Her kingdom

THE family lawyer had left her; she had listened with tightened lips, as through a labyrinth of legal phrases, he had informed her that she could only count upon five-and-twenty...

"I am writing to you, because I feel that in our interview yesterday I was rude, abrupt, and much too peremptory. I was ill at ease, and did not control my feelings. Now I reali...

Such an exquisite view was before her. First a sloping green park with magnificent old spreading trees grouped here and there, under which cattle were browsing, then the blue la...

WHEN Justin reached home that evening, he found dinner in the dining-room. A bowl of pink tulips adorned the table. Anstice in a black lace gown with some early white roses at h...

One was that Ruffie possessed real talent in drawing, was fond of music, and had a most beautiful little voice in singing. The other was that Josie shared Ruffie's love for musi...

MONDAY dawned bright and fair. The picnic on the lake was a great success. Ruffie was made comfortable with cushions in the boat, and the little girls were allowed to take an oa...

COLONEL DERMOT turned up punctually at tea-time the next afternoon. It was laid in the drawing-room, and the children were invited down for the occasion. Ruffie was much excited...

ONE day Anstice took one of her long rambles over the Fells. Rain had kept her in the house for over a week. She felt that mentally and physically she needed a change of environ...

"Many thanks for your letter and all your news. I don't doubt that you're working wonders in my household. I shall be duly grateful on my next visit home. Out here, my house and...

SNOW-CAPPED Helvellyn's heights. Butterdale Manor looked out upon white-crested Fells across a dark purple lake. The house itself was shuttered up for the night. Justin Holme, i...

IT was snowing heavily, the Fells were covered, the roads were blocked. Outside was a grey cold world. But inside the Manor, the log-fires were blazing and sputtering, the thick...

ANSTICE found her cousin, as she expected, much in her usual health. She had had a bad cold, but was getting over it, and had come up to London for the purpose of shopping combi...

Anstice's young cousins, Julia and Mabel Barrett, were very useful to her in many ways. They were as ready to arrange flowers, and make themselves pleasant to the elder folk, as...

IT was not long before Anstice visited Miss Maybrick again, and before she came away, she had been entreated to go to the elder sister and pave the way for a reconciliation betw...

SPRING was on its way. Justin seemed happy and content in his home. There was no talk of going off with his yacht. Occasionally he suggested a trip round the coast of Scotland w...

MISS CARRIE'S funeral took place three days later, and Justin and Anstice both attended it. The little churchyard away in the lovely Fells struck Anstice as peculiarly beautiful...

"It is rather too long for you, darling," Anstice told him. "You mustn't be unhappy at staying at home. To-morrow, if it is fine, it will be your turn. You and I will go off tog...

THE children's hour was over. Anstice sat outside on the terrace enjoying a rest. She heard their happy chatter in the rooms above her, as they were being got ready for bed. It...

Anstice and Brenda were both busy cutting and shaping some frocks for the little girls out of some white serge on the nursery table. Ruffie was lying on his couch by the window,...

"I have just heard," Anstice said slowly, "that there is an outbreak of scarlet fever in the village, and I am sorry to say that Hal Cross is down with it. Stephen has just been...