ASHBY PARK was certainly a very delightful residence. The mansionwas stately without, commodious and elegant within; the park wasspacious and beautiful, chiefly on account of its magnificent oldtrees, its stately herds of deer, its broad sheet of water, and theancient woods that stretched beyond it: for there was no brokenground to give variety to the landscape, and but very little ofthat undulating swell which adds so greatly to the charm of parkscenery. And so, this was the place Rosalie Murray had so longedto call her own, that she must have a share of it, on whateverterms it might be offered - whatever price was to be paid for thetitle of mistress, and whoever was to be her partner in the honourand bliss of such a possession! Well I am not disposed to censureher now.

She received me very kindly; and, though I was a poor clergyman'sdaughter, a governess, and a schoolmistress, she welcomed me withunaffected pleasure to her home; and - what surprised me rather -took some pains to make my visit agreeable. I could see, it istrue, that she expected me to be greatly struck with themagnificence that surrounded her; and, I confess, I was ratherannoyed at her evident efforts to reassure me, and prevent me frombeing overwhelmed by so much grandeur - too much awed at the ideaof encountering her husband and mother-in-law, or too much ashamedof my own humble appearance. I was not ashamed of it at all; for,though plain, I had taken good care not to shabby or mean, andshould have been pretty considerably at my ease, if mycondescending hostess had not taken such manifest pains to make meso; and, as for the magnificence that surrounded her, nothing thatmet my eyes struck me or affected me half so much as her ownaltered appearance. Whether from the influence of fashionabledissipation, or some other evil, a space of little more than twelvemonths had had the effect that might be expected from as manyyears, in reducing the plumpness of her form, the freshness of hercomplexion, the vivacity of her movements, and the exuberance ofher spirits.

I wished to know if she was unhappy; but I felt it was not myprovince to inquire: I might endeavour to win her confidence; but,if she chose to conceal her matrimonial cares from me, I wouldtrouble her with no obtrusive questions. I, therefore, at first,confined myself to a few general inquiries about her health andwelfare, and a few commendations on the beauty of the park, and ofthe little girl that should have been a boy: a small delicateinfant of seven or eight weeks old, whom its mother seemed toregard with no remarkable degree of interest or affection, thoughfull as much as I expected her to show.

Shortly after my arrival, she commissioned her maid to conduct meto my room and see that I had everything I wanted; it was a small,unpretending, but sufficiently comfortable apartment. When Idescended thence - having divested myself of all travellingencumbrances, and arranged my toilet with due consideration for thefeelings of my lady hostess, she conducted me herself to the room Iwas to occupy when I chose to be alone, or when she was engagedwith visitors, or obliged to be with her mother-in-law, orotherwise prevented, as she said, from enjoying the pleasure of mysociety. It was a quiet, tidy little sitting-room; and I was notsorry to be provided with such a harbour of refuge.

'And some time,' said she, 'I will show you the library: I neverexamined its shelves, but, I daresay, it is full of wise books; andyou may go and burrow among them whenever you please. And now youshall have some tea - it will soon be dinner-time, but I thought,as you were accustomed to dine at one, you would perhaps likebetter to have a cup of tea about this time, and to dine when welunch: and then, you know, you can have your tea in this room, andthat will save you from having to dine with Lady Ashby and SirThomas: which would be rather awkward - at least, not awkward, butrather - a - you know what I mean. I thought you mightn't like itso well - especially as we may have other ladies and gentlemen todine with us occasionally.'

'Certainly,' said I, 'I would much rather have it as you say, and,if you have no objection, I should prefer having all my meals inthis room.'

'Why so?'

'Because, I imagine, it would be more agreeable to Lady Ashby andSir Thomas.'

'Nothing of the kind.'

'At any rate it would be more agreeable to me.'

She made some faint objections, but soon conceded; and I could seethat the proposal was a considerable relief to her.

'Now, come into the drawing-room,' said she. 'There's the dressingbell; but I won't go yet: it's no use dressing when there's no oneto see you; and I want to have a little discourse.'

The drawing-room was certainly an imposing apartment, and veryelegantly furnished; but I saw its young mistress glance towards meas we entered, as if to notice how I was impressed by thespectacle, and accordingly I determined to preserve an aspect ofstony indifference, as if I saw nothing at all remarkable. Butthis was only for a moment: immediately conscience whispered, 'Whyshould I disappoint her to save my pride? No - rather let mesacrifice my pride to give her a little innocent gratification.'And I honestly looked round, and told her it was a noble room, andvery tastefully furnished. She said little, but I saw she waspleased.

