The Laurel Walk

The next day passed so uneventfully that Betty began to think that for once the Fates had taken her at her word, and that the episode of Mr Littlewood's visit might be forgotten...

It was a good house, though with nothing very distinctive about it; one of the class that now, at the end of the nineteenth-century, people are beginning to look upon as somewha...

Pleasant bits in life's journey are in reality not unfrequently monotonous, though this fact may not be realised at the time. This much indeed is certain: that they often leave...

Ten days, a fortnight passed, a few hurried words from Madeleine reporting the re-installation of her mother and herself in their London house for the season, full of affectiona...

There was a chemist's shop at Craig Bay, quite a smart chemist's shop, with plate-glass windows and the orthodox "purple" and other coloured jars of Rosamund fame. It was one of...

That evening, that still chilly evening, was always in Frances' mind, when she recalled the winter of the Littlewoods' sojourn at Craig-Morion, associated with the eve of the re...

There is a commonplace saying that old people love best the springtime of the year, as it brings back the brighter memories of their youth, and to a certain extent the sense of...

Luncheon at Fir Cottage was not an attractive meal. Perhaps the least so of the three principal repasts of the day. There was a certain flavour of early dinner about it, recalli...

Frances stood for a moment in hesitation. Should she go home at once, or stroll a little farther? No one was wanting her at Fir Cottage just then, and she rather shrank from _te...

The summons had come from one of the younger girls, for they had reached a point on the road to Scaling Harbour at which there was a question of two ways thither.

Inside, though of course the sunny daylight out-of-doors was still at its full, thanks to the high pews, and narrow windows deep set in the massive walls, all was dusk and gloom...

A day or two passed. The weather fulfilled its amiable promises to the Littlewoods on their first arrival, and was all that could be desired, excepting that the cold increased.

The storm had burst. Poor little Betty's half-superstitious misgivings, that in their case "the course of true love" was "running too smooth" to last, for her and Horace, seemed...

Frances' face grew still brighter. She had dreaded for her sisters an entrance into an already crowded room, for such to their inexperienced eyes would it have appeared a quarte...

There was no waiting for tea this afternoon; on the contrary, when the three girls reached home, tea was waiting for them, and, beside the table, their mother, with unmistakable...

"I am afraid," he said, turning to his hostess apologetically, "I am afraid I must not allow myself to enjoy a cup of your excellent tea, for that must be Mr Littlewood. He's be...

The Littlewoods' guests left the next day, all, that is to say, except the owner of Craig-Morion himself, who, finding more to interest and occupy him than he had anticipated, w...

Mrs Littlewood glanced up quickly as Betty and Ryder Morion entered the room. She was seated not far from the door, showing some photographs of her grandchildren to Mrs Charlemo...

If Mrs Littlewood's intention had been to meet the newcomer in the hall, and by the exercise of some diplomacy prevent his joining the party of ladies in the drawing-room, it wa...

The luncheon bell rang at that moment. Eira, on the tiptoe of expectation, took her place quietly at table, and no one would have suspected the spirit of mischief which was larg...

Alas! for poor Betty, the little gate, her only hope of escape, _was_ padlocked. At the first moment she scarcely realised this. She seized its upper bar by both hands and shook...

"Why do you ask? I am not given to bad nights. I slept very well, except that I think one never sleeps quite as soundly the first night in a new place," she replied.

"Really, Betty," said Frances, for _her_, almost crossly, "you are too bad! Did I elect to have a _tete-a-tete_ with Mr Littlewood? If it were worth while I might blame you and...

Things, externally at least, had brightened up by the next morning. The rain had ceased during the night, and some rays of sunshine, doubly welcome after its late absence, thoug...