"And to my aunt!" exclaimed Gertrude. "I wish my father could be persuaded
to dispose of his estates in Carolina, and come northward, to reside the
whole year."

"It is not quite as easy for an affluent proprietor to remove as you may
imagine, my child," returned Mrs de Lacey. "Much as I wish that some such
plan could be adopted, I never press my brother on the subject. Besides, I
am not certain, that, if we were ever to make another change in the
family, it would not be to return _home_ altogether. It is now more than a
century, Mrs Wyllys, since the Graysons came into the colonies, in a
moment of dissatisfaction with the government in England. My
great-grandfather sir Everard, was displeased with his second son, and the
dissension led my grandfather to the province of Carolina. But, as the
breach has long since been healed, I often think my brother and myself may
yet return to the halls of our ancestors. Much will, however, depend on
the manner in which we dispose of our treasure on this side of the
Atlantic."

As the really well-meaning, though, perhaps, a little too much
self-satisfied lady concluded her remark, she glanced her eye at the
perfectly unconscious subject of the close of her speech. Gertrude had, as
usual, when her aunt chose to favour her governess with any of her family
reminiscences, turned her head aside, and was now offering her cheek,
burning with health, and perhaps a little with shame, to the cooling
influence of the evening breeze. The instant the voice of Mrs de Lacey had
ceased, she turned hastily to her companions; and, pointing to a
noble-looking ship, whose masts, as it lay in the inner harbour, were seen
rising above the roofs of the town, she exclaimed, as if glad to change
the subject in any manner,--