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Chapter 2 Information Systems in Organizations
TRUEFALSE
1. While information systems were once primarily used to automate manual processes, they have
transformed the nature of work and the shape of organizations themselves.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
2. An organization's structure is independent of its goals and approach to management.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (B)
3. Suppose a retail business has an unwritten rule that "every sales person cooperates with others."
This is an example of organizational culture.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
4. Reengineering and continuous improvement have the same definition.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (B)
5. Organizations cannot have many value chains.
(A) True
(B) False

Answer : (B)
6. A sustaining innovation is one that initially provides a lower level of performance than the
marketplace has grown to accept.

(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (B)
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (B)
7. The concept of a value chain is not significant to organizations unless they manufacture products.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (B)
8. A traditional view of information systems holds that organizations use them to control and
monitor processes and ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
9. Over time, disruptive innovation tends to become less attractive to users in a new market.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (B)
10. Perceived usefulness and ease of use of a system influence an individual's attitude toward the
system.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
11. The diffusion of innovation theory states that adoption of any innovation happens all at once for
all members of the targeted population.

12. The diffusion of innovation theory can be useful in planning the rollout of a new information
system.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
13. The activities that lead to getting the right product into the right consumer's hands in the right
quantity at the right time at the right cost are known as value chain management.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (B)
14. Opportunities in information systems are available to people from different parts of the world.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (A)
15. The role of a systems analyst is narrowly defined and seldom involves communications with
others.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (B)
16. The information systems operations group is responsible for the day-to-day running of IS
hardware to process the organization's information systems workload.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (A)
17. When an organization hires another firm in another country to perform a specific function on its
behalf, it is known as offshoring.
(A) True

(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (A)
(B) False
Answer : (A)
18. The successful implementation for change only happens when people accept the need for change
and believe that it will improve factors such as productivity and/or customer satisfaction.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
19. "Adapting" is the second stage in Lewin's Change Model, which involves learning new work
methods, behaviors, and systems.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (B)
20. According to Lewin's Change Model, an organization must deliberately change old habits, learn
new work methods, and accept the new work methods as parts of the job.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
21. Suppose an organization wishes to change for the better. It can accomplish that just by
changing people's roles, responsibilities, and lines of authorities.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (B)
22. When organizational learning occurs, what is revealed can be small, incremental adjustments
known as continuous improvement.

(B) finance and accounting
(C) marketing and sales
23. Today, many organizations can function and compete effectively without computer-based
information systems.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (B)
24. For someone to be a good CIO, technical ability is the most important characteristic.
(A) True
(B) False
Answer : (B)
25. One of the primary roles of a senior IS manager is to communicate with other areas of the
organization to determine changing business needs.
(A) True (B)
False
Answer : (A)
MULTICHOICE
26. Providing value to a is the primary goal of any organization.
(A) stakeholder
(B) product
(C) competitor
(D) service
Answer : (A)
27. In a manufacturing organization, the supply chain is a key value chain whose primary activities
include all of the following EXCEPT:
(A) inbound logistics

(C) public choice theory
(D) customer service
Answer : (B)
28. The idea of is a form of innovation that constantly seeks ways to improve business
processes and add value to products and services.
(A) reengineering
(B) process redesign
(C) disruptive change
(D) continuous improvement
Answer : (D)
29. The performance levels of radically new 'high-tech' products usually improve with newer
versions. Such types of products are known as
(A) sustaining innovations
(B) continuous improvement
(C) disruptive innovations
(D) business reengineering
Answer : (C)
30. involves reducing the number of employees to cut costs.
(A) Outsourcing
(B) Offshoring
(C) Utility computing
(D) Downsizing
Answer : (D)
31. Which of the following theories explains how a new idea or product gains acceptance and
spreads through a specific population or subset of an organization?
(A) diffusion of innovation theory
(B) contingency theory

(D) two-factor theory
Answer : (A)
32. In a supply chain, involve the transformation, movement, and storage of supplies and raw
materials.
(A) virtual flows
(B) matrix flows
(C) information flows
(D) physical flows
Answer : (D)
33. is a visa program that allows skilled employees from foreign lands into the United States.
(A) L-1B
(B) H-1B
(C) 4F
(D) G-5
Answer : (B)
34. are responsible for running and maintaining information system equipment and also
for scheduling, hardware maintenance, and preparing input and output.
(A) Data-entry operators
(B) System operators
(C) Web operators
(D) Local area network operators
Answer : (B)
35. encompasses all the activities required to get the right product into the right consumer's
hands in the right quantity at the right time and at the right cost, from acquisition of raw materials
through customer delivery.
(A) Supply chain management
(B) Value chain management

(C) Inventory management
(D) Customer management
Answer : (A)
36. In the contemporary view of information systems, they are considered an integral part of the
supply chain management process mainly because they: .
(A) aid in product transformation
(B) are a means of producing output
(C) are a means of providing input into the process
(D) all of these
Answer : (D)
37. Suppose you are assigned to manage a virtual team. Which of the following will you NOT do?
(A) define goals, and set expectations
(B) be aware of team members cultural sensitivity
(C) ensure the team members are familiar with each other at a personal level
(D) hold team meetings regularly - whether the team members like it or not
Answer : (D)
38. All of the following are potential drawbacks to outsourcing EXCEPT:
(A) loss of flexibility and control
(B) low employee morale
(C) greater focus on core business
(D) potential for data breaches
Answer : (C)
39. Suppose, you need to advise someone about getting a certification. Which of the following will
be appropriate advice?
(A) Getting certification is a sure way of improving your income
(B) Certifications are vendor-specific
(C) Certifications are the same as courses offered at universities

(D) You need a college degree before you can take a certification exam
Answer : (B)
40. All of the following are positive driving forces that influence chance according to Lewin's Theory
of Force Field Analysis, EXCEPT:
(A) beliefs
(B) past performance
(C) expectations
(D) cultural norms
Answer : (B)
41. According to the diffusion innovation theory, are the risk takers, always the first to try new
products and ideas.
(A) early majority
(B) late majority
(C) early adopters
(D) innovators
Answer : (D)
42. Which of the following is NOT one of the four main components in Leavitt's Diamond?
(A) people
(B) systems
(C) tasks
(D) technology
Answer : (B)
43. The members of an organization who are most likely to contribute to organizational learning are
.
(A) hourly employees
(B) mid-level managers
(C) executives

(D) all of these
Answer : (D)
44. Positive outcomes of continuous improvement include .
(A) increased customer loyalty
(B) increased customer satisfaction
(C) protection against competitors
(D) all of these
Answer : (D)
45. According to Lewin and Schein's 3-stage model of organizational change, which of the following
tasks would be found in the 'unfreezing' stage?
(A) Monitor progress against success criteria
(B) Establish controls to ensure change is occurring
(C) Establish processes and systems to institutionalize change
(D) Assign leaders and implementation team
Answer : (D)
46. Suppose you work at a business unit that has group of people who would rather wait to try a
new technique. They listen to and follow the opinion leaders. They would be classified as the
.
(A) innovators
(B) early adopters
(C) early majority
(D) late majority
Answer : (C)
47. Which of the following is NOT a potential drawback to downsizing?
(A) reduced payroll costs
(B) decreasing employee morale
(C) lower quality

(D) none of these
Answer : (A)
48. You might be an information systems worker if you .
(A) prefer a slow-paced environment, where technology rarely changes
(B) prefer to work only on the computer and are not interested in the business
(C) enjoy learning new techniques and enjoy working with people
(D) are good in book-keeping, like an accountant
Answer : (C)
49. In most large organizations, the IS department is divided into the following functions .
(A) operations and development
(B) operations, development, and support
(C) operations and support
(D) systems, operations, and development
Answer : (B)
50. Important functions of the chief information officer include
(A) employing an IS department's equipment and staff to help the organization reach its goals
(B) monitoring the financial considerations of the IS department, such as return on investment
(C) ensuring the organization complies with laws and regulations
(D) all of these
Answer : (D)
51. In a large IS organization, the professional who is responsible for maintaining the security and
integrity of the organization's systems and data is .
(A) the data center manager (B)
the data security manager (C)
the system security operator
(D) the information systems security analyst

