and lady and as it proved had been left at home during their parents temporary absence in the of nurse and lord was fond of the children rather indifferent towards his wife since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy all children instinctively ran after looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown up elder it had now become an established rule that whenever she met them � indoors or out of doors or sundays � they were to be pressed against her face and bosom for the space of a quarter of a minute and otherwise made much of on the delightful system of a pair of blue eyes epithet and caress to which girls will occasionally abandon themselves a look of by the towards the door by which they had entered directed attention to a maid servant appearing from the same quarter to put an end to this sweet freedom of the poor mary and wish you lived here miss one like a melancholy so do i the other like a rather more melancholy mamma can t play with us so nicely as you do i don t think she ever learnt playing when she was little when shall we come to see you as soon as you like and sleep at your house all night that s what i mean by coming to see you i don t care to see people with hats and on and all standing up and walking about as soon as we can get mamma s permission you shall come and stay as long as ever you like the prisoners were then led off again turning her attention to her guest whom she had left standing at the remote end of the gallery on looking around for him he was nowhere to be seen stepped down to the library thinking he might have rejoined her father there but mr now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles was still alone of letters and papers and tying them up again as did not stand on a sufficiently intimate footing with the object k her interest to justify her as a proper young lady to commence the active search for him that youthful prompted and as nevertheless for a reason connected with those cut lips of his she did not like him to be absent a pair of blue eyes from her side she wandered back to the oak staircase and casting her eyes about in hope of his boyish figure though daylight still prevailed in the rooms the were in a depth of shadow � chill sad and silent and it was only by looking along them towards light spaces beyond that anything or anybody could be discerned therein one of these light spots she found to be caused by a side door with glass in the upper part opened it and found herself a secondary or inner lawn separated from the principal lawn front by a and now she saw a sight at right angles to the face of the wing she had emerged from and within a few feet of the door out another wing of the mansion lower and with less character immediately opposite to her in the wall of this wing was a large broad window having its blind drawn down and illuminated by a light in the room it on the blind was a shadow from somebody close inside it � a person in the was that of it was just possible to see that his arms were uplifted and that his hands held an article of some kind then another shadow appeared � also in � and came close to him this was the shadow of a woman she turned her back towards he lifted and held out what now proved to be a shawl or mantle � placed it carefully � so carefully � round the lady disappeared reappeared in her front � fastened the mantle did he then kiss her surely not yet the motion might have been a kiss then both shadows swelled to colossal dimensions � grew distorted � vanished two minutes elapsed ah miss i am so glad to find a pair of blue eyes you i was looking for you said a voice at her elbow � s voice she stepped into the passage do you know any of the members of this establishment said she not a single one how should i he replied vi fare thee awhile i simultaneously with the conclusion of s remark the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighbourhood reached s ears it came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room she then discerned by the aid of the dusky departing light a figure whose sex was walking down the path by the towards the river the figure grew fainter and vanished under the trees mr s voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building they their steps and found him with his coat up and his hat on awaiting their advent in a mood of self satisfaction at having brought his search to a successful close the carriage was brought round and without further delay the drove away from the mansion under the echoing arch and along by the as the stars began to their trembling lights behind the of branches and twigs no words were spoken either by youth or maiden a pair of blue eyes her mind was completely occupied in its recent acquisition the young man who had inspired her with such novelty of feeling who had come directly from london on business to her father having been brought by chance to house had by some means or other acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein and of her by 