LABURNUM COTTAGE.

There had been various letters passing, during the last six weeks,
between Priscilla Stanbury and her brother, respecting the Clock
House at Nuncombe Putney. The ladies at Nuncombe had, certainly, gone
into the Clock House on the clear understanding that the expenses of
the establishment were to be incurred on behalf of Mrs. Trevelyan.
Priscilla had assented to the movement most doubtingly. She had
disliked the idea of taking the charge of a young married woman who
was separated from her husband, and she had felt that a going down
after such an uprising,--a fall from the Clock House back to a
cottage,--would be very disagreeable. She had, however, allowed her
brother's arguments to prevail, and there they were. The annoyance
which she had anticipated from the position of their late guest had
fallen upon them: it had been felt grievously, from the moment in
which Colonel Osborne called at the house; and now that going back
to the cottage must be endured. Priscilla understood that there had
been a settlement between Trevelyan and Stanbury as to the cost of
the establishment so far;--but that must now be at an end. In their
present circumstances she would not continue to live there, and had
already made inquiries as to some humble roof for their shelter. For
herself she would not have cared had it been necessary for her to
hide herself in a hut,--for herself, as regarded any feeling as to
her own standing in the village. For herself, she was ashamed of
nothing. But her mother would suffer, and she knew what Aunt Stanbury
would say to Dorothy. To Dorothy at the present moment, if Dorothy
should think of accepting her suitor, the change might be very
deleterious; but still it should be made. She could not endure
to live there on the very hard-earned proceeds of her brother's
pen,--proceeds which were not only hard-earned, but precarious. She
gave warning to the two servants who had been hired, and consulted
with Mrs. Crocket as to a cottage, and was careful to let it be known
throughout Nuncombe Putney that the Clock House was to be abandoned.
The Clock House had been taken furnished for six months, of which
half were not yet over; but there were other expenses of living there
much greater than the rent, and go she would. Her mother sighed and
assented; and Mrs. Crocket, having strongly but fruitlessly advised
that the Clock House should be inhabited at any rate for the six
months, promised her assi