Answer : (D)
52. Which of the following is NOT a task typically associated with the systems analyst role?
(A) conveying system requirements to software developers and network architects
(B) troubleshooting problems after implementation
(C) collaborating with others to build a software product from scratch
(D) choosing and configuring hardware and software
Answer : (C)
53. One method an IS professional might use to find a new job would be .
(A) seeking referrals from colleagues, friends, and family members
(B) searching and applying for open positions on Internet job sites
(C) networking through an IS professionals' organization
(D) all of these
Answer : (D)
SHORTANSWER
54. A manufacturing facility has a series of activities that converts the raw materials into valuable
products. Such a series of activities make up the organization's chain.Answer : value
55. A(n) is a group of individuals whose members are distributed geographically, but who
collaborate and complete work through the use of information systems technology.Answer : virtual
team
56. In any organization, such as raw materials, labor, facilities, equipment, and knowledge,
are needed to transform them to outputs in a way that increases the input's value.Answer : inputs
57. The radical redesign of business processes, organizational structures, information systems,
and values of an organization to achieve a breakthrough in business results is known as
.Answer : reengineering
58. is a set of major understandings and assumptions shared by a group, such as within an
ethic group or country.Answer : Culture
Answer : culture
59. is a theory that proposes that every organizational system is made up of four
main components-people, tasks, structure, and technology-with an interaction among the four

components so that any change in one of these elements will necessitate a change in the other three
elements.Answer : Leavitt’s diamond
60. The attitude towards using an information system depends on its perceived ease-of-use and
perceived .Answer : usefulness
61. In the technology acceptance model (TAM), is defined as the degree to which individuals
believe that use of the system will improve their performance. Answer : perceived usefulness
62. means the ability of a product or a service to meet or exceed customer
expectations.Answer : Quality
Answer : quality
63. refers to organizational subunits and the way they relate to the overall
organization.Answer : organizational structure
Answer : Organizational structure
64. is a long-term business arrangement in which a company contracts for services with an
outside organization that has expertise in providing a specific function.Answer : Outsourcing
Answer : outsourcing
65. Sarah, as the head of a business division, wants to set up a network access account for a new
employee. She should call the to get this done.Answer : LAN administrator or
Answer : Network administrator
66. A(n) is a professional in a developmental group of an information systems department
who assists in choosing and configuring hardware and software, matching technology to users'
needs, monitoring and testing the system in operation, and troubleshooting problems
after implementation.Answer : systems analyst
67. design and set up databases to meet an organization's needs.Answer : Database
administrators
Answer : DBAs
Answer : database administrators
68. The group of a typical information systems organization is responsible for the day-to-day
running of IS hardware to process the organization's information systems workload.Answer :
operations
69. convert a program design developed by a systems analyst or software developer using one
of many computer languages.Answer : Programmers
Answer : programmers
70. is a process for testing skills and knowledge, which results in a statement by the certifying
authority that confirms an individual is capable of performing particular tasks.
Answer : Certification
Answer : certification
71. Process redesign, which is also known as , involves the radical redesign of business
processes, organizational structures, information systems, and values.Answer : business process
reengineering

72. "Kaizen" is the Japanese word for .Answer : continuous improvement
73. The theory was developed by E.M. Rogers to explain how a new idea or product gains
acceptance and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific population or subset of an
organization.Answer : diffusion of innovation
74. The first stage of Lewin's change model, , means ceasing old habits and creating a climate
that is receptive to change.Answer : unfreezing
75. is an outsourcing arrangement where the organization providing the service is located in
a country different from the firm obtaining the services. Answer : Offshore outsourcing
Answer : offshoring
76. According to Leavitt's theory, in one aspect of the information system element will
necessitate changes in other elements also.Answer : change
77. A local pizzeria that has been around for more than forty years, keeps adjusting to new
conditions and altering their practices. Such behavior is known as .Answer : organizational
learning
78. Laptops are a good example of because they are gradually displacing desktop computers
due to new and better performance characteristics.Answer : disruptive innovation
79. Of the five categories of innovation adopters, are always the first to try new products and
ideas.Answer : innovators
80. is the term used to describe the information systems and solutions built and deployed by
departments other than the information systems department.Answer : Shadow IT
Answer : shadow IT
Answer : Shadow Information Technology
Answer : shadow information technology
ESSAY
81. Define the term value chain and briefly discuss the purpose of the supply chain component in a
manufacturing organization.
Graders Info :
The value chain is a series (chain) of activities that an organization performs to transform inputs into
outputs in such a way that the value of the input is increased. In a manufacturing organization, the
supply chain is a key value chain whose primary activities include inbound logistics, operations,
outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. These primary activities are directly concerned
with the creation and/or delivery of the product or service. There are also four main areas of support
activities, including technology infrastructure, human resource management, accounting and
finance, and procurement.
82. Explain the difference between sustaining and disruptive innovation.

Graders Info :
Sustaining innovation results in enhancements to existing products, services, and ways of operating.
Such innovations are important as they enable an organization to continually increase profits, lower
costs, and gain market share. A disruptive innovation is one that initially provides a lower level of
performance than the marketplace has grown to accept. Over time, however, the disruptive
innovation is improved to provide some new performance characteristics and becomes more
attractive to users in a new market. As it continues to improve and begins to provide a higher level
of performance, it eventually displaces the former product or way of doing things.
83. Explain the concept of "perceived usefulness" in the context of technology acceptance model
(TAM).
Graders Info :
In the TAM model, "perceived usefulness" is defined as the degree to which individuals believe that
use of a system will improve their performance. The perceived ease of use is the degree to which
individuals believe that the system will be easy to learn and use. Both the perceived usefulness and
ease of use can be strongly influenced by the expressed opinions of others who have used the system
and the degree to which the organization supports use of the system (e.g., incentives, offering
training and coaching from key users). Perceived usefulness and ease of use in turn influence an
individual's attitude toward the system, which affect their behavioral intention to use the system.
84. Discuss the roles, functions, and careers in information systems (IS).
Graders Info :
Information systems (IS) offer many exciting and rewarding careers. Professionals with careers in
information systems can work in an IS department or outside a traditional IS department as Web
developers, computer programmers, systems analysts, computer operators, and many other
positions. There are also opportunities for IS professionals in the public sector. In addition to
technical skills, IS professionals need skills in written and verbal communication, an understanding
of organizations and the way they operate, and the ability to work with people and in groups. Most
medium to large organizations manage information resources through an IS department. In smaller
businesses, one or more people might manage information resources, with support from outsourced
services.
85. Describe both of Lewin's theories-change model and force field analysis-and explain how they
are related.
Graders Info :
Lewin's change model proposes that organizational change goes through three stages: Unfreezing,
which means ceasing old habits and creating a climate that is receptive to change; moving, which
involves learning new work methods, behaviors, and systems; and refreezing, which involves

reinforcing changes to make the new process accepted. Lewin went on to identify two types of forces
that can influence these stages, which are explained in his theory of force field analysis. Driving
(positive) forces are beliefs, expectations, and cultural norms that encourage change, while
restraining (negative) forces make change difficult to accept or implement.

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'Thank Heaven that you share it, Sweetheart,' fervently whispered Felix; while
Bernard and Angela turned round, and screamed to them to look.
And there was a big arch all across the road, all greenery, big white and orange
lilies, and 'Welcome' and 'F.C.U.'s, and a flag on the church tower, and a tremendous
onset of drums and trumpets, obstreperously hailing the conquering hero, who had
to take off his hat and bow to the mounted array of some dozen tenants and their
sons, all the cavalry of the estate turned out to meet him. 'Master Kistopher' was
hardened enough to military bands not to mind this at all; but it was well that
Theodore was a little behind, for the lungs of all Vale Leston Abbas, and more too,
united in the cheer as the arch was reached. 'Oh! I hope they won't take out the
horses!' cried Cherry, more than half frightened, while Bernard and Angel danced up
and down with ecstatic cries of 'Jolly! jolly! Here's the whole place turned out!
They'll draw us up to the house! Hurrah! hurrah!' bowing so graciously, that Cherry,
in a counter paroxysm of diversion, called to them that they would be taken for the
man and maid if they appropriated all the enthusiasm.
Happily no one was venturesome enough to meddle with the horses, but the whole
population attended the carriage up to the house, making so much discordant
uproar, that the reception was a very questionable pleasure to the nervous; Cherry
was between laughter and sobs, and Wilmet had to spend much pains in persuading
her boy that it was all excellent fun.
At last, upon the stone steps stood Felix, with Cherry on his arm, Theodore in his
hand, nine altogether out of his twelve brothers and sisters round him, on this the
threshold of the home of his forefathers. There he stood, bare-headed, moist-eyed,
thanks to Heaven swelling his heart, thanks to man fluttering on his lip, as he heard
the fresh shout of welcome, and the old men's 'There he is! God bless him!'
'Well may they say so!' whispered John Harewood to his wife. 'Here, at twenty-nine,
he stands a stainless knight, with a stainless shield, as though he had not had to
fight his way, and bear up all these around him!'
Felix meantime, withstanding Theodore's terrified tugs at his hand, put him into
Sibby's care, to be taken as far as possible from the human greeting, and to enjoy
that of the bells; Clement, with a prevision of the welcome, had provided a supply of
cider, wherewith he and the other gentlemen proceeded to administer draughts to
the health of the new master, who was allowed to do nothing but stand on the step
to make a tableau, as Bill said, with his sisters, and return by look and gesture the
tokens of welcome and the cheer, which Clement, gathering his choir, contrived to
render considerably less inharmonious.
Then Felix, feeling that some words were due, and trained a little by town-council
exigencies, spoke forth. 'Thanks, thanks with all our hearts, my good friends and
neighbours. We did not expect so hearty a welcome, and I am sure we shall never
forget it. As far as an earnest wish and purpose to do my best will carry me, I will
try to deserve it; but you must bear with me if I often unavoidably disappoint you,

