In a country like England, which annually suspends the sitting of its Legislature in honor of a horse-race, it is only natural and proper that the comfort of the horses should be the first object of consideration at a stud-farm.  Nine-tenths of the land at Hardyman’s farm was devoted, in one way or another, to the noble quadruped with the low forehead and the long nose.  Poor humanity was satisfied with second-rate and third-rate accommodation.  The ornamental grounds, very poorly laid out, were also very limited in extent—­and, as for the dwelling-house, it was literally a cottage.  A parlor and a kitchen, a smoking-room, a bed-room, and a spare chamber for a friend, all scantily furnished, sufficed for the modest wants of the owner of the property.  If you wished to feast your eyes on luxury you went to the stables.

The stud-farm being described, the introduction to Hardyman’s sister follows in due course.

The Honorable Lavinia Hardyman was, as all persons in society know, married rather late in life to General Drumblade.  It is saying a great deal, but it is not saying too much, to describe Mrs. Drumblade as the most mischievous woman of her age in all England.  Scandal was the breath of her life; to place people in false positions, to divulge secrets and destroy characters, to undermine friendships, and aggravate enmities—­these were the sources of enjoyment from which this dangerous woman drew the inexhaustible fund of good spirits that made her a brilliant light in the social sphere.  She was one of the privileged sinners of modern society.  The worst mischief that she could work was ascribed to her “exuberant vitality.”  She had that ready familiarity of manner which is (in her class) so rarely discovered to be insolence in disguise.  Her power of easy self-assertion found people ready to accept her on her own terms wherever she went.  She was one of those big, overpowering women, with blunt manners, voluble tongues, and goggle eyes, who carry everything before them.  The highest society modestly considered itself in danger of being dull in the absence of Mrs. Drumblade.  Even Hardyman himself—­who saw as little of her as possible, whose frankly straightforward nature recoiled by instinct from contact with his sister—­could think of no fitter person to make Miss Pink’s reception agreeable to her, while he was devoting his own attentions to her niece.  Mrs. Drumblade accepted the position thus offered with the most amiable readiness.  In her own private mind she placed an interpretation on her brother’s motives which did him the grossest injustice.  She believed that Hardyman’s designs on Isabel contemplated the most profligate result.  To assist this purpose, while the girl’s nearest relative was supposed to be taking care of her, was Mrs. Drumblade’s idea of “fun.”  Her worst enemies admitted that the honorable Lavia had redeeming qualities, and owned that a keen sense of humor was one of her merits.