uring this awful dispensation,
though she had received a letter to say that he was about to close his
house, and hoped, under the blessing of Providence, to escape the
pestilence. His daughter will be welcome, and she cannot come to a
healthier spot than Ashdown, nor to a better nurse than Mrs. Buscot."

With this, he led the way to the court-yard, and, entering the dwelling,
presently returned with a middle-aged woman, who Amabel instantly knew,
from the likeness to her father, must be her aunt. Mrs. Buscot caught
her in her arms, and almost smothered her with kisses. As soon as the
first transports of surprise and joy had subsided, the good housekeeper
took her niece and Nizza Macascree into the house, and desired John
Lutcombe to attend to the others.

VIII.

ASHDOWN LODGE.

Erected by Inigo Jones, and still continuing in precisely the same state
as at the period of this history, Ashdown Lodge is a large square
edifice, built in the formal French taste of the seventeenth century,
with immense casements, giving it the appearance of being all glass, a
high roof lighted by dormer windows, terminated at each angle by a tall
and not very ornamental chimney, and surmounted by a lofty and
lantern-like belvedere, crowned in its turn by a glass cupola. The
belvedere opens upon a square gallery defended by a broad balustrade,
and overlooking the umbrageous masses and lovely hills around it. The
house, as has been stated, is approached by four noble avenues, the
timber constituting which, is, of course, much finer now than at the
period under consideration, and possesses a delightful old-fashioned
garden, and stately terrace. The rooms are lofty but small, and there is
a magnificent staircase, occupying nearly half the interior of the
building. Among other portraits decorating the walls, is one of
Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James the First, and Queen of Bohemia, for
whom the first Earl of Craven entertained so romantic an attachment, and
to whom he was supposed to be privately united. Nothing can be more
secluded than the situation of the mansion, lying as it does in the
midst of a gentle valley, surrounded by a thick wood, and without having
a single habitation in view. Its chief interest, however, must always be
derived from its connection with the memory of the chivalrous and
high-souled nobleman by whom it was erected, and who made it
occasionally his retreat after the death of his presumed royal consort,
which oc