AUTHOR OF "MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS," "STORY ... OF A ROYAL "FAVOURITE," ETC. 9 "Ce gros Suisse ayant apporté dans sa cabane un panier rempli de grenouilles, "Ma foi,' répondit-il,—' tant pis pour eux."" Welcome, Immortal !-welcome to thy grave.-BUTLER. AN unusual degree of stir and bustle was perceptible one Midsummer day in the household at Hillingdon Hall, a fine old seat in Lancashire, belonging to a fine young lord, who derived both his title and income from the property. Housemaids and lady'smaids were seen scudding, with an air of importance, along the corridors; and a chaise, with jaded and smoking post-horses, was drawn up near the offices. considerable importance was Some event of evidently in progress. VOL. I M86349 B The butler stood on the steps of the grand portico overlooking the park, exhibiting his:broad red face and broad white waistcoat; while, with an outspread hand overshading his eyes, he peered out upon the distant domain, in hopes of obtaining a glimpse of my lord, who had sauntered out after luncheon with his dogs. But no Lord Hillingdon was to be seen! Divers menials of the house, from the standard footman in his plush and tags to the stable-helper in his fustian suit, were vainly despatched in search of him; and it was not till his return two hours afterwards, at the summons of the dinner-gong, that his lordship was apprized by a portly dame, arrayed in dimity and valenciennes, that he was father of a son and heir, and that my lady was "as well as could be expected." 66 My lord" expected, apparently, that she should be as well as usual; for instantly rushing to her apartment, without regard to the admonitions of the nurse or the warning of closed window-shutters and muffled doors, he signified in his usual robust and sportsmanlike tones to the invalid his joy that all was over, and his gratitude at being blest with a boy. Lady Hillingdon was too languid either to remonstrate or reply; but the stately dame in dimity hastened to conduct him into the adjoining chamber; where, attended by half-a-dozen smiling, chattering ladies of the bedchamber, the new-born babe, half smothered in lace and cambric, lay nestling in a costly crib, as fine as silk, gilding, and rosewood could render the first receptacle of a creature of clay, newly struggled into a world of care and tribulation. All made way for the happy father; who was requested to admire his own dimple on the chin of his little son, and my lady's sweet smile upon lips which were just then distorted by a recent dose of physic into an |