She showed me her fat French poodle, that lay curled up on a silkcushion, and the two fine Italian paintings: which, however, shewould not give me time to examine, but, saying I must look at themsome other day, insisted upon my admiring the little jewelled watchshe had purchased in Geneva; and then she took me round the room topoint out sundry articles of VERTU she had brought from Italy: anelegant little timepiece, and several busts, small gracefulfigures, and vases, all beautifully carved in white marble. Shespoke of these with animation, and heard my admiring comments witha smile of pleasure: that soon, however, vanished, and wasfollowed by a melancholy sigh; as if in consideration of theinsufficiency of all such baubles to the happiness of the humanheart, and their woeful inability to supply its insatiate demands.

Then, stretching herself upon a couch, she motioned me to acapacious easy-chair that stood opposite - not before the fire, butbefore a wide open window; for it was summer, be it remembered; asweet, warm evening in the latter half of June. I sat for a momentin silence, enjoying the still, pure air, and the delightfulprospect of the park that lay before me, rich in verdure andfoliage, and basking in yellow sunshine, relieved by the longshadows of declining day. But I must take advantage of this pause:I had inquiries to make, and, like the substance of a lady'spostscript, the most important must come last. So I began withasking after Mr. and Mrs. Murray, and Miss Matilda and the younggentlemen.

I was told that papa had the gout, which made him very ferocious;and that he would not give up his choice wines, and his substantialdinners and suppers, and had quarrelled with his physician, becausethe latter had dared to say that no medicine could cure him whilehe lived so freely; that mamma and the rest were well. Matilda wasstill wild and reckless, but she had got a fashionable governess,and was considerably improved in her manners, and soon to beintroduced to the world; and John and Charles (now at home for theholidays) were, by all accounts, 'fine, bold, unruly, mischievousboys.'

'And how are the other people getting on?' said I - 'the Greens,for instance?'

'Ah! Mr. Green is heart-broken, you know,' replied she, with alanguid smile: 'he hasn't got over his disappointment yet, andnever will, I suppose. He's doomed to be an old bachelor; and hissisters are doing their best to get married.'

'And the Melthams?'

'Oh, they're jogging on as usual, I suppose: but I know verylittle about any of them - except Harry,' said she, blushingslightly, and smiling again. 'I saw a great deal of him while wewere in London; for, as soon as he heard we were there, he came upunder pretence of visiting his brother, and either followed me,like a shadow, wherever I went, or met me, like a reflection, atevery turn. You needn't look so shocked, Miss Grey; I was verydiscreet, I assure you, but, you know, one can't help beingadmired. Poor fellow! He was not my only worshipper; though hewas certainly the most conspicuous, and, I think, the most devotedamong them all. And that detestable - ahem - and Sir Thomas choseto take offence at him - or my profuse expenditure, or something -I don't exactly know what - and hurried me down to the country at amoment's notice; where I'm to play the hermit, I suppose, forlife.'

And she bit her lip, and frowned vindictively upon the fair domainshe had once so coveted to call her own.

'And Mr. Hatfield,' said I, 'what is become of him?'

Again she brightened up, and answered gaily - 'Oh! he made up to anelderly spinster, and married her, not long since; weighing herheavy purse against her faded charms, and expecting to find thatsolace in gold which was denied him in love - ha, ha!'

'Well, and I think that's all - except Mr. Weston: what is hedoing?'

'I don't know, I'm sure. He's gone from Horton.'

'How long since? and where is he gone to?'

'I know nothing about him,' replied she, yawning - 'except that hewent about a month ago - I never asked where' (I would have askedwhether it was to a living or merely another curacy, but thought itbetter not); 'and the people made a great rout about his leaving,'continued she, 'much to Mr. Hatfield's displeasure; for Hatfielddidn't like him, because he had too much influence with the commonpeople, and because he was not sufficiently tractable andsubmissive to him - and for some other unpardonable sins, I don'tknow what. But now I positively must go and dress: the secondbell will ring directly, and if I come to dinner in this guise, Ishall never hear the end of it from Lady Ashby. It's a strangething one can't be mistress in one's own house! Just ring thebell, and I'll send for my maid, and tell them to get you some tea.Only think of that intolerable woman - '

'Who - your maid?'

