able, and furnished evidently with everything
desired by the hearts of its possessors. That fact has perhaps more to
do with the pleasant, _liveable_ air of a house than aesthetic tastes
or artistic combinations apart from it. There was a roomy verandah,
with settees and cane chairs, and roses climbing up the pillars and
draping the balustrade. The hall, which was entered next, was wide and
homelike, furnished with settees also, and one or two tables, for
summer occupation, when doors could be set open front and back and the
wind play through. Nobody was there to-day, and Dallas turned to a door
at the right and opened it. This let them into a large room where a
fire was burning, and a soft genial warmth met them, along with a
certain odour, which Esther noticed and felt without knowing what it
was. It was very faint, yet unmistakeable; and was a compound probably
made up from the old wood of the house, burning coals in the chimney,
great cleanliness, and a distant, hidden, secret store of all manner of
delicate good things, fruits and sweets and spices, of which Mrs.
Dallas's store closet held undoubtedly a great stock and variety. The
brass of the old-fashioned grate glittered in the sunlight, it was so
beautifully kept; between the windows hung a circular mirror, to the
frame of which were appended a number of spiral, slim, curling
branches, like vine tendrils, each sustaining a socket for a candle.
The rest of the furniture was good; dark and old and comfortable;
painted vases were on the mantelpiece, and an old portrait hung over
it. The place made a peculiar agreeable impression upon any one
entering it; ease and comfort and good living were so at home in it,
and so invited one to take part in its advantages. Esther had hardly
been in the house since the death of her mother, and it struck her
almost as a stranger. So did the lady sitting there, in state, as it
seemed to the girl.

For Mrs. Dallas was a stately person. Handsome, tall, of somewhat large
and full figure and very upright carriage; handsomely dressed; and with
a calm, superior air of confidence, which perhaps had more effect than
all the other good properties mentioned. She was sitting in an
easy-chair, with some work in her hands, by a little work-table on
which lay one or two handsomely bound books. She looked up and reviewed
Esther as her son and she came in.

'I have brought Esther Gainsborough, mother; you know her, don't you?'

'I know her, ce