Dickens subsequently purchased the property;--which will be found at the
end of this chapter.

Before seeking permission to enter the grounds of Gad's Hill Place,
which are surrounded by a high wall, and screened externally by a row of
well-topped lime-trees, we retrace our steps for a few minutes, in order
to refresh ourselves with a homely luncheon, and what Mr. Richard
Swiveller would call a "modest quencher," at the Sir John Falstaff. It
may be certain that not much time is consumed in this operation. We then
take a good look at the remarkable house opposite, the object of our
pilgrimage, which has been made well known by countless photographs and
engravings. It is a comfortable, but a not very attractive-looking
red-brick house of two stories, with porch at entrance, partly covered
with ivy. All the front windows, with the exception of the central ones,
are bayed, and there are dormer windows in the roof, which is surmounted
by a bell-turret and vane. What a strange fascination it has for
admirers of Dickens when seen for the first time! According to Forster,
in his _Life_ of the novelist, the house was built in 1780 by a
well-known local character named James Stevens, who rose to a good
position. He was the father-in-law of the late Professor Henslow, the
Botanist, of Cambridge. Dickens paid for it the sum of L1,790, and the
purchase was completed on Friday, 14th March, 1856. The present owner is
Major Austin F. Budden,[11] of the 12th Kent Artillery Volunteers, who,
we find, in the course of subsequent conversation, had also done good
municipal service, having filled the office of Mayor of Rochester for
two years,--from 1879 to 1881,--and that he was elected at the early age
of twenty-eight.

We ring the bell at the gate which shuts the house out from view, and
are promptly answered by a pleasant-speaking housemaid, who takes our
cards on a salver, and ushers us into the library. We are requested to
enter our names in the visitors' book, and this is done with alacrity.
We are under the impression that we shall only be allowed to see the
hall and study, a privilege allowed to any visitor on presentation of a
card; but fortunately for us the courteous owner appears, and says that,
as he has half an hour to spare, he will show us entirely over the
house. He is better than his word, and we, delighted with the prospect,
commence our inspection of the late home of the great novelist with
feelings of singular pleasure,