and do not come up to the old golden age of this house. Any way, let us do our best,
one and all, to live here to the glory of God, and in friendliness to one another. Then
it will go hard if we are not very happy together.'
The bright smile and joyous hope in his face awoke a shout of 'Yes, yes!' and
another cheer, followed by a farmer's voice proposing the health of the ladies, with
the homely addition from another quarter, 'Bless their sweet faces!' and an
observation which the Major delighted to overhear—'That there tall one, with the
child by her side, was a right-down comely one, just such as our ladies up here did
used to was.'
Health to 'Mr. Eddard' followed, surprising the new comers who had not learnt to
accept the Vicar's parish name. It drained his provision of liquor, and gave him the
opportunity of saying, 'Thank you sincerely, dear friends. We are old friends, you
know, and I need say no more, only that now we have seen the good time coming,
you had better wish the travellers good-night, and let my sisters rest. You will all be
better acquainted soon.'
'Well managed, Mr. Edward,' said Felix, smiling, as Clement, for the first time able to
speak to him after dismissing his flock, ran up the steps looking heated and radiant.
'There's another thing I've done, Felix,' he said, rather breathlessly. 'I've got a
supper for the ringers in the long room. Martha is much displeased about it, but it is
the only chance of breaking the neck of the drinking at the Rood without making you
unpopular.'
'All right, Clem, thank you. Well! you look better than when I saw you last!'
'I'm quite jolly, thank you;' and indeed, the fagged air of depression had changed to
hope and sunshine; he had grown quite sunburnt, and as Cherry followed up the
compliment, had turned into a vigorous country parson instead of a white town-bred
one. He was acting as a sort of host. 'This way, Wilmet. You must settle about the
rooms, Cherry. It was all guess-work between Martha and me. There's some tea in
the drawing-room by this time.'
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a sort of conservatory passage, glazed on one side, and containing old orange-trees
in tubs, and more recent fuchsias and geraniums, a great curtain of lilac
Bougainvillia drooping at one end—making the girls shriek with ecstasy, and
reproach Felix with never having told them of it.
'I am afraid I had forgotten it,' said he. 'I never went into this part of the house on
my last two visits.'
'It was Jane's territory (Mrs. Fulbert),' said Clement, 'and I am afraid she has
dismantled the room a good deal. The one hundred pounds you allowed her to
choose as her own furniture came chiefly out of that, and the valuable things poor
Fulbert had in his smoking-room. It was an odd choice, but I thought you would not

mind that, and the valuation man looked sharp after her. I kept out of the way of the
squabble.'
'I know where I am now,' said Wilmet. 'There's the garden-door at the end. And
here is the drawing-room door. Ah! it does look empty.'
'Oh, never mind tables and chairs. The window!' cried Angela, flying forward to the
eastern one, a deep bay, cushioned round, and looking out on the sloping lawn, gay
with flower-beds, in pleasant evening shadow, the river sparkling beyond, and with a
sidelong view of the bridge on the one hand and the church on the other. Two other
windows looked to the south, also into the garden.
'At least she has left the piano,' said Lance.
'It was valued at eighty pounds, which would have made too large a hole,' said
Clement. 'Also she has left a chair for you to sit on, Cherry. Are you tired?'
'I haven't time! I can't grasp it! Home! So exquisite, and all ours. Oh! the pictures!
That lady, with the bent head over the rose, and the arch pensive eyes! She can't
choose but be a Sir Joshua.'
'Right, Cherry,' said Lance, mounting a chair and turning to the back; '"Lady
Geraldine Underwood, 1770. J. Reynolds."'
'The Irishwoman that gave you eyes and mischief. Your best possessions,' said Will.
He looked at Angela. Did he forget that neither Irish eyes nor mischief were Robina's
portion?
At that moment Stella, who had gone up to the hearth, exclaimed, 'Edgar!' then
checked herself, at the sound of the seldom uttered name; but Felix and Wilmet had
both sprung to look.
'I remember,' said the latter.
'Is it my father?' whispered Stella.
It was one of a pair of the largest size of miniatures in Ross's most exquisite style of
finish, thirty years back, just before the marriage of Edward and Mary Underwood.
He, still a layman, was in a shooting-coat, with a dog by his side, and with the look
of life and light, youth and sunshine, that had never left him—indeed, none but the
little ones who had never really seen him could have hesitated for a moment; but it
was different with the fellow-portrait. If Felix and Wilmet had not remembered
'Mamma's picture,' they would hardly have connected the bright soft smiling rose-
tinted girl with the toil-worn faded image on their memories. Wilmet's tears
gathered; and Felix murmured to Cherry, 'One feels that the life was killed out of
her! She looks as if one would have died to save her a breath of care! Oh! to have
brought her back!'
And with a wistful sigh he looked at Stella, the most like the portrait, though none of
the sisters really reproduced it; indeed, the peculiar caressing and relying expression

could hardly have been brought out, except by a petted shielded life, free from all
care or hardness. Wilmet was on a more majestic and commanding scale; something
of the darling child expression was in Geraldine, but intellect and illness had changed
both the mould and colouring of the features. Robina was of the round-faced, round-
eyed type, only refined; Angela like no one but Clement; and even Stella was not
only too small, but too thoughtful, to recall that flower-like careless loveliness of
Mary Underwood's maiden bloom.
'It was hard on you not to have had these,' said John.
'I suppose,' said Felix, 'that they were done for my uncle, and that my father
thought them too valuable to take away.'
'Better so,' said Cherry, quietly.
'Yes,' said Lance; 'to have had these before one's eyes would have made one ready
to fly at that man's throat,' glancing at the old squire in uniform.
'And now,' said Cherry, 'they are smiling their greeting to us.'
'You'll turn out the Squire, won't you, Felix?' added Lance. 'You won't keep him here,
gloating on his victims?'
'Certainly not, if he suggests such ideas,' said Felix. 'It is Cherry's domain, though,
and she must decide whether to banish him.'
'Oh! oh!' screamed Angela, who had meanwhile followed Bernard out of the room.
'Come here, all of you! Felix, we must have a ball! Nature and fate decree it.'
Felix laughed, gave Cherry his arm, and the procession moved on. 'Tripp says this
conservatory was glazed for a surprise to my mother while she was on her wedding
tour,' said Clement. 'You know this wing is the recent part of the house, built by my
old great-uncle, when people had come to have large notions as to drawing and
dining rooms. Here's the dining-room, but we shall go in there for severe tea
presently. This is the middle period, the Stewart style part,' as they came back into
the wainscotted hall, rising to the top of the house, with a staircase opposite to the
front-door, and a handsome balustraded gallery running round the first floor.
But Angela's discovery was a great arched doorway, mantled only by a curtain, and
leading into the only really ancient part of the building (except one turret). It was a
very long room, with dark oak floor, six arched and cusped windows looking into as
many arches of the cloister that ran along it, and black wainscot panelled walls, and
oak beams, painted with coats-of-arms. So long was it, that the billiard table at one
end, and at the other Clement's table laid out for the ringers' supper, made little
show in it; and Angela, pouncing on Will Harewood, waltzed wildly with him up and
down the shining floor, while Bernard learnedly expounded to Stella the games at
billiards he had enjoyed with Mr. Somers there, and Lance went straight to the organ
at the farther end.

'Ah! if you can do any good with that!' said Clement. 'I have been trying, but have
only driven it and myself distracted!'
'How well I know the place!' cried Wilmet. 'Oh, if Alda could see it! I remember your
driving us all in a team here, Fee!—Yes, Kit, trot, trot, all along. It is as if I saw you,
Cherry, taking your first run alone there.'
'Better than now, I fear,' said Felix. 'Why, Cherry, woman, we must lay down bridges
of matting for you,' as he felt her clutch his arm.
'Are all the floors so dreadful?' she sighed, as Clement next opened from the hall
door into the library, with only a bit of carpet as an island in the middle. The library
ranged with the drawing and dining rooms, though older. It had a window and a
door into the cloister, and two windows to the east, and was surrounded with caged
book-shelves. Here stood an harmonium, and the table and deep window-seats were
piled with the miscellaneous parish appurtenances of the nineteenth-century pastor.
'You had better have this room, Felix,' said Clement; 'there was so much to do that I
could not get my traps moved after Somers went.'
To which Felix replied by insisting that Clement should retain it. The door into the
cloister, communicating with the church and churchyard, made it particularly eligible
for the Vicar; and the study, on the opposite side of the hall, the Squire's favourite
sitting-room, with the two south windows, would suit him and Pur,—the better that
the adjoining room, where old Fulbert had slept in his infirm days, would serve as a
housekeeper's room for Sibby and a retreat and home for Theodore. It opened into
a passage leading to the offices.
'Never mind them now,' said Clement. 'Let Martha recover before we face her. I don't
know which she resents most, the supper, or my sending in Kerenhappuch to help
her. You all will be glad to find your nests, ladies,' he added, as poor Cherry
surmounted each slippery shallow step, clinging hard to Felix's arm, while Angela
and Stella had flown all round the upper story, and were helping Bill to laugh at the
round-eyed range of ancestors in the corridor.
'Here I put you, our grand company, Mettie,' said Clement, opening the door of the
handsome bedroom of the drawing-room wing; 'the nursery is up over, as I daresay
you remember.'
'As if I did not!'
And up to it with one accord they all went, Cherry and all—for the stairs were close
by, and of deal. At the moment of entrance, Felix, Wilmet, and Cherry, broke into a
simultaneous shout of delight, as they beheld, staring at them in open-nostrilled
pride, the rocking-horse of their youth. In one moment Cherry's arms were round its
neck, Wilmet had her boy on the saddle, Felix was gently moving it, and patting its
dappled sides with the tenderness of ancient love.