'No; - my mother-in-law - and my unfortunate mistake! Instead ofletting her take herself off to some other house, as she offered todo when I married, I was fool enough to ask her to live here still,and direct the affairs of the house for me; because, in the firstplace, I hoped we should spend the greater part of the year, intown, and in the second place, being so young and inexperienced, Iwas frightened at the idea of having a houseful of servants tomanage, and dinners to order, and parties to entertain, and all therest of it, and I thought she might assist me with her experience;never dreaming she would prove a usurper, a tyrant, an incubus, aspy, and everything else that's detestable. I wish she was dead!'

She then turned to give her orders to the footman, who had beenstanding bolt upright within the door for the last half minute, andhad heard the latter part of her animadversions; and, of course,made his own reflections upon them, notwithstanding the inflexible,wooden countenance he thought proper to preserve in the drawing-room. On my remarking afterwards that he must have heard her, shereplied - 'Oh, no matter! I never care about the footmen; they'remere automatons: it's nothing to them what their superiors say ordo; they won't dare to repeat it; and as to what they think - ifthey presume to think at all - of course, nobody cares for that.It would be a pretty thing indeed, it we were to be tongue-tied byour servants!'

So saying, she ran off to make her hasty toilet, leaving me topilot my way back to my sitting-room, where, in due time, I wasserved with a cup of tea. After that, I sat musing on Lady Ashby'spast and present condition; and on what little information I hadobtained respecting Mr. Weston, and the small chance there was ofever seeing or hearing anything more of him throughout my quiet,drab-colour life: which, henceforth, seemed to offer noalternative between positive rainy days, and days of dull greyclouds without downfall. At length, however, I began to weary ofmy thoughts, and to wish I knew where to find the library myhostess had spoken of; and to wonder whether I was to remain theredoing nothing till bedtime.

As I was not rich enough to possess a watch, I could not tell howtime was passing, except by observing the slowly lengtheningshadows from the window; which presented a side view, including acorner of the park, a clump of trees whose topmost branches hadbeen colonized by an innumerable company of noisy rooks, and a highwall with a massive wooden gate: no doubt communicating with thestable-yard, as a broad carriage-road swept up to it from the park.The shadow of this wall soon took posession of the whole of theground as far as I could see, forcing the golden sunlight toretreat inch by inch, and at last take refuge in the very tops ofthe trees. Ere long, even they were left in shadow - the shadow ofthe distant hills, or of the earth itself; and, in sympathy for thebusy citizens of the rookery, I regretted to see their habitation,so lately bathed in glorious light, reduced to the sombre, work-a-day hue of the lower world, or of my own world within. For amoment, such birds as soared above the rest might still receive thelustre on their wings, which imparted to their sable plumage thehue and brilliance of deep red gold; at last, that too departed.Twilight came stealing on; the rooks became more quiet; I becamemore weary, and wished I were going home to-morrow. At length itgrew dark; and I was thinking of ringing for a candle, and betakingmyself to bed, when my hostess appeared, with many apologies forhaving neglected me so long, and laying all the blame upon that'nasty old woman,' as she called her mother-in-law.

'If I didn't sit with her in the drawing-room while Sir Thomas istaking his wine,' said she, 'she would never forgive me; and then,if I leave the room the instant he comes - as I have done once ortwice - it is an unpardonable offence against her dear Thomas. SHEnever showed such disrespect to HER husband: and as for affection,wives never think of that now-a-days, she supposes: but thingswere different in HER time - as if there was any good to be done bystaying in the room, when he does nothing but grumble and scoldwhen he's in a bad humour, talk disgusting nonsense when he's in agood one, and go to sleep on the sofa when he's too stupid foreither; which is most frequently the case now, when he has nothingto do but to sot over his wine.'

'But could you not try to occupy his mind with something better;and engage him to give up such habits? I'm sure you have powers ofpersuasion, and qualifications for amusing a gentleman, which manyladies would be glad to possess.'

'And so you think I would lay myself out for his amusement! No:that's not MY idea of a wife. It's the husband's part to pleasethe wife, not hers to please him; and if he isn't satisfied withher as she is - and thankful to possess her too - he isn't worthyof her, that's all. And as for persuasion, I assure you I shan'ttrouble myself with that: I've enough to do to bear with him as heis, without attempting to work a reform. But I'm sorry I left youso long alone, Miss Grey. How have you passed the time?'

'Chiefly in watching the rooks.'

'Mercy, how dull you must have been! I really must show you thelibrary; and you must ring for everything you want, just as youwould in an inn, and make yourself comfortable. I have selfishreasons for wishing to make you happy, because I want you to staywith me, and not fulfil your horrid threat of running away in a dayor two.'

'Well, don't let me keep you out of the drawing-room any longer to-night, for at present I am tired and wish to go to bed.'