York and I don't know where; some of
it very handsome indeed, but I don't care so much about silver, do you?
I remember there were ten salt-cellars, no two alike. But the things we
cared for were the small presents that came from people we knew; people
who loved Hildegarde, not just because she was their grandniece or
something, but because she was herself. Oh, some of them were funny,
girls! There were two dear old people who had come a long way to the
wedding, a Mr. and Mrs. Hartley, with whom Hilda spent a summer when she
was about fifteen, and whom she has been fond of ever since. I should
think she would be; the old lady has a face like Raphael's
grandmother--I can't think of any other way of describing it; and Mr.
Hartley is simply a duck, the dearest funny old man you ever saw. Well,
they brought Hilda the most beautiful toilet-set I ever saw or dreamed
of,--something wonderful, all blue dragons and gilding. Papa said it was
very rare; and Hilda cried when she saw it, and scolded them dreadfully
for bringing it away from its own room; but still she was delighted to
have it, and says she will never use any other. Then there was young
Doctor Chirk,--funny name, isn't it?--Mrs. Flower's brother. Such a
nice, bright, jolly fellow! Well, he was part of that same summer, it
seems, and he carved a beautiful frame out of wood that grew in
Hartley's Glen; and Mrs. Flower, who paints very well, had made a
picture of the glen itself--lovely place!--for the frame, or I suppose
the frame was made to fit the picture, no matter which; and _that_
filled her with joy.

"Then there were the people from Bywood. My dear, Miss Wealthy Bond is
the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, except two. She is just
like live Dresden china, smiling and dimpling; and the dear quaint maid
who came with her, Martha, had made Hildegarde's whole winter provision
of jellies and jams, because 'it wasn't likely Hildegarde would have
time herself this first season, and it wasn't a thing you could trust to
hired help in general.' Miss Bond herself had brought china--my dear!
did you ever see tortoise-shell crockery? Well, it is a most beautiful
thing, and the art was lost a hundred years ago, and each piece is worth
I don't know how much; but this dear old lady had a dozen plates, all
hexagonal, too, and not a single point broken or chipped, and two
pitchers,--well, I haven't the heart even to think of those pitchers, I
wanted them so,--and they we