Iron railings were being placed before three windows,
evidently to be the nursery. In the summer publicity of open windows and
doors, the sound of the busy carpenters was perpetually heard all over
the Close: and by-and-by waggon-loads of furniture and carriage-loads of
people began to arrive. Neither Miss Monro nor Ellinor felt themselves
of sufficient importance or station to call on the new comers, but they
were as well acquainted with the proceedings of the family as if they had
been in daily intercourse; they knew that the eldest Miss Beauchamp was
seventeen, and very pretty, only one shoulder was higher than the other;
that she was dotingly fond of dancing, and talked a great deal in a _tete-
a-tete_, but not much if her mamma was by, and never opened her lips at
all if the dean was in the room; that the next sister was wonderfully
clever, and was supposed to know all the governess could teach her, and
to have private lessons in Greek and mathematics from her father; and so
on down to the little boy at the preparatory school and the baby-girl in
arms. Moreover, Miss Monro, at any rate, could have stood an examination
as to the number of servants at the deanery, their division of work, and
the hours of their meals. Presently, a very beautiful, haughty-looking
young lady made her appearance in the Close, and in the dean's pew.
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