reading?”

“Oh, only Hallam’s Constitutional History.”

“Great Heavens!” whispered Glenville to me, “think of that!”

“Do you like it?” asked Thornton.

“Well, I can’t say I do, but I suppose I ought. My mother wanted me to bring it.”

“I think it must be very dull,” said Thornton, “though I have never tried it. I have just finished Kingsley’s Two Years Ago. It is awfully good. May I lend it to you?”

p. 76“Oh, I do so like a good novel when I can get it, but I am afraid I mayn’t.”

p. 76

“What is that, Flo?” asked her mother. “You know I do not approve of novels, except, of course, Sir Walter’s. My daughters, Mr. Thornton, have, I hope, been brought up very differently from most young ladies. I always encourage them to read such works as are likely to tend to the improvement of their understanding and the cultivation of their taste. I always choose their books for them.”

“Nonsense, my dear,” said Mr. Delamere, “if Mr. Thornton recommends the book, Flo can have it. I know nothing of books, sir, and care less; but if you say it is a good book, that is sufficient.”

“Oh, quite so indeed,” exclaimed Mrs. Delamere, “if Mr. Thornton recommends the book. My daughter Florence has too much imagination, dear child, and we have to be very careful. May I inquire the name of the work which you recommend?”

She called everything a work.

“Oh, only Two Years Ago, by Kingsley,” said Thornton.

“Ah!” said Mrs. Delamere, “a delightful writer. The Rev. Charles Kingsley was a man whom I unfeignedly admire. Perhaps I might not altogether approve of his writings for young persons, but for those whose minds have been matured by a considerable acquaintance with our literature it is, of course, different. He is a bold and fearless thinker. He is not fettered and tied down by those barriers which impede the speculations of other writers.”

“Off she goes!” whispered Glenville to me, “broken p. 77her knees over the first metaphor. She will be 

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