Faringfield; one that he could understand, and could
not fairly oppose. For, hearkee, all the way home, when I looked
forward to the future, the architectural part of it was not in my
head. I was thinking of the famous historic places I should see; the
places where great men have lived; the birthplace and grave of
Shakespeare; the palaces where great pageants and tragedies have been
enacted; the scenes of great battles; the abbey where so many poets
and kings and queens are buried; the Tower where such memorable dramas
have occurred; the castles that have stood since the days of chivalry;
and Oxford; and the green fields of England that poets have written
of, and the churchyard of Gray's Elegy; and all that kind of thing."
[Illustration: "OUR MOTIONS, AS WE TOUCHED OUR LIPS WITH THEM, WERE SO
IN UNISON THAT MARGARET LAUGHED."]
"Ay, and something of the gay life of the present, I'll warrant," said
I, with a smile; "the playhouses, and the taverns, and the parks, and
Vauxhall, and the assembly-rooms; and all _that_ kind of thing."
"Why, yes, 'tis true. And I wish you were to go with me."
"Alas, I'm tied down here. Some day, perhaps--"
"What are you two talking of?" The interruption came in a soft, clear,
musical voice, of which the instant effect was to make us both start
up, and turn toward the fence, with hastened hearts and smiling faces.
Margaret stood erect, looking over the palings at us, backed by the
green and flowered bushes through which she and Fanny had moved
noiselessly toward the fence in quest of nosegays for the
supper-table.
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