'This at least is unprofaned! I suppose no child has mounted it since we five hung
rocking on it altogether that last morning!'
'I should like a ride now, dear old Gee-gee,' said Cherry, half sentimentally, as Kit
insisted on being taken down to go to his Emma and his tea; and to her surprise and
fright, her brothers snatched her up, and deposited her on its back, between
screaming and laughing; and hardly was she lifted down, before Wilmet was on her
knees, as Lance said, worshipping the doll's house over which she and Alda had
broken their hearts, and setting all the the chairs and tables on their legs again.
The very cribs in the inner nursery were all in their old places; and to the great
amusement of the rest, the four who had the honour of being natives, each sat
down upon his or her own; and Felix and Wilmet had quite a little quarrel which
owned the favoured cane-sided one, where one could poke one's fingers through.
'One's fingers—or rather two's fingers—are rather too big to decide that question
now,' said Felix. 'However, you can take possession by deputy, Mettie, and some day
Alda shall fill them all.'
'Ah! to meet her here!'
But there was one more sadly missed—the King Oberon of the nursery, whose star
of cracked glass still marked one of the panes. Kit was the first to see it, trot up to
point, and say 'Naughty!' but no one answered him, and Felix struggled back to a
cheerful tone to say, 'After all, cane crib and all, I was not here to the last; I slept in
Papa's dressing-room after Clem came to the fore.'
'Mamma's room was the one over the library,' said Cherry, as they descended.
'Here it is!' with transomed windows, trailed over with vine and Virginia creeper, one
towards the river, and two towards the church, and Cherry's own particular boxes
were in it. 'Oh! my dear Lord Chamberlain,' she cried, 'this is the place the master
ought to have!'
'I had rather be on the other side, Cherry,' said Felix. 'It is better for Theodore that
Clem and I should have rooms opening into one another, as he will look to him when
I sleep out.'
'And I thought the dressing-room would serve for Stella,' added Clement. 'Why, she
is quite pink!'
'Have I really a room to myself?'
'There are enough in the house for that, my little Star,' said Felix. 'I suppose you will
hardly make a further progress now, Whiteheart?'
'Only let me show her the Prior's room,' said Clement, taking her to the floor above
the billiard-room. It had been a smoking-room in the last reign; the windows were
hung with heavy curtains; there was both a stove and a cheerful grate in it, a thick
carpet and cushions in the windows, and a high screen, to cut off the draught from

the little window into the south transept, where the Prior of old used to hear Mass, if
indisposed.
'I have been purifying this room, literally and metaphorically,' said Clement, thinking
of the pictures he had removed, and the air he had let in. 'It will make Cherry a
capital painting-room.'
'Oh! but it is too much! You must not give me all the best rooms in the house.'
'Who should have them but our lady of the house?' cried both brothers.
'And after all, there are conveniences in not painting in the drawing-room,' said
Cherry. 'May I tell, Lance?' as they both fell into a transport of laughter. 'You must
know, Willie there insisted that I should do Cleomenes after the battle, when he
would not go into his deserted house. He used so much moral compulsion, that
though I knew that a Greek warrior was as much beyond me as an archangel, I only
feebly objected the want of a model; and Lance, in a spirit of classic friendship, said
he would sit. So one afternoon—there he stood, with his trousers turned up to his
knees, and his shirt-sleeves up to his shoulders, no shoes or stockings—the table-
cover gracefully disposed with a big shawl-brooch on one shoulder for a chlamys—
leaning on Sibby's long broom-stick by way of a spear, endeavouring to compose his
face as if his wife were dead, and his children in captivity, and he just beaten horse
and foot, and going after them.'

'Cleomenes is no laughing matter,' sternly interposed Bill.
'Cleomenes was not, but Lance was. Well, I was just making a study of his foot,
never dreaming of anybody getting in but by the street-door, when of all things in

the world, up comes Miss Pearson herself—Miss Pearson, senior! and three girls!
They had met a mad ox in the street, or some trifle of that sort, had bolted into the
shop nearly in fits, and this unthinking Felix had popped them through the office to
be still more scandalized upstairs.'
'Poor Miss Pearson!' said Lance; 'I shall never forget her gentle "Do I intrude?" going
off into the wildest scream. And I couldn't escape by the other door, for Cherry had
her easel up against it. She could only shriek "He's sitting!" technically, you see, like
an old hen, or a schoolmaster, for I wasn't sitting at all.'
'Well, you need have no such catastrophes here,' said Felix, when the laughter
began to subside; 'but your progress has been long enough; now we have landed
you. You younger fry, you must shake into your rooms as you choose.'
'I secure the octagon turret-room at the end of the corridor,' cried Angela.
'And I shall hold to my room with the rum ceiling,' said Bernard. 'It is as good as the
barrack at home! Come and see, Lance.'
'I ordered tea at seven,' said Clement, 'that Felix might be ready to speak to the
ringers after it. You must take us in hand, now, Cherry; that is my last domestic
order.'
So Cherry was left with her little sister. There was a little bustle of unpacking at first;
but by the time Cherry was ready, she missed all sounds of Stella, and looking into
her room, saw the child standing by the window, gazing intently out in a kind of
dream, which ended in her running up to Cherry with a gasp of ecstasy, and hiding
her face against her. 'O Cherry!' she said, 'I did not know it could be so—so—so
exquisite!' and her bosom heaved with the struggle of new emotion—she who had
seen nothing but Bexley suburbs in her little life.
'It does seem almost impossible to believe we are really always to live with these
lovely sights,' said Cherry. 'It is like getting into the Promised Land! Why, my Star, it
quite overcomes you!'
'Oh! if Tedo could—could—' It was a sort of moan that burst from Stella, followed by
a shower of tears.
'Ah! Stella, sweet! We all of us miss somebody. It is not the Promised Land yet, for
there you know there will be Ephphatha indeed!' and Cherry strangled her own sob,
as her supplication went up that all might be as well there with her heart's grief as
with Stella's. 'Besides,' she added, cheerfully, 'Theodore will be happier here; he will
have more liberty and more pets.'
'And he likes the bells,' said Stella; but there was a wistful yearning look on the
sweet face, as if the excess of pleasure increased the longing for companionship in
her twin.
Cherry took her hand to encounter the dread waste of slipperiness before her; but in
further proof who was the lady and the darling of the house, no sooner did her door

open, than Felix hastened across from his room, Clement strode up from the library,
John Harewood's head emerged from his dressing-room door; but Lance was
beforehand with all, for he was close by, helping Golightly the gardener to carry the
boxes as near as possible to their destinations.
He bore her off in triumph, with so much laughter, that the consequence was a slip,
and a shout of warning displeasure from the elder brothers.
'No fault of his,' cried back Cherry, holding tight to him. 'Only if four brothers at once
will make me so proud, I can but have a fall.'
'Aren't you prouder now?' said Lance, as they trooped into the dining-room. 'There's
a table to sit down at the head of!'
What a glittering array it was of glass and silver and brightly-coloured china; and the
profusion of country fare—roast fowl, green pease, yellow butter in ice, virgin combs
of transparent liquid golden honey, mountains of strawberries, great jugs of milk and
cream. There was no formality indeed in the Amen that responded to their chaplain's
grace.
'Good creatures verily,' ejaculated Felix, as he took up carving-knife and fork.
'Is it a feast for his birthday?' whispered Stella, 'or is it to be always like this?'
'You see,' said Cherry to her neighbour, the Major, 'we remember when we used to
have a quart of blue milk, and save for the babies.'
'I say, Felix,' cried Angela, 'have we got a farm, with cows, and turkey-cocks, and
turnips, and all sorts of jolly things?'
'Stunning!' said Bernard; 'and an old bull with a ring in his nose, that would toss you
as soon as look at you!'
'That home farm is a difficulty,' said Felix. 'I believe I ought to get rid of it, for I
know nothing of farming, and have no time to learn.'
'Oh, let me manage it, if that's all!' said Angel. 'I'll get a smock-frock and big shoes,
and a long whip, and get up at four in the morning.'
'Seriously, I hope you can keep it in your own hands,' said Clement. 'There's no
getting milk otherwise. You might as well ask the farmers' wives for their hearts'
blood. There's a child that I baptized soon after I came; the mother is sickly, and
had lost two before. I found her feeding it with some mess of pounded acorns, and
recommended milk, but found I might as well have talked of melted gold. Even
when I offered to pay, it could not be done—would break up the cheese-making. I
thought of buying a cow and some hay, and putting her in the Vicarage; but when I
saw a great jug of hot milk come in with my coffee every morning, I ended by
getting a mug and carrying it down every day; and really the child has lived.'
'But, Clem,' said Angel, with a sort of affectation of solemnity, 'wasn't that a difficult
case of conscience? Weren't you stealing Mr. Underwood's milk?'

