scent by means of flights of steps,
but then scarcely more than a bridle path, rough and slippery to the
feet.

The door was open and Gilbert walked in, and walked upstairs. His mother
was on the watch, and came to the head of the stairs to meet him,
kissing him affectionately.

"Well, my dear son, are you pleased with our quarters? But, Gilbert, you
do not look well; what is the matter?"

"Nothing; I had a tussle with a Somersetshire miner last evening, and
feel as if I had got the worst of it to-day. What a lovely view you have
from the window!"

The young lady who had spoken to him on the balcony now stepped into the
room.

"Well, Gilbert, Aunt Annabella and I had quite given you up. My dear
cousin, you look very lugubrious."

"Do I?" Gilbert replied. "A head-ache is a lugubrious thing; and how are
you, Gratian?"

"Pretty well. I have been rather out of sorts; but I shall soon recover,
now you are come."

"That is a very pretty speech, Gratian, only I can't quite believe it."

"Well, I am going to take a walk abroad now, and leave you and your
mother to have a chat together, all about Fairy Acre, or Fair Acre;
which is it? I am very stupid; pray forgive me. Any commissions in the
Mall or Regent Street, Aunt Bella?"

Mrs. Arundel, who had been getting her son some refreshment from one of
the deep cupboards by the fire place, and was anxious to administer a
glass of wine, now turned towards her niece. "No. Are you going alone,
Gratian?"

"Yes, I am starting alone; I don't mean to fall over the rocks.
Good-bye."

Gratian Anson was long past her _premiere jeunesse_, and had never been
actually pretty; but she was one of those women who exercise an
extraordinary fascination apparently without any effort, and have their
prey in their net, before there is any suspicion that the net is spread.

Gratian dressed fashionably, and one of her perfections was a tall and
well-proportioned figure. We might not, now-a-days, think it was set off
by her short and full-flounced muslin gown, made with a short waist,
the body cut low, while over it she wore an enormous pelerine of muslin,
edged with lace, which was crossed ever her breast and fastened with a
curious antique brooch.

Even Gratian's tall figure could scarcely bear gracefully the width
which fashion had decreed; and all was surmounted by a hat with a
sugar-loaf crown, and a deep brim caught up on the left side by a large
red rosette.

As she drew on her