to papa."

"Oh!"

And here my reader may well ask what was Lady Bassett about, or did
Compton, with all his excellent teaching, conceal all this from his
mother and his friend.

On the contrary, he went open-mouthed to her and told her he had seen
such a pretty little girl, and gave her a brief account of their
conversation.

Lady Bassett was startled at first, and greatly perplexed. She told him
he must on no account go to her; if he spoke to her, it must be on
papa's ground. She even made him pledge his honor to that.

More than that she did not like to say. She thought it unnecessary and
undesirable to transmit to another generation the unhappy feud by which
she had suffered so much, and was even then suffering. Moreover, she
was as much afraid of Richard Bassett as ever. If he chose to tell his
girl not to speak to Compton, he might. She was resolved not to go out
of her way to affront him, through his daughter. Besides, that might
wound Mrs. Bassett, if it got round to her ears; and, although she had
never spoken to Mrs. Bassett, yet their eyes had met in church, and
always with a pacific expression. Indeed, Lady Bassett felt sure she
had read in that meek woman's face a regret that they were not friends,
and could not be friends, because of their husbands. Lady Bassett,
then, for these reasons, would not forbid Compton to be kind to Ruperta
in moderation.

Whether she would have remained as neutral had she known how far these
young things were going, is quite another matter; but Compton's
narratives to her were, naturally enough, very tame compared with the
reality, and she never dreamed that two seven-year-olds could form an
attachment so warm, as these little plagues were doing.

And, to conclude, about the time when Mr. Compton first opened the gate
for his inamorata, Lady Bassett's mind was diverted, in some degree,
even from her beloved boy Compton, by a new trouble, and a host of
passions it excited in her own heart.