our story commenced, so that the two girls hardly retained any memory of their father.  For the first five years of her widowhood, Mrs Dale, who had never been a favourite of the squire’s, lived with her two little girls in such modest way as her very limited means allowed.  Old Mrs Dale, the squire’s mother, then occupied the Small House.  But when old Mrs Dale died, the squire offered the place rent-free to his sister-in-law, intimating to her that her daughters would obtain considerable social advantages by living at Allington.  She had accepted the offer, and the social advantages had certainly followed.  Mrs Dale was poor, her whole income not exceeding three hundred a year, and therefore her own style of living was of necessity very unassuming; but she saw her girls becoming popular in the county, much liked by the families around them, and enjoying nearly all the advantages which would have accrued to them had they been the daughters of Squire Dale of Allington.  Under such circumstances it was little to her whether or no she were loved by her brother-in-law, or respected by Hopkins.  Her own girls loved her, and respected her, and that was pretty much all that she demanded of the world on her own behalf.

And Uncle Christopher had been very good to the girls in his own obstinate and somewhat ungracious manner.  There were two ponies in the stables of the Great House, which they were allowed to ride, and which, unless on occasions, nobody else did ride.  I think he might have given the ponies to the girls, but he thought differently.  And he contributed to their dresses, sending them home now and again things which he thought necessary, not in the pleasantest way in the world.  Money he never gave them, nor did he make them any promises.  But they were Dales, and he loved them; and with Christopher Dale to love once was to love always.  Bell was his chief favourite, sharing with his nephew Bernard the best warmth of his heart.  About these two he had his projects, intending that Bell should be the future mistress of the Great House of Allington; as to which project, however, Miss Dale was as yet in very absolute ignorance.

We may now, I think, go back to our four friends, as they walked out upon the lawn.  They were understood to be on a mission to assist Mrs Dale in the picking of the peas; but pleasure intervened in the way of business, and the young people, forgetting the labours of their elder, allowed themselves to be carried away by the fascinations of croquet.  The iron hoops and the sticks were fixed.  The mallets and the balls were lying about; and then the party was so nicely made up!  “I haven’t had a game of croquet yet,” said Mr Crosbie.  It cannot be said that he had lost much time, seeing that he had only arrived before dinner on the preceding day.  And then the mallets were in their hands in a moment.