nth or two passed
on, and no steps seemed taken on the part of the purchaser to avail
himself of his new acquisition. Day after day Mr Gillingham Howard
looked up to the tuft of trees that crowned the beautiful field beyond
his park, and on seeing no symptoms of cutting down, nor other
preparations for house-building, began to indulge in the pleasing
anticipation that the old gentleman had no intention of the kind; and
by cherishing this idea for some time, he succeeded at last in
believing, that if he did in reality turn his ground to any such a
purpose, he would be guilty of a fresh injustice. Three months had
elapsed, and the beautiful colours of Autumn just unfurled themselves
in order to be struck at the first broadside of a November frost--the
sun was shining so warmly, that the leaves had every reason to be
ashamed of their yellow complexions; and a young lady--like a
butterfly awakened by the brightness of the day--fluttered forward
from the porch of Surbridge Hall, dressed in all the hues of the
rainbow. A green bonnet, a pink pelisse, a red shawl, and lilac
parasol, were scarcely in keeping with the sylvan scene on which she
hurriedly entered. She was very tall and very thin, and had been
taught to walk by a Parisian _promeneuse_ at a guinea a lesson; so
that the tail of her gown described a half circle every time she
stept, and her progress was apparently on the principle of the
propeller screw. A small sketch-book was under her arm, and across her
wrist she bore a supernumerary shawl. "If he should be there again,"
she thought, "he will surely speak. He looked as if he wished to do it
last time. But he's bashful, perhaps, to a person of my rank. Poor
fellow--how handsome he looked as he turned away!" The thought seemed
to be a pleasant one, for a sort of smile rose to her thin lips as she
dwelt on it, and she increased her pace. She opened a little gate, and
moved rapidly on towards an ornamental poultry-house near the boundary
of the estate. The extra shawl was soon spread upon the stump of a
tree, the sketch-book opened, and with her eye intently fixed on the
fantastic chimney of the hen-house, she listened for every sound. She
moved the pencil as if busily engaged in sketching; but, strange to
say, the figure produced by her touch, took (involuntarily as it were)
the appearance of a very handsome young man, for whose bright eyes and
smiling countenance there was no warrant in the twisted bricks and
oddly