An old man-servant
appeared, and he found himself in a flagged passage, with a plain
wooden screen on his left, opening into the hall. It had a
collegiate air which he liked. Then he was led out at the opposite
end of the vestibule, the servant saying, "Mrs. Graves is in the
garden, sir." He stepped out on to a lawn bordered with trees;
opposite him was a stone-built Jacobean garden-house, with stone
balls on the balustraded coping. Two ladies were walking on the
gravel path; the older of the two, who walked with a stick, came up
to him, put her hand on his shoulder, and gave him a kiss in a
simple and motherly way, saying, "So here you actually are, my dear
boy, and very much welcome." She then presented the other lady, a
small, snub-nosed, middle-aged woman, saying, "This is Miss Merry,
who lives with me, and keeps me more or less in order; she is quite
excited at meeting a don; she has a respect for learning and
talent, which is unhappily rare nowadays." Miss Merry shook hands
as a spaniel might give its paw, and looked reverentially at
Howard. His aunt put her hand through his arm, and said, "Let us
walk about a little. I live by rule, you must know--that is, by
Miss Merry's rule; and we shall have tea in a few minutes."
She pointed out one or two of the features of the house, and said,
in answer to Howard's loudly expressed admiration, "Yes, it is a
nice old house. Your uncle had a great taste for such things in
days when people did not care much about them.
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