rent to the
meanest intellect that a godmother had bequeathed her fortune to Emily,
and that she gave her sister a home and generally supported her, for
which generosity Hannah was duly thankful. The two old ladies
breakfasted in bed every morning, went out for drives at eleven and
three o'clock, ("ambles," Miles called them in scornful reference to the
pace of the sleek old horses), retired to their rooms for naps after
lunch, ate a hearty dinner at eight, and settled down for the night at
ten o'clock.

It does not require the skill of a Sherlock Holmes to discover such
proceedings on the part of our neighbours. The study of electric lights
on gloomy autumn days is wonderfully informing! Number 16 was
uninteresting,--only a stupid man and his wife, who looked like a
hundred other men and their wives; and who had tiresome silk curtains
drawn across the lower panes of their windows, so that it was impossible
to obtain a glimpse of the rooms. Number 17, however, more than ever
made up for this disappointment, for there lived "The Pretty Lady"
beloved by one and all. She was tall, and dark, and young; almost like
a girl, and Betty darkly suspected her of being engaged, for she looked
so beamingly happy, and was often seen walking about with a tall,
handsome man in the shiniest of top-hats. The door of Number 17 was
somewhat out of the line of vision, so that it was not always easy to
see who went in and out, but the young couple often passed the corner of
the Square, and always seemed to be in radiant spirits. Once when the
pretty lady was wearing a new coat, Edwin (of course he was Edwin!) fell
behind a pace or two to study the effect, and softly clapped his hands
in approval. It must be nice, Betty thought wistfully, to be engaged,
and have someone who liked you the best of all, and brought you home
chocolates and flowers! She was anxious to know who formed the other
members of the household, but Jill said there was only an invalid
mother, who said, "Go about as much as ever you can, my darling. Don't
think about me! The young should always be happy;" and this was
accepted by all as a natural and satisfactory explanation.

There were no children to be found in the whole length of the terrace.
The landlords, no doubt, had too much regard for their white enamel and
costly wall-papers to welcome tenants with large families. The
"Pampered Pet" in Number 14 was the nearest approach to a child, and she
must have