which he
had not thought it worth while to mention--namely, that it would afford
him an opportunity of addressing himself with effect to a very important
and complicated question, which was to be brought before the House
shortly after its reassembling, and of which he then knew,
comparatively speaking, nothing at all. For this purpose he had had a
quantity of Parliamentary papers, &c. &c. &c., packed up and sent down
by coach; and he quite gloated over the prospect of their being duly
deposited upon his table, in the tranquil leisure of his library, at
Yatton. But quietly as he supposed all this to have been managed, Mrs.
Aubrey and Kate had a most accurate knowledge of his movements, and
resolved within themselves, (being therein comforted and assisted by old
Mrs. Aubrey,) that, as at their instances Mr. Aubrey had come down to
Yatton, so they would take care that he should have not merely nominal,
but real holidays. Unless he thought fit to rise at an early hour in the
morning, (which Mrs. Aubrey, junior, took upon herself to say _she_
would take care should never be the case,) it was decreed that he should
not be allowed to waste more than two hours a-day alone in his library.
'T was therefore in vain for him to sit at breakfast with eye aslant and
thought-laden brow, as if meditating a long day's seclusion; somehow or
another, he never got above an hour to himself. He was often momentarily
petulant on these occasions, and soon saw through the designs of his
enemies; but he so heartily and tenderly loved them--so thoroughly
appreciated the affection which dictated their little manoeuvres--that
he soon surrendered at discretion, and, in fact, placed himself almost
entirely at their mercy; resolving to make up for lost time on his
return to town, and earnestly hoping that the interests of the nation
would not suffer in the mean while! In short, the ladies of Yatton had
agreed on their line of operations: that almost every night of their
stay in the country should be devoted either to entertaining or visiting
their neighbors; and as a preparatory movement, that the days (weather
permitting) should be occupied with exercise in the open air; in making
"morning" calls on neighbors at several miles' distance from the Hall
and from each other; and from which they generally returned only in time
enough to dress for dinner. As soon, indeed, as the _York True Blue_
(the leading county paper) had announced the arrival at Yatton o