ffused her cheeks,
and she would have instantly retired, if the young man had not at once
lowered his looks. Still, he ever and anon ventured a glance towards the
oriel window, and was delighted to find the maiden still there,--nay, he
fancied she must have advanced a step or two, for he could
unquestionably distinguish her features more plainly. And lovely they
were--most lovely! pensive in expression, and perhaps a thought too
pale, until the crimsoning tide had mounted to her cheek. Thus mantled
with blushes, her countenance might gain something in beauty, but it
lost much of the peculiar charm which it derived from extreme
transparency and whiteness of skin--a tint which set off to perfection
the splendour of her magnificent black eyes, with their darkly-fringed
lids and brows, while it also relieved, in an equal degree, the jetty
lustre of her hair. Her features were exquisitely chiselled, delicate
and classical in mould, and stamped with refinement and intelligence.
Perfect simplicity, combined with a total absence of personal ornament,
distinguished her attire; and her raven hair was plainly, but by no
means unbecomingly, braided over her snowy forehead. Something in this
simplicity of costume and in her manner inclined Jocelyn to think the
fair maiden must belong to some family professing Puritanical opinions;
and he found, upon inquiry from one of his neighbours in the throng--an
old farmer--that this was actually the case.

The young lady was Mistress Aveline Calveley, his informant said, only
child of Master Hugh Calveley, who had but lately come to dwell in
Tottenham, and of whom little was known, save that he was understood to
have fought at the battle of Langside, and served with great bravery,
under Essex, both in Spain and in Ireland, in the times of good Queen
Bess--such times as England would never see again, the old farmer
parenthetically remarked, with a shake of the head. Master Hugh
Calveley, he went on to say, was a strict Puritan, austere in his life,
and morose in manner; an open railer against the licence of the times,
and the profligacy of the court minions,--in consequence of which he had
more than once got himself into trouble. He abhorred all such sports as
were now going forward; and had successfully interfered with the parish
priest, Sir Onesimus, who was somewhat of a precisian himself, to
prevent the setting up the May-pole on the past Sunday,--for which, the
farmer added, some of the y