pretty little village with some old houses in it came down to the
edge of the water, over which was a ferry; and beyond these houses
the elm-beset meadows ended in a fringe of tall willows, while on the
right hand went the tow-path and a clear space before a row of trees,
which rose up behind huge and ancient, the ornaments of a great park:
but these drew back still further from the river at the end of the
reach to make way for a little town of quaint and pretty houses, some
new, some old, dominated by the long walls and sharp gables of a
great red-brick pile of building, partly of the latest Gothic, partly
of the court-style of Dutch William, but so blended together by the
bright sun and beautiful surroundings, including the bright blue
river, which it looked down upon, that even amidst the beautiful
buildings of that new happy time it had a strange charm about it. A
great wave of fragrance, amidst which the lime-tree blossom was
clearly to be distinguished, came down to us from its unseen gardens,
as Clara sat up in her place, and said:

"O Dick, dear, couldn't we stop at Hampton Court for to-day, and take
the guest about the park a little, and show him those sweet old
buildings? Somehow, I suppose because you have lived so near it, you
have seldom taken me to Hampton Court."

Dick rested on his oars a little, and said: "Well, well, Clara, you
are lazy to-day. I didn't feel like stopping short of Shepperton for
the night; suppose we just go and have our dinner at the Court, and
go on again about five o'clock?"

"Well," she said, "so be it; but I should like the guest to have
spent an hour or two in the Park."