'No; for our old régime—not to say St. Matthew's—had taught him to go without,'
said Felix, smiling, for he had seen the mug in force.
'Till the new Squire came, and I could unblushingly prey on him,' rejoined Clement.
'Whereby I propose,' said Major Harewood, 'that we drink the health of the said new
Squire—with all birthday wishes—and long may he reign!'
'All birthday wishes, Felix,' responded Wilmet, who, like some of the others, had
begun tea with a glass of claret. 'Do you remember this day thirteen years, when
Robin did not know what a cold chicken was?'
'I remember it well,' said Felix, gravely. 'It seems to me to have been the last day
that I was a boy. Thank you,' as each bright face nodded at him. 'Haven't I made
speeches enough? Well, then, Ladies and Gentlemen, many thanks to you for
coming here to-day. It's little good this place would be to me without you. And—'
from the playfulness a sudden emotion came over and thrilled his voice—'may God
grant we may still be all as happy together as we have been these thirteen years!'
'I would not have missed this for anything!' was John's very warm aside; but a little
afraid of emotion, he added, 'Yes, you are worth looking at. You certainly are a right
goodly family.'
'Seen in the light of prosperity,' said Cherry.
'He need not be accused of that,' said Wilmet. 'He never saw so many of us together
before.'
'Except the first time,' said John, 'when I thought you would never have done
coming into the room.'
'Poor John!' said Felix, 'I pity your blushes. I wonder you were not frightened away
at once!'
'And it was not Robin's fault,' said Cherry. 'Do you remember, Bobbie, the agony you
were in, till you grew desperate, and stopped Clem and me by speaking out?'
'Robin could have had nothing to speak about,' said Wilmet, with a resumption of
her old manner that tickled the others exceedingly.
'Indeed!' quoth Lance. 'Bill remembers his confidences by the river.'
'Moonshine!' growled Bill, but scarce heeded, for John had turned to his wife with a
droll injured air of condolence, saying, 'Ah! my dear, these little secrets will come
out; but we must make the best of it!'
'And talking of rivers and moonshine,' cried Angela, 'we'll have a turn in the boat.
Hurrah for the boat! Come, Bear—come, Bill—I want my first lesson in rowing.'
'Stay,' said Felix; 'that eddy where the Leston comes down makes the river not safe
when you do not know it. Now, girls, all of you, remember once for all that I desire

you will never go in the boat without some one who can swim, nor take Theodore
without me.'
He seldom gave a direct command, but there was enforcement in his tone; and John
added, 'Quite right. I see it is a stream not to be trusted.'
'It is just a device to hinder our going at all,' pouted Angela.
'And swimming is a mere hindrance to drowning aisy, if you are to be drownded,'
added Bill.
'Do you know,' added Clement, 'that
"To Leston and Ewe
Underwood pays due,"
in every generation?'
'Where did you pick up that adage?' asked Felix.
'A prophecy, a prophecy!' cried Angela. 'What fun! I shall hold up my head more
than ever, now we have a saw of our own! What fun!'
'Where did you hear it?' repeated Cherry, who as well as Stella looked discomfited.
'I did not hear it,' said Clement, 'the people were far too polite to tell me; but it was
administered to Somers by way of warning, after some eccentric proceedings in the
boat with Bear. They say an Underwood is drowned in every generation—I suppose
since the sacrilege.'
'Prove the fact,' said Felix.
'Somers and I did try to make out,' said Clement, 'between registers and
monuments. We found one Lancelot in 1750, with a note "Drowned" attached to his
name, and a conglomeration of urns and water-nymphs—Leston and Ewe, I
presume—scrambling about his monument in the south transept; and the old Squire
had told me that the crayon young lady in a cap in the library was our old great-
uncle's intended, but was drowned in crossing the ferry at Ewmouth, before the
bridge was built. She is not very pretty; and I was going to have put a photograph in
her place, but it seemed to me profane, when she had hung there so many years for
the poor old faithful lover to look at.'
'The Ewe seems to have been in overhaste to claim its due, before she was an
Underwood,' said Angela.
'Quite enough for an adage,' said John; 'one real Underwood, and one intended.'
'However, as I do not mean the rivers to get their due through any fool-hardiness,'
said Felix, 'you must attend to my rule.'
'And I think it renders boating reasonably safe,' added Clement. 'There are no holes,
and the only danger is when there has been a good deal of rain to make the

currents strong; otherwise it is quite safe for a tolerable swimmer. I learnt at
Cambridge, and Bear is a perfect cork; but I did not know you could swim, Fee.'
'I improved my opportunities at Ewmouth five years ago, when unluckily Lance could
not.'
'I should try again if I were to be much here,' said Lance; but the general voice
dissuaded him; and at the same time Tripp knocked at the door—the summons to
the Vicar and Squire to visit the ringers at their banquet.
'You had better go to bed, Cherry,' said Felix, as he rose; 'you look like a white rag.'
'Triumphs are tiring processes, to say nothing of making tea,' said Cherry; 'but I
don't want to disturb Sibby just yet.'
'I'll put you to bed, if you like,' said Wilmet 'I want to send Emma down, and keep
within hearing of the children.'
'Oh, that will be most delicious of all! So like old times!' And the two sisters went off,
to be happy together, and coo a little delight in their Squire and his beautiful home,
mingled with a domestic consultation how the bared drawing-room could be
inexpensively rendered a pleasant family gathering place.
'A little chintz will do a great deal,' said Wilmet; 'we will see about it.'
Which assurance set Cherry's mind at rest on that score, for her belief in Wilmet's
notable abilities was boundless. 'But what is the matter with Robina?' she added
after a few minutes, recalling the events of the day. 'She is so silent, and has a
distressed anxious look I never saw about her before. I wonder whether she regrets
the not coming home for good.'
'I am not sure,' said Wilmet; 'I am inclined to think she is sorry to be away from
Repworth Towers.'
'O Wilmet! impossible, unnatural!'
'I never do quite understand Robin,' said Wilmet. 'She seems the simplest, soberest
girl in the world; and yet I suppose that folly of Alice's put things into her head, for
she has a strange propensity to think people are paying her attention. Even at
Barèges I saw symptoms of it, which I put a stop to at once.'
'I can't think it of any one so honest and sensible as the Robin.'
'I know it, unfortunately; and it is the more curious that she has only moderate good
looks, and no other tokens of vanity. It is particularly unlucky in her position.'
'You don't imagine there's anything going on!'
'I hope not.'
'I have a great deal too much confidence in the Robin to suspect her.'

'Not of consciously doing wrong, but of having been flattered, and now perhaps in a
difficulty. However, I shall say nothing till we have seen more. She may be only
tired.'
Felix—with all that was on his hands—had likewise noted the absence of the Robin's
chirp, and looked for her when he came back from the ringers' supper, to which
Clement and Lance had followed him. They then went off to Clement's library for a
consultation about some music; and Felix, repairing to the drawing-room, found
nothing there but a lonely cockchafer, knocking his head against a lonely lamp on
the lonely round table in the centre—not an enlivening spectacle; but hearing steps
on the gravel, he went out, and found John pacing under the wall with a cigar, and
Bernard emulously following in his wake.
'Where are all the others?' he asked; 'it is not far from ten.'
'Wilmet went up to the babies,' said John; 'the others are about somewhere.'
'Larking about,' added Bernard, with superior wisdom. 'Well, John, you were saying
—'
Felix was too thankful to have Bernard doing anything so sensible as to talk to John
to interrupt them further, and turned away. He stood for a few minutes to enjoy the
strange repose of the exquisite loveliness of the scene—the summer sunset, not yet
entirely died away, but tingeing the northern sky with pure light, while the great
moon, still low, silvered the river, and defined the grand outline of the church.
And this, not only a scene to be gazed at, but the home he had reached at last—the
home so long withheld!
'Entering into rest,' he said to himself, for the repose of mind was great. 'And yet—
"Your rest must be no rest below."
No, home duties—higher duties, still more—forbid me to make this more than a
resting-place—not rest. "There remaineth yet a rest for the people of God"—yet a
home, but its shadow here is very sweet. Let it not beguile me!'
Just then Angela's laugh, a very musical and yet a very giddy one, like a rapid peal
of silver bells, caught his ear; and in the moonlight in the churchyard he saw her tall
light figure, and what could be none other than Will beside her. He was vexed. She
was bare-headed, and the churchyard was open to the village on the other side, and
had a public pathway through it. He walked quickly towards them, and called as
soon as he could do so in a low voice, 'Come in directly, Angela. You know this is not
private ground.'
'O Felix, we have found such a delicious ghost! Don't you see its white wings?'
'Angel thinks it is her own kin, a fossil cherub,' said Will. 'Why aren't you all out? 'tis
not a scene to be wasted, especially with Angels and Ministers of Grace to defend
us.'

