road that went up a hill, nearly at the top of which we
came to a pair of noble old carved iron gates, surmounted with a
coat-of-arms, and supported on each side by massive stone pillars,
about which the ivy twined lovingly.

An old man came out of a pretty rustic-looking lodge and opened
theses gates, and we drove through an avenue of some extent, which
led straight to the front of the house, the aspect of which
delighted me. It was very old and massively built, and had quite a
baronial look, I thought. There was a wide stone terrace with
ponderous moss-grown stone balustrades round three sides of it, and
at each angle a broad flight of steps leading down to a second
terrace, with sloping green banks that melted into the turf of the
lawn. The house stood on the summit of a hill, and from one side
commanded a noble view of the sea.

A lady came out of the curious old stone porch as the carriage drove
up, and stood at the top of the terrace steps waiting for us. I
guessed immediately that this must be Mrs. Darrell.

Milly hung back a little shyly, as her father led her up the steps
with her hand through his arm. She was very pale, and I could see
that she was trembling. Mrs. Darrell came forward to her quickly,
and kissed her.

'My darling Emily,' she cried, 'I am so delighted to see you at
last.--O William, you did not deceive me when you promised me a
beautiful daughter.'

Milly blushed, and smiled at this compliment, but still clung to her
father, with shy downcast eyes.

I had time to look at Mrs. Darrell while this introduction was being
made. She was not by any means a beautiful woman, but she was what I
suppose would have been called eminently interesting. She was tall
and slim, very graceful-looking, with a beautiful throat and a well-
shaped head. Her features, with the exception of her eyes, were in
no way remarkable; but those were sufficiently striking to give
character to a face that might otherwise have been insipid. They
were large luminous gray eyes, with black lashes, and rather
strongly-marked brows of a much darker brown than her hair. That was
of a nondescript shade, neither auburn nor chestnut, and with little
light or colour in its soft silky masses; but it seemed to harmonise
very well with her pale complexion. Lavater has warned us to
distrust any one whose hair and eyebrows are of a different colour.
I remembered this as I looked at Mrs. Darrell.

She was dressed in white; and I fancied