vel of the chimneys. The corresponding high
ground on which Grace stood was richly grassed, with only an old tree
here and there. A few sheep lay about, which, as they ruminated,
looked quietly into the bedroom windows. The situation of the house,
prejudicial to humanity, was a stimulus to vegetation, on which account
an endless shearing of the heavy-armed ivy was necessary, and a
continual lopping of trees and shrubs. It was an edifice built in
times when human constitutions were damp-proof, when shelter from the
boisterous was all that men thought of in choosing a dwelling-place,
the insidious being beneath their notice; and its hollow site was an
ocular reminder, by its unfitness for modern lives, of the fragility to
which these have declined. The highest architectural cunning could
have done nothing to make Hintock House dry and salubrious; and
ruthless ignorance could have done little to make it unpicturesque. It
was vegetable nature's own home; a spot to inspire the painter and poet
of still life--if they did not suffer too much from the relaxing
atmosphere--and to draw groans from the gregariously disposed. Grace
descended the green escarpment by a zigzag path into the drive, which
swept round beneath the slope. The exterior of the house had been
familiar to her from her childhood, but she had never been inside, and
the approach to knowing an old thing in a new way was a lively
experience. It was with a little flutter that she was shown in; but
she recollected that Mrs. Charmond would probably be alone. Up to a
few days before this time that lady had been accompanied in her
comings, stayings, and goings by a relative believed to be her aunt;
latterly, however, these two ladies had separated, owing, it was
supposed, to a quarrel, and Mrs. Charmond had been left desolate. Being
presumably a woman who did not care for solitude, this deprivation
might possibly account for her sudden interest in Grace.

Mrs. Charmond was at the end of a gallery opening from the hall when
Miss Melbury was announced, and saw her through the glass doors between
them. She came forward with a smile on her face, and told the young
girl it was good of her to come.

"Ah! you have noticed those," she said, seeing that Grace's eyes were
attracted by some curious objects against the walls. "They are
man-traps. My husband was a connoisseur in man-traps and spring-guns
and such articles, collecting them from all his neighbors. He knew