'Minister of Grace—that's Robin,' laughed Angela.
'Hush, Angela! come in,' said Felix, severely; 'this is no place for nonsense—
especially unkind nonsense,' he added in a lower voice.
She did not answer, but the church clock began its chimes—sweet, mysterious,
tender—given by some musical Underwood long ago, and sounding in the dark quite
unearthly, while the long deep tones of the ten o'clock that followed came with awe
upon the ear. Will was heard to give a long sigh, but no one spoke as they all came
back to the drawing-room, which was full enough by this time—four gentlemen,
hotly discussing a cricket-match by the chimney-piece; Wilmet knitting on a stiff
chair in the corner; and Robina, under the lamp, hard at work on some point-lace on
a green roll.
'Putting out your eyes, Bob,' said Felix, feeling the need of saying something kind to
her. 'What are you doing that for?'
'Lady de la Poer has some point de Venise that she can't use because one ruffle is
wanting,' said Robina, 'and I have made out the pattern. I want to take it back with
me and surprise her.'
'It is all willing sacrifice when one puts out one's eyes in a marchioness's service,'
said Will's voice from the window.
Robina looked up resolutely. 'Very willing when one is grateful for a great deal of
motherly kindness,' she said, steadily, and yet with a certain sadness in her voice.
'Oh yes! a handle to one's name makes a little civility go a great way.'
'You know nothing about it.' The voice was steady but indignant, and there was a
flush of deep colour on the cheeks.
'It is quite true, Robina,' said John. 'It is one of the trials of life, that when we live in
two different worlds, the inhabitants of the one are apt to resent and misunderstand
our feelings for the other.'
They were all grateful for this generalization; and Felix now spoke of the household
prayers. 'I had not begun them,' said Clement; 'I thought the real master of the
house should take the initiative.'
'Set up the domestic halter, as Mrs. Shapcote says,' added Lance.
'We might make that organ available,' said Felix, 'and screen off the end part of the
long room where it stands, for a permanency.'
'Yes, there's rather a nice window down there with our Rood in it—nothing
incongruous,' said Clement, 'if Lance can only cure the organ.'
'Meantime, I suppose we had better have the servants in here, and use the piano.'
'They will be all dispersed, and not like to come in,' said Wilmet.

'Possibly,' said Felix, 'but I shall go and see. I have a feeling against beginning our
first night in our new home without some collective commendation of ourselves.'
'If we had but an authorized form for dedicating a new home, like the Russian
Church,' said Clement.
'You have not thought of anything in especial. Well, see.' And he pointed to some
marks in the prayer-book he left in Clement's hand, while he left the room for a
word or two, which he thought would better prepare the household than a
peremptory bell.
Clement was struck, as indeed they all were, with his selection. There was the
Psalm, 'Except the Lord build the house;' a short lesson (the reading of which Felix
reserved to himself), namely, the words from Deuteronomy, against the presumption
of prosperity; and the Collects, 'Prevent us O Lord in all our doings,' 'Charity,' 'the
sundry and manifold changes of the world,' and 'things temporal and things eternal;'
and then came the hymn—it was, 'Lead Thou me on.' Felix believed he had heard its
echoes in his little bed that last Sunday night, and therefore wished for it, though it
seemed a strange choice for the new house. How Edward and Mary must have felt
that 'one step enough for me,' when they went forth with their little ones into the
moor and fen! But in this hour of restoration, was it still to be a looking forth into
mist and fog, led only by the kindly Light,
'Till through the dawn the Angel faces smile.'
Some who looked at those pictures felt as if they had had a foretaste of those angel
faces.
'And,' said Kerenhappuch to her father, 'to see Miss Mary's sons, those dear young
gentlemen, all a standing singing together like so many lambs—it was just a picture
like the three chorister boys. I says to myself, "Keren, this 'ill be a blessed place. If
this isn't the angels come down after all!"'
CHAPTER XXXVII.
INVASIONS.
'He muttered, "Eggs and bacon,
Lobster, and duck, and toasted cheese."'
Phantasmagoria.
'When did Bernard Underwood say his people were coming?'

'On Wednesday.'
'To-day! That's right. I can take you over to-morrow to call on them.'
'So soon!'
'Welcomes can't be too soon.'
'If one is not settled in?'
'The furniture was left to them.'
'That's all men know about it!'
'I know this, that if I don't go to-morrow, I have not another free day for a
fortnight.'
'It is all very well for you. I daresay the man-kind have a room in some trim, or don't
know it if they have not; but to fall promiscuously on the female sect, with their little
amenities in an experimental state of development, is the way to be obnoxious.
Can't you go solus, and make pretty speeches?'
'No, Ethel; it must be attention here from woman to woman. It may help them to
start in the neighbourhood.'
'I submit. How are we to go? What is the distance?'
'Twelve miles. Suppose we went by railway, and took a boat up from Ewmouth.
What do you say to that, Daisy?'
'That I have had quite enough specimens of the family in Master Bernard and his
clerical brother.'
'You liked the former specimens well enough. Eh! Do you remember Daisiana?'
An angry flush rose to Gertrude May's cheeks, but she tried to answer composedly,
'The man-kind, as Ethel calls them, are no matter; but what can woman-kind be,
after a life-struggle to preserve gentility over a stationer's shop?'
'The more reason they should be susceptible to mortification from their father's old
friends,' said Dr. May, as he left the room.
'No, you can't get off, Daisy,' said Ethel. 'It must be done, and I only wish it could be
a little later, for fear we should inflict more vexation than pleasure.'
'No; it can't be helped. He is going to run a-muck and take us in his train,' said the
spoilt child, shrugging her shoulders.
On the Thursday morning, at the Vale Leston breakfast-table it was, 'The first thing
is to make the drawing-room habitable before any one calls.'
'No one will presume on such barbarity till after Sunday!' exclaimed Cherry.
'Unless the Miss Hepburns should—' said Wilmet.
'No,' decidedly stated Clement; 'they told me they should wait till Monday.'

'And your library is as respectable as it is in the nature of the male animal to keep its
lair,' said Cherry; 'so I don't mind if a gentleman comes, such as Captain Audley.'
'You need not trouble yourself about Captain Audley,' interposed Bernard. 'Never
calls on ladies by any chance; hates 'em worse than poison.'
'Bosh, Bear! We met him at a picnic,' quoth Lance.
'That was long ago, and it grows on him; and it's monstrous hard lines on Charlie,
now he's big enough to be spooney, that he never will go anywhere among humans.
He's gone off in his yacht now to shoot seals, and cut the Arckey—Archey—
Archidiaconal meeting.'
'Archidiaconal? He's not a churchwarden, is he?'
'What is it, Clem? You know. A whole lot of fine ladies and swells and dons and big-
wigs coming to Ewmouth to go on about Gothic arches, and Roman camps, and
Britons' bones, and all that sort of rubbish.'
'Does Stoneborough derive archæology from arches?' said Felix.
'Perhaps he thinks Archidiaconal functions consist in looking after them,' added Will.
'I remember now,' said Clement; 'there is really to be a meeting of the Archæological
Society at Ewmouth, and it is to be apprehended that they may make a descent
upon this place.'
'Happy hunting grounds,' said Felix. 'I only hope they will give us due notice.'
The bare idea quickened the breakfast. By ten o'clock a survey had been taken, and
Cherry had thankfully accepted Wilmet's assurance that there were sufficient
resources scattered through the house to repair the ravages of Mrs. Fulbert without
more serious expense than that of a piece of chintz; and having resigned the
command into her hands, beheld her consulting Clement on the possibility of being
driven into Ewmouth, which he undertook to do in person in his dog-cart without
loss of time. An exchange of all the other existing vehicles had been arranged for
one roomy waggonette, and a basket pony-carriage, fit for Cherry to drive if ever
she took courage—they had only been kept to meet the exigencies of the arrival en
masse.
By a quarter to one Dr. May had landed his daughters at the garden steps, and was
walking them up to the cloister door, when they were greeted with a hideous
whistling bray, followed by the apparition of a figure with a pink and white shirt and
grey legs, a great deal of dust and brown moustaches, upon inflated cheeks puffing
vigorously through a big golden tube, which he next proceeded to spy down with
one eye, and through that telescope became aware of one of the new comers, and
uttered an ejaculation, 'Dr. May, by all that's lucky!' at the same time, using both
eyes more naturally, he perceived the two ladies, blushed up to the eyes, and came
forward with an apologetic greeting and hands far too dusty for any grasp less eager
than the doctor's. 'Grown out of knowledge, but you're an old friend, I see.'

'I'm sorry to be in this awful mess, but I want to get the organ to rights before
Saturday, when I must get back,' he said, as he led them through a world of organ-
pipes, scattered here, there, and everywhere, and conducted them straight to the
drawing-room. There the scene disclosed a giddy fabric, consisting of the round
table, pushed up to a window and surmounted by a chair, and that again by a
footstool, on the top of all a lady, dropping a measuring-tape to the floor, where a
little girl was holding it by the ring at the end. The floor was bespread with slippery
glossy lengths of chintz, patterned with pink and purple heather, on which a third
sister was performing with a big pair of scissors in a crawling position on the floor,
and a fourth was supplying the yawning shelves of a chiffonier with books. Ethel's
prognostic was justified to the full.
'Wilmet!' exclaimed Lance, 'take care! How could you? Why didn't you send me up?'
'I should not have trusted you; but now you may help me, down.' And there she
became conscious of the guests, but with a curious simplicity and dignity, she took
no notice of them; while they thought it best to engross themselves in shaking
hands with the lame sister, with her who scrambled up from the floor with a red and
fagged visage, and with the little one, who, amid all the dust and confusion, looked
as dainty and shining-haired as if she had been newly adorned for a feast.
'Here she is on the ordinary level of society!' said Geraldine. 'This is Mrs. Harewood,
Dr. May—Wilmet, whom I think you remember.'
Wilmet had brought her composure down with her, and astonished the visitors
therewith, as well as by the rare quality of her beauty, reminding Ethel of the fair
matronly dames of early Italian art, both for her silence and her substantial
stateliness. Nor was there the least flutter or affectation about Cherry; she thought
the adventure fun, and had seen in a moment what sort of treatment was suitable to
the present company, so she merrily observed, 'Now that Lance has given you a
pleasing peep behind the scenes, won't you come to a less dismantled region?'
'It is only the consequence of resigning oneself to one's gentlemen,' returned Ethel.
'If I had had my way, you should have had time to "big your bower."'
'Ah! but we could not afford to miss a kind welcome,' said Geraldine, with the little
pathos of sweetness that was such an attraction. 'My brother is surveying his new
domains, but he will come in almost directly to early dinner. You are come for it?
You'll come and take off your hats. Lance!'
Lance had fled, so soon as he had extricated Wilmet from her perilous attitude. No
wonder; particular as he was about young ladies, his déshabillé, nearly as bad as
that of Cleomenes, must have been dreadful to him; and it was Wilmet who gave
Cherry an arm over the oak floor. They put Dr. May into the library, where Clement
came to light; while they took the daughters upstairs, where they were almost as
much pleased to see, as the sisters to show, the beauties of the quaint old house,
and were perfectly sensible of the well-bred simplicity, playfulness, and absence of
all false shame, so entirely different from what they had expected.

