r stiff little cap, smoothing down the front, which was
alone visible, putting on the well-stiffened ruff with the dainty
little lace edge and close-fitting tucker, and then the gray home-spun
kirtle, with the puffs at the top of the tight sleeves, and the slashes
into which she had persuaded mother to insert some old pink satin, for
was not she sixteen now, and almost a woman? There was a pink
breast-knot to match, and Humfrey's owch just above it, gray stockings,
home-spun and worked with elaborate pink clocks, but knitted by Cis
herself; and a pair of shoes with pink roses to match were put into a
bag, to be assumed when she arrived at the lodge. Out of this simple
finery beamed a face, bright in spite of the straight, almost bushy,
black brows. There was a light of youth, joy, and intelligence, about
her gray eyes which made them sparkle all the more under their dark
setting, and though her complexion had no brilliancy, only the
clearness of health, and her features would not endure criticism, there
was a wonderful lively sweetness about her fresh, innocent young mouth;
and she had a tall lithe figure, surpassing that of her stepmother.
She would have been a sonsie Border lass in appearance but for the
remarkable carriage of her small head and shoulders, which was
assuredly derived from her royal ancestry, and indeed her air and
manner of walking were such that Diccon had more than once accused her
of sailing about ambling like the Queen of Scots, an accusation which
she hotly denied. Her hands bad likewise a slender form and fine
texture, such as none of the ladies of the houses of Talbot or
Hardwicke could rival, but she was on the whole viewed as far from
being a beauty. The taste of the day was altogether for light,
sandy-haired, small-featured women, like Queen Elizabeth or her
namesake of Hardwicke, so that Cis was looked on as a sort of crow, and
her supposed parents were pitied for having so ill-favoured a daughter,
so unlike all their families, except one black-a-vised Talbot
grandmother, whose portrait had been discovered on a pedigree.

Much did Susan marvel what impression the daughter would make on the
true mother as they jogged up on their sober ponies through the long
avenues, whose branches were beginning to wear the purple shades of
coming spring.

Lord Shrewsbury himself met them in front of the lodge, where, in spite
of all his dignity, he had evidently been impatiently awaiting them.
He tha