wans that expatiated there. The bedeswomen, ten in number, had
a house arranged like an ordinary nunnery, except that they were not in
seclusion, had no grating, and shared the quadrangle with the alms-folk
and children. They were gentle and well-nurtured women, chiefly
belonging to the city and country families that furnished servants to the
queens; and they applied themselves to various offices of charity, going
forth into the city to tend the poor, and to teach the women and
children. The appointments of alms-folk and admissions to the school
were chiefly made at their recommendation; and though a master taught all
the book-learning in the busy hive of scholars--eighty in number--one or
more of them instructed the little girls in spinning and in stitchery, to
say nothing of gentle and modest demeanour. There was a great look of
happiness and good order about all; and the church, fair and graceful,
seemed well to complete and rule the institution. Esclairmonde could but
sigh with a sort of regret as she left it, and let herself be conducted
by Sir Richard Whittington to a refection at his beautiful house in
Crutched Friars, built round a square, combining warehouse and
manor-house; richly-carved shields, with the arms of the companies of
London, supporting the tier of first-floor windows, and another row of
brackets above supporting another overhanging story. A fountain was in
the centre of a beautiful greensward, with beds of roses, pansies, pinks,
stars of Bethlehem, and other good old flowers, among which a monkey was
chained to a tree, while a cat roamed about at a safe distance from him.

Alice Montagu raised a laugh by asking if it were _the_ cat; to which her
city namesake replied that 'her master' never could abide to be without a
cat in memory of his first friend, and marshalled them into the beautiful
hall, with wainscot lining below, surmounted by an arcade containing
statues, and above a beautiful carved ceiling. Here a meal was served to
them, and the Lady talked with Whittington of the grand town-halls and
other buildings of the merchants of the Low Countries, with whom he was a
trader for their rich stuffs; and the visit passed off with no small
satisfaction to both parties.

Esclairmonde sat in the barge on her return, looking out on the gray
clear water, and on the bright gardens that sloped down to it, gay with
roses and fruitful with mulberries, apples, and strawberries, and the
mansions and