. The
idea troubled her. She had accidentally made Mr. Juxon's acquaintance,
and she knew enough of the world to understand that in such a place he
would regard her as a valuable addition to the society of the vicar and
the vicar's wife. She would meet him constantly; there would be visitors
at the Hall--she would have to meet them, too. Her dream of solitude was
at an end. For a moment she seemed so nervous that Mr. Juxon observed her
embarrassment and supposed it was due to his remark about living in the
cottage himself.

"Do not be afraid, Mrs. Goddard," he said quickly, "I am not going to do
anything so uncivil as to ask you to give up the cottage. Besides, it
would be too small, you know."

"Have you any family, Mr. Juxon?" inquired Mrs. Ambrose with a severity
which startled the squire. Mrs. Ambrose thought that if there was a Mrs.
Juxon, she had been unpardonably deceived. Of course Mr. Juxon should
have said that he was married as soon as he entered the room.

"I have a very large family," answered the squire, and after enjoying for
a moment the surprise he saw in Mrs. Ambrose's face, he added with a
laugh, "I have a library of ten thousand volumes--a very large family
indeed. Otherwise I have no encumbrances, thank heaven."

"You are a scholar?" asked Mr. Ambrose eagerly.

"A book fancier, only a book fancier," returned the squire modestly. "But
I am very fond of the fancy."

"What is a book fancier, mamma?" asked little Eleanor in a whisper. But
Mr. Juxon heard the child's question.

"If your mamma will bring you up to the Hall one of these days, Miss
Goddard, I will show you. A book fancier is a terrible fellow who has
lots of books, and is pursued by a large evil genius telling him he must
buy every book he sees, and that he will never by any possibility read
half of them before he dies."

Little Eleanor stared for a moment with her great violet eyes, and then
turning again to her mother, whispered in her ear.

"Mamma, he called me Miss Goddard!"

"Run out and play in the garden, darling," said her mother with a smile.
But the child would not go and sat down on a stool and stared at the
squire, who was immensely delighted.

"So you are going to bring all your library, Mr. Juxon?" asked the vicar
returning to the charge.

"Yes--and I beg you will make any use of it you please," answered the
visitor. "I have a great fondness for books and I think I have some
valuable volumes. But I am no great s