A Bit of Rough Road by Amy Le Feuvre

MRS. DAUBENEY'S house was at the end of the street leading to the cathedral. The oak door with the massive brass knocker, the mullioned windows, and gigantic wistaria which covered the front of the house, all betokened age. To Hope's eyes the interior was even more charming. A low broad hall ran through the house and ended in glass doors leading into the delightful garden, which consisted of a green lawn, flanked on each side by ancient cedar-trees, a broad, old-fashioned terrace of flowers, and a second walled garden beyond, containing fruit and flowers.

To the right of the hall lay the drawing-room, and it was as great a contrast to the town rooms to which Mrs. Daubeney was accustomed as could be imagined. Deep recesses, quaint spindle-legged chairs, china and old-fashioned chintz, a harpsichord, an old spinet, and a straight high-back sofa, with bolster cushions-these delighted Hope's soul, but brought dismay to her aunt's. The windows at the back of the room looked out upon the garden, and one opened into a small conservatory. On the other side of the hall was the dining-room and morning-room, both good-sized rooms, and simply though suitably furnished. The stairs were low and broad, and of solid oak, as were also the banisters. Upstairs there was a delightful broad landing, and five or six bedrooms. One of these, which Hope took for her own, had a charming view of some buttercup meadows lying by the side of the river, and on the opposite side, amongst some stately elms, was the cathedral.