Page 30 (1/1)

But when the King knew that the thing must be,

And that no help there was in this distress,

He bade thes in readiness

To take the maiden out

--MORRIS

The second Sunday of suspense had co ladies little reseh they were not devoid of a calm peacefulness, worthy of the "sweet day, so cool, so calht" The inhabited rooht and festal; there were fresh flowers in the pots, honey as well as butter on the breakfast table The Major and Palene, a marvel of prettiness, with his curled hair and little velvet coat, contrived by his sisters out of some ancestral hoard Betty wore thick silk brocade froay chintz over a crimson skirt, and Aurelia was in spotless white, with a broad blue sash and blue ribbons in her hat, for her father liked to see her still a child; so her hair was only tied with blue, while that of her sisters was rolled over a cushion, and slightly powdered

The church was so near that the Major could walk thither, leaning on his stout crutch-handled stick, and aided by his daughter's arm, as he proceeded down the hawthorn lane, sith the breath of May, exchanging greetings hole faht with curious needlework on the breast and back, the owns, the children, either patched or ragged, and generally barefooted, but by no means ill-fed

No Sunday school had been invented The da a low curtsey to the "quality," taught the hornbook and the prieny of the far ladies would noher labours than the blacksmith's They only clubbed their pocketof one little orphan, who acknowledged them by a succession of the lowest bobs as she trotted past, proud as Margery Twoshoes herself of the distinction of being substantially shod

The church was small, and with few pretensions to architecture at the best It had been nearly a ruin, when, stirred by the Major, the church-wardens had taken it in hand, so that, owing to Richard Stokes and John Ball, as they perregation were no longer in danger of the roof adation They had further beautified the place with a huge board of the royal ars presiding over the tables of the Co dark, timber pews and nus, occupied the aisle, and the chancel was more than half filled with the lofty "closet" of the Great House family Hither the Delavie family betook thenition, in the seat reserved for the servants, of a broad back and curled wig that could belong to no one but Jonah Dove She did her utht portend, though she followed the universal custo nods and curtsies with the Duckworth family as she sailed up the aisle at the head of the little procession