lands and Archer
setting out after breakfast for a stroll, or on a fishing expedition,
which usually ended in Harry's coming to an anchor under some spreading
oak or beech, where he remained, "doing a bit of the _dolce_," as Archer
called it, till luncheon time; whilst I, who could not afford to be
idle, read hard till about three o'clock, and then joined in whatever
amusement was the order of the day.

"Frank, may I come in?" exclaimed Fanny's silvery voice outside my study
door, one morning during my working hours when I had been at home about
a fortnight.

"To be sure you may, you little torment," replied I; "are you coming to
learn mathematics, or to teach me crochet? for I see you are armed with
that vicious little hook with which you delight to torture the wool of
innocent lambs into strange shapes, for the purpose of providing your
friends with innumerable small anomalous absurdities, which they had
much rather be without."

"No such thing, Mr. Impudence, I never make any article which is not
particularly useful as well as ornamental. But, Frank, dear," she
continued, "I should not have interrupted you, only I wanted to tell you
something--it may be nothing to signify, and yet I cannot help feeling
alarmed about it."

"What is it, darling?" said I, putting my arm round her taper little
waist, and drawing her towards me.

"Why, Mr. Oaklands has been here this morning; he came to bring mamma a
message from Sir John, inviting us all to dine with him to-morrow."

"Nothing very alarming so far," observed I; "go on."

"Mamma said we should be extremely happy to do so, and quitted the room
to find a recipe she had promised to the housekeeper at the Hall."

~200~~"And you were left alone with Harry--that was alarming certainly,"
said I.

"Nonsense," returned Fanny, while a very becoming blush glowed on her
cheek; "how you do interrupt me! Mr. Oaklands had kindly offered to
explain a difficult passage in Dante for me, and I was standing on a
chair to get down the book--"

"Which he could have reached by merely stretching out his arm, I
daresay, only he was too idle," interposed I.

"Indeed he could not," replied Fanny quickly, "for he was sitting in
the low easy-chair, and trying to fasten mamma's spectacles on Donald's
nose." (Donald being a favourite Scotch terrier belonging to Harry, and
a great character in his way.) "Well, I had just found the book," she
continued, "and we were going to begin when a not