Ethel had been prepared to spend her day in a state of good-humoured forbearance
and repression of Gertrude's intolerance. Instead of which she found herself in that
state of ease which comes of accordance of tone, and she saw—what she had never
beheld before—in her keen unvenerative sister, who had never formed any kind of
attachment out of her own family and not many in it, the process of falling into an
enthusiasm. That lame Miss Underwood, like an old fairy with her ivory-headed
crutch stick; her marked eye-brows, thin expressive face, with its flashes of fun and
plaintive sweetness, youthful complexion and pronounced features, was—what Daisy
called—'so uncommon' as to strike her fancy, to a wonderful degree, and she had
hardly eyes or ears to spare for anybody else; when at the sound of the dinner-bell,
which had a charming little extinguisher of its own at the top of the octagon tower,
the whole of the party were exhibited in the dining-room—Felix and John Harewood
from a round of inspection with the bailiff; Angela from the kitchen-garden. She had
been set to work unpacking books with Robina, but becoming discursive, had flown
off to a tour on the leads with Bernard. 'So much less considerate than Stella!'
sighed Robin, left to the tasks that could only fall to the quietest and strongest
female of the family. For one happy half hour she was cheered by Will, who
volunteered help, gave her all the volumes wrong, or put them upside-down, then
lighting on Chaucer, read aloud Palæmon and Arcite, with comments, until Angela
burst in, and whirled him away to shake an apple-tree for half a dozen urchins, with
whom she had made acquaintance in the churchyard; and Robina had toiled on
alone till, on Wilmet's return, she was swept into the furniture vortex.
Dr. May's heart, like Ethel's, warmed to the long table so like their own best days;
and the perfect absence of pretension in the plain leg of mutton and vegetables
delighted them eagerly. Moreover, he was dazzled by Wilmet's grand beauty, and the
general comeliness of his old friend's family, while he talked with immense
satisfaction to Felix and Major Harewood; but some strange change had fallen on
Daisy.
She had been only fourteen at the time of her escapade on the Kitten's Tail, and
now at nineteen the presence of the gentleman concerned in it seemed actually to
keep her silent, so that she did not respond to the advances of her nearest
contemporaries, Robina and Angela, one of whom had a good deal more manner
and the other a good deal more assurance than she could boast; and though Lance
had reappeared in irreproachable costume, she daunted his attempts at conversation
by her evident determination to listen to the elders' discussion of architects.
'Aren't you going to the Church?' asked Robina, finding him leaning against the
cloister door when there had been a move to show the Church to the visitors.
'No use in crowding them up with all the ruck. I shall strip, and go back to my
organ-pipes. I shall not come here much. 'Tis no use being in a false position.'
'Nonsense. A false position is pretending to be what one is not.'

'Here I pretend to be on equality, and am shown my place,' said Lance,
disconsolately; for he was very soft-hearted, and had an immense turn for young
ladies.
'You're annihilated by a breath,' said Robin; 'besides, it was only shyness.'
'Shy? You should have seen her last time!'
'That's the very reason. If you only knew how horrid things done at one end of one's
teens feel at the other!'
However, with Robina things were mending. Will had recovered his temper. There
had been nothing to remind him of the obnoxious family at Repworth, when the
pointlace had yielded perforce to the heather-patterned chintz, which was crackling
about in all directions under the needles of all the ladies, and even of Krishnu.
Everybody, except Angela, who said it hurt her fingers, was at work at petticoats for
ottomans and robes for armchairs, or coats for curious settees routed out from
upstairs, while Wilmet used the sewing-machine on the curtains, to supply the place
of the brocade borne off by Mrs. Fulbert, and brought to light exquisite tamboured
work of Lady Geraldine's that happily had been entirely unappreciated in the last
reign.
Robina was stitching away the next day, when she had a treat. Bill came after her
with the blottiest of all rolls of MS., being an essay to prove that the sun, the dawn,
and the clouds, were not the origin of everything and everybody everywhere in
legend and mythology, and he wanted a pair of ears to which to read it, so that he
might hear it himself before submitting it to John. Lance was perpetrating worse
screeches than ever with his organ-pipes, and could not Robin bring her needling
out of the sound of them and listen to a fellow?
Ample space was no small privilege to a family accustomed to be cramped and
crowded, and there was a pleasant sense of expansion in sitting down under the
cedar-tree, with Bill luxuriously spread on the grass.
Such a sense Felix had in sorting his papers into the numerous drawers and pigeon-
holes in his ample study-table, trusting himself not to make them so many traps for
losing things, since he did not hold with Bill, that it is best to have no partitions, and
have only one place to search through. Clement was making over to him the
memoranda of the transactions conducted in his absence, when horses' feet were
heard at the front-door, and Clement reconnoitring at the window, said, 'Mr.
Milwright—the Rector of Ewford—no doubt it is about the Archæology.'
'A friend of yours?'
'Not particularly. I sat next him at the Visitation, and as the Charge ended, he
touched me and said, "I'll show you the only bit of fourteenth-century glass in the
choir;" and when we came out, and he heard my name, he said, "I congratulate you
on the possession of the finest specimen of Cistercian architecture in the rural
deanery." I'm afraid he minds his ecclesiology more than his ecclesia.'

By this time the entrance was effected of a lively well-bred man of middle age, not
at all the conventional antiquarian, though still with one master idea. He apologized
for his early call, but explained his purpose, namely to ask permission to conduct a
party of the archæologists over the Church and Priory, and to make a preliminary
inspection at once, to compare his old notes and prepare fresh ones. They were
both willingly granted; and Felix went to summon his sisters, who would gladly profit
by the primary survey without a crowd, and be delighted to learn the traditions of
the place, which were necessarily a good deal lost to them. When the pair under the
cedar looked round on hearing voices, Robina exclaimed with surprise and
recognition of the guest.
'How do you know him?' asked her companion.
'He was staying at the Towers last winter. He was once a curate at Repworth.'
'Will he know you?'
'Not so likely as if he had seen me as a brass; but I must go and speak to him.'
'Such an enchanting encounter in your exile!'
'Nonsense! I only don't choose to seem ashamed of my vocation,' she answered
rather proudly, as she came forward to join the party, for whose benefit Mr. Milwright
was drawing the plan of the original Priory with his stick in the gravel. Felix was
about to introduce her, but she held out her hand, saying, 'I have had the pleasure
of meeting Mr. Milwright before at Repworth. I am one of the governesses.'
He made civil acknowledgment, but would hardly have cared if she had avowed
herself kitchen-maid there. He knew only that two intelligent auditors had come up;
and all were soon absorbed in the interest of his discourse, an entirely new pleasure
to most.
To read in the peculiarity of the dog-tooth round the pointed arch, as clearly as in
Arabic figures, the date when the church was founded, and to bring out stone by
stone each fresh stage of improvement; to see when a building prior came from
France, and put in a flamboyant window in the south transept; when a sturdy baron
atoned for ravages in Brittany, by giving that perpendicular tower and cloister; and
when, in a spirit of renovation, the last effort broke forth in those marvellous fan
pendants in the Lady Chapel—these were feats delightful to enter into, and it was
amusing as well as instructive to see the ecclesiologist poke into rubbishy corners,
and disinter fragments of capitals and mouldings, sedilia and piscinæ, altars, and
prior's coffin-lids with floriated crosses, giving an account of their origin as
confidently as if he had had a pre-existence as a brother in the Priory. Moreover, his
intentions furnished an excellent pretext for doing away with the seventy-five yards
of black without outraging the squire's memory; indeed, Clement undid a good deal
of it to facilitate the researches, and no one could pass it without a sly tweak to
detach another nail.

