glittering on the spire of some small gray church, while as yet in
many valleys a pale gray mist lay along the bed of the level streams
or clung to the dense woods on the upland heights! Which was the more
beautiful--the sharp, clear picture, with its brilliant colors and
its awakening life, or the more mystic landscape over which was still
drawn the tender veil of the morning haze? She could not tell. She
only knew that England, as she then saw it, seemed a great country
that was very beautiful, that had few inhabitants, and that was still
and sleepy, and bathed in sunshine. How happy must the people be who
lived in those quiet green valleys by the side of slow and smooth
rivers, and amid great woods and avenues of stately trees, the like of
which she had not imagined even in her dreams!

But from the moment that they got out at Euston Square she seemed a
trifle bewildered, and could only do implicitly as her husband bade
her--clinging to his hand, for the most part, as if to make sure of
guidance. She did indeed glance somewhat nervously at the hansom into
which Lavender put her, apparently asking how such a tall and narrow
two-wheeled vehicle could be prevented toppling over. But when he,
having sent on all their luggage by a respectable old four-wheeler,
got into the hansom beside her, and put his hand inside her arm, and
bade her be of good cheer that she should have such a pleasant morning
to welcome her to London, she said "Yes" mechanically, and only looked
out in a wistful fashion at the great houses and trees of Euston
Square, the mighty and roaring stream of omnibuses, the droves of
strangers, mostly clad in black, as if they were going to church, and
the pale blue smoke that seemed to mix with the sunshine and make it
cold and distant.

They were in no hurry, these two, on that still morning, and so, to