ake me with you, Jack," said Nelly, and hastened after him, hat in
hand.

CHAPTER VIII. THE ARRIVAL OF A GREAT MAN

It was within a quarter of eight o'clock--forty-five minutes after the
usual dinner-hour--when Lord Culduff's carriage drove up to the door.

"The roads are atrocious down here," said Temple, apologizing in
advance for an offence which his father rarely, if ever, forgave. "Don't
you think you ought to go out to meet him, sir?" asked he, half timidly.

"It would only create more delay; he 'll appear, I take it, when he is
dressed," was the curt rejoinder, but it was scarcely uttered when
the door was thrown wide open, and Lord Culduff and Mr. Cutbill were
announced.

Seen in the subdued light of a drawing-room before dinner, Lord Culduff
did not appear more than half his real age, and the jaunty stride and
the bland smile he wore--as he made his round of acquaintance--might
have passed muster for five-and-thirty; nor was the round vulgar figure
of the engineer, awkward and familiar alternately, a bad foil for the
very graceful attractions of his Lordship's manner.

"We should have been here two hours ago," said he, "but my friend here
insisted on our coming coastwise to see a wonderful bay,--a natural
harbor one might call it. What's the name, Cutbill?"

"Portness, my Lord."

"Ah, to be sure, Portness. On your property, I believe?"

"I am proud to say it is. I have seen nothing finer in the kingdom,"
said Bramleigh; "and if Ireland were anything but Ireland, that
harbor would be crowded with shipping, and this coast one of the most
prosperous and busy shores of the island."

"Who knows if we may not live to see it such? Cutbill's projects
are very grand, and I declare that though I deemed them Arabian Night
stories a few weeks back, I am a convert now. Another advantage
we gained," said he, turning to Marion; "we came up through a new
shrubbery, which we were told had been all planned by you."

"My sister designed it," said she, as she smiled and made a gesture
towards Ellen.

"May I offer you my most respectful compliments on your success? I am
an enthusiast about landscape-gardening, and though our English climate
gives us many a sore rebuff in our attempts, the soil and the varied
nature of the surface lend themselves happily to the pursuit. I think
you were at the Hague with me, Bramleigh?" asked he of Temple.

"Does he know how late it is?" whispered Augustus to his father. "Does