The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-06-08

old school, with quite the air OF Dir CHARLES
Grandson, entertained the ladies very hos
pitably, and they resented with some warmth
my cynical suggestion that this was done
perhaps for the same reason that wine is
handed round at auctions, to give freedom
to the bidding. Nevertheless they agreed to
take Harrington Hall, on his own terms, be-
fore they left it. Nay, so favorably impressed
were they with their host that, when he men
toned that business unavoidaby called him
up to town, they asked him to look in at
Eccleston Square to lunch, and l had the
honor to meet him on that OCCASION.
His appearance, while typical OF the coun-
try gentleman, struck me as even sometnlng
more. There was certain generous air
about him which reminded me OF those
baronial times Gas represented on canvas)
when hospitality was dispensed with open
hands to grateful vassals. l could picture
him standing on his own hall steps, and Civ.
ing away deer and other kind of superior
game, surrounded by his henchmen. Nay,
the idea haunted me that had actually seen
him doing it, which was absurd; unless,
indeed, (which was just possible) his por-
trait had ever been taken by Royal Acad-
emician The looked too grand for mere
Associate to have done it) to adorn some
such medieval scene. With all this engaging
benevolence of expression, there was quiet
ude OF manner about him which in COM
man man might have been set down to apa-
thy, or even dizziness, but which In Mr.. Mar
maduke Howard, of Harpington Hall, was
obviously Blood.
Toward the end of autumn took advan-
tage of Lady Paragon's invitation to visit
the lakes. l arrived somewhat late, and of
course, in the rain; but there was sufficient
light to note the features of the scenery in
which the hall was placed. 1t was situated
half way up what in London one would
have called a precipice, at the foot of which
lay dark, far-stretchng mere. The carriage
was OF great length, and wound through
forest of pines, above which the mansion
itself lowered in solitary grandeur.
1t was the most imposing edifice that had
yet sheltered even the Paragon household
except, perhaps, their family seat, which 1
had never seenmand possessed. doubtless i'm
mense advantages, but 1t struck mere prac-
tical mind as dreary. 1t was sort of place
that ought to have had banshee on the
premises, and at least one haunted chamber.
To my surprise and relief, found that L was
allowed to drive up to the front door, where 1
was as usual welcomed by Dunscombe (the
ancestral butler) with a solemnity I have
never seen equaled in any other human being,
but which may possibly be the manners of a
Prince of the Church. My reception by the
ladies was as hospitable as ever, butt saw at
OhSO ehnI ooAlObaiuSs w 90 dAioos 1ucIc are
ghosts in the house, no doubt" thought I,
and began to wish myself at the Lake Hotel
idown below among the tourists. However,
I put a good face upon the matter, and, by
way of saying something pleasant, congratu-
lated Miss Helen upon the rope having been
removed from the carriage sweep.
"Oh, as to that" said she indiAferently,
"the rope might as well be at the lodge gates
as at the house itself, for no one ever calls"
"a
horrible ghost, indeed, if it keeps people away
even in the daytimev'
We dined in Gothic apartment of vast
size, the gloom of which very plentiful sup
ply of candles failed to pierce; if it had not
been an irreverence to hint at such thing in
connection with ancestral pictures larger than
lite, and a mantelpiece of carved oak that
projected to an extent suggestive of hydro
cephalus, I should have suggested that few
gas-buFners would have been great improves
ment. Miss Helen, it will be remembered,
when she fell in love with it, had only seen
the Hall by day. Since she had become bet
ter acquainted with it, it was plain enough it
had failed to please her. For my part,
thought the dinner as good as it could be in
so wild a part of the country, where shops
were unknown, and "first catch your sheep''
was probably provision to be made before
you cooked your mutton but I noticed that
41lcc AlClCn llbLlc dpp6LlbG, anu LQdL LQ6
manner in which she said 'sno fish, thank
you," to the butler, would in less angelic
being have had the appearance of temper"
In the hope OF making matters pleasant, I
inquired after Mr.. Howard. emitting him. in
my humorous way, the Lord of Harrington:
but she not only replied that she didn't know,
but said SO in tone that implied unmistaka-
bly, that she didn't care.
had now become positively certain that
there GHOSTS and WOu16 bovo oloI
compounded for simple family spectre,
which would be warranted only to sigh, or
point to buried homes or money But to my
surprise and relief there was no nocturnal
disturbance of any kind. My bed and bed
room were all that the most luxurious Sleep
er could desire; and, indeed, the neatness
and finish of the whole mansion were such
that (if may venture to say so of so his
toric pile) it looked as if 1t had just been
turned out of bandbox. The weather be-
ing wet the next morning, I was shown over
the picture gallery by Lady Paragon in per-
son, Miss Helen unaccountably declining to
act as cicerone--a part she had always been
gaaciously pleased to play on similar occa-
sions; even overheard her remark to her
mother that she hadn't the patience for it."
which thought little rude. 1t was true
the pictures had little attractions, except for
the proprietor and his belonging, for they
were almost all ancestral portraits; Towards
in ruffs, Towards in doublets, Towards in
trunk hose, Towards as ministers of state
with finger on forehead, Towards as soldiers
significantly tapping their sword-hilts, How
ards as shepherdesses with crooks and ewes:
in fact, to an irreverent mind they might
have almost suggested the lines,
OF rabbits young and rabbits old
Of rabbits hot and rabbits cold
OF rabbits tender and rabbits tough.
Thank you, my lady, I've had enough
with the substitution for "rabbits" of the
word "Howards."
"The family, suppose" said I, suppress
ing yawn, ''is of great antiquity"
Lady Paragon murmured something about
"of all ages" which 1 took to be her exagger-
ated style of speaking on such subjects.
"How strange it is" pursued, ''that the
Lord OF Harpington has never married. He
must have been angled for by many stately
dame, no doubt"
"Angled ?" said her ladyship sharply;
''you may well say that"
"And yet he has not been hooked?"
.Hooked"' echoed she again, 'sNo, he has
not been hooked"
80, l see; he is not the last of the How
family"
'Mr. Howard has a married brother, and
plenty of nephews and nieces, belieye.''
BOW felt positively certain that there was
something wrong; she would never have
spoken OF the cadets of this noble line as
'plenty of nephews and neices'' unless that
brother had committed himself in some afro
cious way. He could not have been hanged,
however, or that rope would hardly have
been stretched across the gravelsweep, since
it would naturally remind visitors of the fam