that their wives may
amuse themselves with lodgers in their absence. The church is the
weakest point in this otherwise charming place. The nearest, and
actually the parish church, is a hideous compo structure, built in
the worst of times as a chapel of ease to S. Clements. I am afraid
my mother's loyalty to the parochial system will make her secure a
pew there, though at the farther end of the town there is a new
church which is all that can be wished, and about a mile and a half
inland there is a village church called Hollyford, held, I believe,
by a former fellow-curate of Horace Druce. Perhaps they will
exchange duties, if Horace can be persuaded to take a longer holiday
than merely for the three weeks he has provided for at Bourne Parva.
They cannot come till Monday week, but our Oxford professor and his
party come on Thursday, and Edith will bring her girls the next day.
Her husband, our Q.C., cannot come till his circuit is over, but of
course you know more about his movements than I do. I wonder you
have never said anything about those girls of his, but I suppose you
class them as unattainable. I have said nothing to my mother or
Emily of our plans, as I wish to be perfectly unbiased, and as I
have seen none of the nieces for five years, and am prepared to
delight in them all, I may be reckoned as a blank sheet as to their
merits.--Your affectionate sister,

CHARLOTTE FULFORD.

JULY 4.--By noon to-day arrived Martyn, {127} with Mary his wife,
Margaret and Avice their daughters, Uchtred their second son, and
poor Harry Fulford's orphan, Isabel, who has had a home with them
ever since she left school. Though she is only a cousin once
removed, she seems to fall into the category of eligible nieces, and
indeed she seems the obvious companion for us, as she has no home,
and seems to me rather set aside among the others. I hope there is
no jealousy, for she is much better looking than her cousins, with
gentle, liquid eyes, a pretty complexion, and a wistful expression.
Moreover, she is dressed in a quiet ladylike way, whereas grandmamma
looked out just now in the twilight and said, "My dear Martyn, have
you brought three boys down?" It was a showery, chilly evening, and
they were all out admiring the waves. Ulsters and sailor hats were
appropriate enough then, but the genders were not easy to
distinguish, especially as the elder girl wears her hair short--no
improvement to a keen face which needs softeni