‘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.
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. Abbeychurch had been a quiet dull
place, scarcely more than a large village, until the
days of railroads, when the sober inhabitants, and
especially the Vicar and his family, were startled
by the news that the line of the new Baysmouth railway
was marked out so as to pass exactly through the centre
of the court round which the alms-houses were built.
Happily, however, the difficulty of gaining possession
of the property required for this course, proved too
great even for the railway company, and they changed
the line, cutting their way through the opposite side
of St. Austin’s Hill, and spoiling three or
four water-meadows by the river. Soon after the
completion of this work, the town was further improved,
by the erection of various rows of smart houses, which
arose on the slope of the hill, once the airy and
healthy play-place of the rising generation of Abbeychurch,
and the best spot for flying kites in all the neighbourhood.
London tradesmen were tempted to retire to ’the
beautiful and venerable town of Abbeychurch;’
the houses were quickly filled, one street after another
was built, till the population of the town was more
than doubled. A deficiency in church accommodation
was soon felt, for the old church had before been
but just sufficient for the inhabitants. Various
proposals were made—to fill up the arches
with galleries, and to choke the centre aisle with
narrow pews; but all were equally distasteful to Mr.
Woodbourne, who, placing some benches in the aisle
for the temporary accommodation of his new parishioners,
made every effort to raise funds to build and endow
an additional church. He succeeded, as we have
heard; and it was the tall white spire of the now
Church of St. Austin’s, which greeted Anne Merton’s
delighted eyes, as on the 27th of August, she, with
her father and mother, came to the top of a long hill,
about five miles from Abbeychurch. What that
