"Yes, miss," said the maid. "Fashions change so soon, don't they?"

It was beautifully done, and Celia laughed again, appreciatively. The

place had seemed to her a kind of Paradise, and certainly it was

inhabited, judging by the specimens she had seen, by persons of angelic

amiability. She was so excited that she could scarcely drink her tea,

and when Mrs. Dexter reappeared, she sprang up all eagerness. For half

an an hour she went from room to room, almost speechless with admiration

and a delighted awe. It was her first experience of a house of the size

and grandeur of Thexford Hall, and almost at every step she took she was

trying to realize that she was actually going to live there. And to be

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paid £150 per annum for doing so!

"Now I'll show you the library," said Mrs. Dexter. "Naturally, that will

interest you more than anything else, though our state-rooms are

considered to be very fine. Indeed, the drawing-room, with the Inigo

chimneypieces, is said to be unique. This is the library."

She opened a thick mahogany door, and as Celia crossed the threshold an

exclamation of ecstatic delight escaped her lips. And not without cause;

for the Thexford library is a famous one. Celia was not unduly impressed

by the number of the books, though the collection is by no means a small

one, for she had spent weeks and months at the British Museum Reading

Room; but the subdued splendour of the room, its vaulted roof, its ebony

bookcases, enriched by Wedgwood plaques, the great fireplace, with its

marble mantelpiece rising to the very ceiling, kept her for a minute or

two dumb with amazement.

"No doubt you will spend a great deal of your time here," said Mrs.

Dexter. "I have had the fire lit; we burn wood only in the larger

rooms." She nodded towards the great logs glowing between the brazen

dogs and giving the room not only warmth but an air of comfort and

homeliness. "I hope you will find everything you want; but if not, you

have only to ask for it. His lordship sent me special instructions that

I was to provide you with everything you required."

"As if anyone could want anything more than there is here," said Celia,

with a smile and upraised brows. "The Marquess must be a very kind man;

he has been so good and thoughtful."

"He is," said Mrs. Dexter. "But people of his rank always are kind to

those in their service. At least, that is my experience. You have not

seen his lordship?"




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