They remained deep in separate trains of thought till Mrs.
Mason's step was heard, when each returned supperless, but
refreshed, to her seat.
Ruth's place was the coldest and the darkest in the room,
although she liked it the best; she had instinctively chosen it
for the sake of the wall opposite to her, on which was a remnant
of the beauty of the old drawing-room, which must once have been
magnificent, to judge from the faded specimen left. It was
divided into panels of pale sea-green, picked out with white and
gold; and on these panels were painted--were thrown with the
careless, triumphant hand of a master--the most lovely wreaths of
flowers, profuse and luxuriant beyond description, and so
real-looking, that you could almost fancy you smelt their
fragrance, and heard the south wind go softly rustling in and out
among the crimson roses--the branches of purple and white
lilac--the floating golden-tressed laburnum boughs. Besides
these, there were stately white lilies, sacred to the
Virgin--hollyhocks, fraxinella, monk's-hood, pansies, primroses;
every flower which blooms profusely in charming old-fashioned
country gardens was there, depicted among its graceful foliage,
but not in the wild disorder in which I have enumerated them. At
the bottom of the panel lay a holly branch, whose stiff
straightness was ornamented by a twining drapery of English ivy,
and mistletoe, and winter aconite; while down either side hung
pendent garlands of spring and autumn flowers; and, crowning all,
came gorgeous summer with the sweet musk-roses, and the
rich-coloured flowers of June and July.
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