hercock, below the architrave
of which was a sun-dial, set in the stonework; and another dial stood in
the garden, with the common and beautiful motto,--

"Non numero horas, nisi serenas!"*

* "I number not the hours, unless sunny."

On the other side of the bay window a huge buttress cast its mass of
shadow. There was something in the appearance of the whole place that
invited to contemplation and repose,--something almost monastic. The
gayety of the teeming spring-time could not divest the spot of a certain
sadness, not displeasing, however, whether to the young, to whom there
is a luxury in the vague sentiment of melancholy, or to those who,
having known real griefs, seek for an anodyne in meditation and memory.
The low lead-coloured door, set deep in the turret, was locked, and the
bell beside it broken. Caroline turned impatiently away. "We must go
round to the other side," said she, "and try to make the deaf old man
hear us."

"Oh, Carry!" cried Cecilia, "the great window is open;" and she ran up
the steps.

"That is lucky," said Caroline; and the rest followed Cecilia.

Evelyn now stood within the library of which Mrs. Merton had spoken. It
was a large room, about fifty feet in length, and proportionably wide;
somewhat dark, for the light came only from the one large window through
which they entered; and though the window rose to the cornice of the
ceiling, and took up one side of the apartment, the daylight was subdued
by the heaviness of the stonework in which the narrow panes were set,
and by the glass stained with armorial bearings in the upper part of the
casement. The bookcases, too, were of the dark oak which so much
absorbs the light; and the gilding, formerly meant to relieve them, was
discoloured by time.

The room was almost disproportionably lofty; the ceiling, elaborately
coved, and richly carved with grotesque masks, preserved the Gothic
character of the age in which it had been devoted to a religious
purpose. Two fireplaces, with high chimney-pieces of oak, in which were
inserted two portraits, broke the symmetry of the tall bookcases. In one
of these fireplaces were half-burnt logs; and a huge armchair, with a
small reading-desk beside it, seemed to bespeak the recent occupation of
the room. On the fourth side, opposite the window, the wall was covered
with faded tapestry, representing the meeting of Solomon and the Queen
of Sheba; the arras was nailed over doors on either hand,--the