appearances. Nay, I am sure that, had I told you what was said
about that room, those very reports would have induced you, by
your own choice, to select it for your accommodation. It was my
misfortune, perhaps my error, but really cannot be termed my
fault, that you have been afflicted so strangely."

"Strangely indeed!" said the General, resuming his good temper;
"and I acknowledge that I have no right to be offended with your
lordship for treating me like what I used to think myself--a man
of some firmness and courage. But I see my post horses are
arrived, and I must not detain your lordship from your
amusement."

"Nay, my old friend," said Lord Woodville, "since you cannot stay
with us another day--which, indeed, I can no longer urge--give me
at least half an hour more. You used to love pictures, and I
have a gallery of portraits, some of them by Vandyke,
representing ancestry to whom this property and castle formerly
belonged. I think that several of them will strike you as
possessing merit."

General Browne accepted the invitation, though somewhat
unwillingly. It was evident he was not to breathe freely or at
ease till he left Woodville Castle far behind him. He could not
refuse his friend's invitation, however; and the less so, that he
was a little ashamed of the peevishness which he had displayed
towards his well-meaning entertainer.

The General, therefore, followed Lord Woodville through several
rooms into a long gallery hung with pictures, which the latter