ay be noted that there is
actually a Barton Place to the north of Exeter, not far from Lord
Iddesleigh's well-known seat of Upton Pynes. It is scarcely possible,
also, not to believe that, in Mrs. Jennings's description of
Delaford--'a nice place, I can tell you; exactly what I call a nice
old-fashioned place, full of comforts and conveniences; quite shut in
with great garden walls that are covered with the best fruit-trees in
the country; and such a mulberry tree in one corner!'--Miss Austen had
in mind some real Hampshire or Devonshire country house. In any case,
it comes nearer a picture than what we usually get from her pen. 'Then
there is a dovecote, some delightful stew-ponds, and a very pretty
canal; and everything, in short, that one could wish for; and,
moreover, it is close to the church, and only a quarter of a mile
from the turnpike-road, so 'tis never dull, for if you only go and sit
up in an old yew arbour behind the house, you may see all the
carriages that pass along.' The last lines suggest those quaint
'gazebos' and alcoves, which, in the coaching days, were so often to
be found perched at the roadside, where one might sit and watch the
Dover or Canterbury stage go whirling by. Of genteel accomplishments
there is a touch In the 'landscape in coloured silks' which Charlotte
Palmer had worked at school (chap, xxvi.); and of old remedies for the
lost art of swooning, in the 'lavender drops' of chapter xxix. The
mention of a dance as a 'little hop' in chapter ix. reads like a
premature instance of middle Victorian slang. But nothing is new--even
in a novel--and 'hop,' in this sense, is at least as old as _Joseph
Andrews_.

* * * * *

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Mr. Dashwood introduced him _Frontispiece_

His son's son, a child of four years old

"I cannot imagine how they will spend half of it"

So shy before company

They sang together

He cut off a long lock of her hair

"I have found you out in spite of all your tricks"

Apparently In violent affliction

Begging her to stop

Came to take a survey of the guest

"I declare they are quite charming"

Mischievous tricks

Drinking to her best affections

Amiably bashful

"I can answer for it," said Mrs. Jennings

At that moment she first perceived him

"How fond he was of it!"

Offered him one of Folly's puppies

A very smart beau

Introduced to Mrs. Jennings

Mrs. Jennings assure