'I'll keep the hatchment over the door as long as man can wish,' said Felix; 'but the
Church in mourning I cannot stand.'
'And I think the three-decker might come down too,' added Clement. 'It is clearly
within the chancel, and is your undisputed property.'
In which opinion Mr. Milwright, as a Rector, confirmed him, and likewise bestowed
some good advice as to the manner of the intended restoration. 'The worst of it is,'
he said, 'it can't be done under some thousands; and there's so much work of that
sort about, the public is nearly wrung dry. However, it would be the very time to set
a subscription going.'
'Paying toll,' said Felix, drily. 'No. I think the Rectory ought to do it gradually.'
'Oh, I beg your pardon.' And Mr. Milwright recollected that he had heard something
of young Underwood being in trade, and concluded that he had made a good thing
of it; and when on the way to the house some question was asked as to what was
usual on such domiciliary visits, he did not scruple to say that a luncheon was
usually bestowed by the inhabitants.
The visit to the house was still more entertaining. The long room was explained to
be the remnant of the old hospitium below, with the Prior's chamber above; but the
cellar was the oldest part of the house. Felix had been thither to take stock of the
wine, and had only carried away a sense of the elaborate arrangement of the bins,
and the ages it would take to consume their contents; but Mr. Milwright passed all
these, and finally made a set like a pointer at a big beer-barrel, pointing to a low
door behind it. Golightly was sent for to assist in moving it, which he did with great
reluctance, asserting on the authority of Mrs. Macnamara (Sibby) that it led to
nothing but ruins and foul air.
'Ah!' said Mr. Milwright, 'I am glad my friend Dobby is not quite forgotten.'
'Indeed, Sir, if you mean to imply that I ever was actuated by such a superstition!'
cried Golightly, giving all his strength to assist his young masters; while Angela
capered about in delight at having acquired a ghost as well as a prophecy, and Felix
recollected having been threatened with Dobby by a young nursery-maid. The door
proved to lead to a vaulted passage cut out in the solid rock, and ending in a
beautiful semicircular chamber with melon-like divisions, uniting in one large boss at
the summit, carved with the five stars which had been the shield of the Priory. The
bad conscience of some despoiling Underwood had probably led to the idea of a
walled-up monk, whose phantom was accustomed to take his walks abroad, rattling
a chain, under the pleasing name of Dobby.
But the vault was a grand possession, and the access to it was to be made as
favourable as circumstances would permit. Mr. Milwright next showed that the big
knobs at the posts of the balustrade of the staircase unscrewed for the insertion of
flambeaux, since the builders of the mansion, following instincts bequeathed from
times of peril, had put their banqueting-room at the top of the house. All that was

now divided by floor and wainscot into the long corridor and a rabbit-warren of
rooms, had once been a banqueting-hall, the ceiling of which, in the upper story, still
showed handsome chequer-work of plaster mouldings, the intersections alternately
adorned with roods and crowns, L.U., and J.R. The octagon tower at the end was of
earlier date, and had formed a part of the principal entrance, flanking one of the two
great gateway towers, of which only one stump remained, built into a wood shed.
And, as to the Prior's kitchen, a splendid octagon, with eight arches for as many
fires, and a chimney in the middle, it had been so hemmed in with sheds and leans-
to, that though it existed as a coalhole, no one had yet explored it. Geraldine was
ashamed, both as housewife and antiquary; but she had been so much engrossed
during these two first days that she had by no means learnt all the ins and outs of
her new old home, of which all felt much prouder than before, and on the
renovation of which Mr. Milwright preached as earnestly as that of the Church.
He took leave, having greatly excited the whole family as to the coming feast of
antiquities, and their own especial share of it.
'What shall you do about this luncheon?' asked Wilmet, when the party next
assembled round the long table.
'Give it,' briefly answered Felix.
'It will be tremendously expensive.'
'An elegant cold collation from the pastrycook at Ewmouth would be; but I don't see
why we should not have a few cold joints. Eh, Cherry?'
'Like our celebrated supper to the Minsterham choir,' responded she.
'You neither of you know what it will lead to,' was the old phrase into which Wilmet
relapsed.
'Never mind her,' interposed her husband. 'She is demoralized by regimental
déjeûners.'
'It serves you right for dragging me to them,' retorted Wilmet.
'I don't do so to please you, my dear, but because I can't have Major Harewood said
to mew up his handsome wife out of sight.'
'I own,' she said, not quite pleased, 'I am afraid of this affair being more expensive
than Felix imagines. If it is done at all, it must be done properly.'
'Of course it must,' pronounced Bernard. 'If it is to be a snobbish concern, I wash
my hands of it. I shall go off to Jem Shaw out of the way!'
'I'll tell you how to make it snobbish, Bear,' said Cherry. 'To have the very same
waiters in the very same cotton gloves, handing about the very same lobster-salad,
in the very same moulds, and and tongues in the very same ruffles, with the very
same carrot and turnip flowers on them, that have haunted the archæologists at
every meal.'

'Bravo, Cherry!' broke in Will. 'Commend me to the unconventional woman!'
'Whereas,' proceeded Cherry, still directing herself on Bernard, 'no snob ever had
such a place as the hospitium, nor such a salt-cellar as Amelia showed me this
morning, and which I'm sadly afraid was filched from my Lord Prior, nor such
wonderful old China plates and dishes, with all the acts of the romance of the willow
pattern.'
'It's all plates and dishes so far, with nothing on them, like a Spanish don,' said
Lance.
'Stay a bit,' said Cherry. 'We'll get a big piece of hung beef, and break into Mrs.
Froggatt's parting gift of hams. Then Will and Bear shall kill us some rabbits, and
they and the pigeons in that delicious old dovecote will make no end of pies; and
what with the chick-a-biddies in the yard, and the unlimited lobsters Tripp talks of,
and a big dish of curds and cream, and Wilmet's famous lemon cheesecakes, and all
the melons and the cucumbers, and the apricocks and mulberries, the purple grapes,
green figs, and dewberries, I think Bear's snob will be rather surprised! Then we'll
have clean plates on the side-table, and let the gentlemen fetch them for the ladies;
and if John will lend us Zadok, and Miss Lightfoot and Mr. Golightly act according to
their names, I think we shall manage it all without any outgoing except for the solid
eatables.'
'And drinkables there are enough and to spare in the cellar,' said Felix; 'and John
must sit in judgment on them. It seems to me a clear matter of hospitality to feed
hungry and tired people who turn up at one's house, and they must be content
without mere display. In fact I see how to pay for such a feast as Cherry's genius
sketches, and our tickets into the bargain. I'll write up to the "Old World," and offer
an account of the whole concern.'
'Learning is better than house and land,' muttered Will.
'But it makes extra work of your holiday,' objected Wilmet.
'Reporting comes as natural to me as listening,' said Felix; 'besides, I mean this to
be only a sketch at the end of each day. I won't go as a reporter this time, it is
thrusting it too much down people's throats; and besides, this is rather out of Pur's
line.'
'I shall do it for that,' said Cherry. 'I won't have poor Pur neglected.'
'We must have my father up here,' added John. 'What a banquet it will be to him!'
'He might deliver his mind of his lecture on mediæval seals, which got so much too
learned for Minsterham,' added Will.
There ensued a dispute for the possession of the Librarian. Major and Mrs.
Harewood meant to move off to their lodgings at the Glebe Farm on the Monday, for
even these two days showed that Theodore and Kit were incompatible elements in
the household. The poor little uncle's uncertain conscience had been so far reached,

that he knew he must keep his hands off; but to see the child noticed by any one he
loved was misery to him, and 'Master Kistofer' was by no means safe from being the
aggressor. He viewed all toys as his exclusive right, and did not scruple to snatch
from the astonished fingers; and as he was active and enterprising, and could climb
stairs and open doors, it was never certain where he might next appear, nor would
he obey anybody except his own natural lawful authorities. Poor Stella was
continually on the alert; indeed she was the greatest sufferer, for her only weapon
against her nephew was coaxing, the sight of which excited Theodore to a passion
of jealousy; and though she never uttered a murmur, she was undergoing a
perpetual agony between them. The only safety was when Kit was in the charge of
Zadok, whose dark face was Theodore's horror, and another reason for relieving the
Priory of the establishment. John apologized for the luxury of such an attendant as
Krishnu. He had brought him home with the idea of letting him study at St.
Augustine's, but his care had become a necessity during that tardy convalescence;
and when it proved that his attainments were not up to the St Augustine's mark, and
that he had no strong inclination to make them so, but shrank from leaving his
master, the decision was welcome. He was northern mountaineer enough to bear
the climate; and Wilmet declared that he did the work of half there besides his own
proper business. He certainly was invaluable in those days of bustle and arrival, and
would have been more so but for the unlucky feud between Kit and Theodore.
However, the farm was so near, that the safe members of the family could be
together almost as much as ever.
Visitors thickened. The reported excursion of the Archæological Society made every
one feel that it was expedient that the first call should have been previously made.
Sunday was the limit Even the Miss Hepburns came not till that day; Clement merely
presented them when he brought down his imposing staff of new assistants to the
horse-boxes that so conveniently partitioned the classes, and gladly made over the
big boys to the well-practised Squire—a set of little stolid urchins to Angela, and all
the infants to Stella. If he hoped his display would induce the former teachers to
withdraw, he was mistaken; their close white-trimmed bonnets still kept guard over
the girls.
On the Monday they called, and kept on safe commonplace ground, like the ladies
they were, and grew so cordial that Wilmet proposed walking back to see the invalid
and introduce Robina, her namesake godchild.
The girl's staid looks and manners gave great satisfaction, in contrast with Geraldine
and Angela, who were thought flighty, and demonstrations were made which led to
the explanation that she was only on a visit at home. 'A governess!' The four ladies
were horror-struck. 'So selfish of Mr. Underwood!'
Robin swelled up like her kind preparing for duels on the October lawn. 'My
BROTHER!' she said, in the emphatic tone that never meant any one but Felix.
'It is entirely her own choice,' added Wilmet.

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