sure the more there is to
have."

"Be good for _me_," said he kissing her,--"and in my way. I will
dispense with other goodness. I am in no danger of not having enough in
you."

Eleanor walked back to the house, feeling as if an additional barrier
were somehow placed between her and the light her mind wanted and the
relief her heart sought after.

CHAPTER VI.

AT THE PRIORY.

"Here he lives in state and bounty,
Lord of Burleigh, fair and free;
Not a lord in all the county
Is so great a lord as he."

Lady Rythdale abhorred dinner-parties, in general and in particular.
She dined early herself, and begged that the family from Ivy Lodge
would come to tea. It was the first occasion of the kind; and the first
time they had ever been there otherwise than as strangers visiting the
grounds. Lady Rythdale was infirm and unwell, and never saw her country
neighbours or interchanged civilities with them. Of course this was
laid to something more than infirmity, by the surrounding gentry who
were less in consequence than herself; but however it were, few of them
ever saw the inside of the Priory House for anything but a ceremonious
morning visit. Now the family at the Lodge were to go on a different
footing. It was a great time, of curiosity, pleasure, and pride.

"What are you going to wear this evening, Eleanor?" her mother asked.

"I suppose, my habit, mamma."

"Your habit!"

"I cannot very well ride in anything else."

"Are you going to _ride?_"

"So it is arranged, ma'am. It will be infinitely less tiresome than
going in any other way."

"Tiresome!" echoed Mrs. Powle. "But what will Lady Rythdale say to you
in a riding-habit."

"Mamma, I have very little notion what she would say to me in anything."

"I will tell you what you must do, Eleanor. You must change your dress
after you get there."

"No, mamma--I cannot. Mr. Carlisle has arranged to have me go in a
riding-habit. It is his responsibility. I will not have any fuss of
changing, nor pay anybody so much of a compliment."

"It will not be liked, Eleanor."

"It will follow my fate, mamma, whatever that is."

"You are a wilful girl. You are fallen into just the right hands. You
will be managed now, for once."

"Mamma," said Eleanor colouring all over, "it is extremely unwise in
you to say that; for it rouses all the fight there is in me; and some
day--"

"Some day it will not break out," said Mrs. Powle.

"Well, I should not