ght. Much of this furniture came from
abroad. But I will do her the justice to say that she did not despise
the old Crawford heirlooms that were handsome. Some of them are two
centuries old, when people loved to carve and ornament and never
compared their time with money. Uncle Reginald was very handsome in his
early days and her favorite. Father went to West Point."

The room was certainly full of choice belongings. At the end, a full
length portrait of Madame Crawford, painted by a famous French artist
during one of her visits to Paris. The satin and velvet of her gown
looked real and her laces were magnificently done. She _was_ handsome
and set them off beautifully. A string of sapphires encircled her throat
and from it depended three pendants of diamonds so skilfully done that
in certain lights they emitted rays. A handsome woman, truly, but proud
and haughty.

"She only wanted one son so that the Crawford estate need not be
divided. She was not in favor of large families, while father would
have been glad of at least half a dozen. So you may judge how delighted
he is to have you. This is the library. There is a small fortune in the
books. Great-grandfather Crawford was an eager collector. Father has
been offered big prices for some of the rare editions."

At the farther end of the library there were wide glass doors that
opened into a conservatory, where the choicest flowers were kept, and
curious ferns. Just beyond was the propagating room and where the
tired-out bloomers were put for recuperation.

Marguerite was speechless with admiration. She glanced up with a lovely
smile and her dark eyes were lustrous. "Oh," she murmured, with a long
sigh, "I never saw anything so lovely! And that I should have come here
to live--"

"Our next door neighbors have quite as much beauty, only it is rather
more modern. But their conservatory is magnificent. Such a show of
orchids is unusual. But Mount Morris is a rather aristocratic place,
that is not wholly given over to fashion, but where people have lovely
things to enjoy and are not trying to distance each other unless it is
in the matter of choice flowers," and he laughed. "Mother is so fond of
them."

She thought she could linger there all the remainder of the day, but
presently Willard turned and they retraced their steps. Major Crawford
stood in the hall.

"Shall we go for our walk, Willard?" he asked. "I think mother would
like Marguerite."

She made a pretty