'I hope Rupert will not teaze her as he used to do,' said Lady
Merton; 'last time she was here, his teazing and her whining were
nearly unbearable.'

'Oh! she must have outgrown whining,' said Anne.

'I am afraid you cannot promise me that he has outgrown teazing,'
said Lady Merton.

'The one depends upon the other,' said Anne; 'if she does not whine,
he will not teaze. But had I not better finish my letter to him, and
tell him he must shorten his stay on the Border?'

'Yes, do so,' said Lady Merton; 'and tell him not to lose his keys as
usual.'

'I suppose they are gone by this time,' said Anne, as Lady Merton
left the room, and she sat down to her desk to write to her brother.




CHAPTER II.



Abbeychurch St. Mary's was a respectable old town, situated at the
foot of St. Austin's Hill, a large green mound of chalk, named from
an establishment of Augustine Friars, whose monastery (now converted
into alms-houses) and noble old church were the pride of the county.