; 'and Mary kept
me to the point, in case you should be willing to consider the matter.
I would have written out the estimate; but this book allows for bricks,
and we could use the stone at Inglewood more cheaply, to say nothing of
beauty.'

'Well,' said Lord Ormersfield, considering, 'you have every right to
have a voice in the management of the property. I should like to hear
your views with regard to these cottages.'

Colouring deeply, and with earnest thanks, Fitzjocelyn stated the
injury both to labourers and employers, caused by their distance from
their work; he explained where he thought the buildings ought to stand,
and was even guarded enough to show that the rents would justify the
outlay. He had considered the matter so much, that he could even have
encountered Richardson; and his father was only afraid that what was so
plausible _must_ be insecure. Caution contended with a real desire to
gratify his son, and to find him in the right. He must know the wishes
of the farmer, be sure of the cost, and be certain of the spot
intended. His crippled means had estranged him from duties that he
could not fulfil according to his wishes, and, though not a hard
landlord, he had no intercourse with his tenants, took little interest
in his estate, and was such a stranger to the localities, that Louis
could not make him understand the nook selected for the buildings. He
had seen the arable field called 'Great Courtiers,' and the farm called
'Small Profits,' on the map, but did not know their ups and downs much
better than the coast of China.

'Mary knows them!' said Louis. 'She made all my measurements there,
before I planned the gardens.'

'Mary seems to be a good friend to your designs,' said the Earl,
looking kindly at her.

'The best!' said Louis. 'I begin to have some hope of my doings when I
see her take them in hand.'

Lord Ormersfield thanked Mary, and asked whether it would be
trespassing too much on her kindness to ask her to show him the place
in question. She was delighted, and they set out at once, the Earl
almost overpowering her by his exceeding graciousness, so that she was
nearly ready to laugh when he complimented her on knowing her way
through the bye-paths of his own park so much better than he did. 'It
is a great pleasure to me that you can feel it something like home,' he
said.

'I was so happy here as a child,' said Mary, heartily, 'that it must
seem to me more of a home than any o