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This, then, was Annie Mordaunt, as the young lady was commonly called in the English circles, the only child and heiress of Herman Mordaunt, of Crown Street and of Lilacsbush. Well, Dirck has more taste than I had ever given him credit for!
As usual, I stopped at Kingsbridge to dine and bait; and while the notable landlady was preparing my dinner, I ascended the heights to catch a distant view of Lilacsbush. There lay the pretty cottage-like dwelling, placed beneath the hill, amid a wilderness of shrubbery; but its lovely young mistress was far away, and I found the pleasure with which I gazed at it blended with regrets.
"Anneke must have too many apprehensions on her own account, and on account of others, to be as sensible to the tender sentiments of love, as might be the case in the peace and security of Lilacsbush." "Ah! It is very evident you know nothing of the female sex, Corny, by that remark.
We made but one family, between town, Lilacsbush, and Satanstoe, Anneke and my mother, in particular, conceiving a strong affection for each other. As for Bulstrode, he went home before the marriage, but keeps up a correspondence with us to this hour. He is still single, and is a declared old bachelor.
Lilacsbush deserved its name, being a perfect wilderness of shrubbery; and, favoured by the last, I had got quite near the house, when I heard light footsteps on the gravel of an adjacent walk. At the next instant, soft, low voices met my ears, and I was a sort of compelled auditor of what followed.
As it was very clear the neighbourhood knew little about the true state of things in Herman Mordaunt's family, I took my hat and proceeded to execute the intention with which I had left home. I was sorry to hear that Bulstrode was at Lilacsbush, but had no apprehension of his ever marrying Anneke.
These things ought not to be done, Dirck, among persons of a certain stamp, and who are supposed to know what is proper." "This would be all right enough, Corny, had Herman Mordaunt, or his daughter, been at Lilacsbush; but they live in Crown Street, in town, in winter, and never come out here until after the Pinkster holidays, let them come when they may."
Mordaunt into the house. I was as much delighted with the appearance of things in the interior of Lilacsbush, as I had been with the exterior. Everywhere, it seemed to me, I met with the signs of Anneke's taste and skill. I do not wish the reader to suppose that the residence itself was of the very first character and class, for this it could not lay claim to be.
Herman Mordaunt would have given us a hearty welcome, and I should have gone on to Lilacsbush, did I not know that the family is certain to be in town at this season. Easter came early this year, and to-morrow will be the first day of the Pinkster holidays. As soon as they are over, Herman Mordaunt and Anneke will be out here to enjoy their lilacs and roses."
I was thought to have some taste in these matters, and had been consulted on the subject of laying out grounds by one or two neighbours in the county. "Whose house is it, Dirck?" I enquired; "and how came you to know anything about it?" "That is Lilacsbush," answered my friend; "and it belongs to my mother's cousin, Herman Mordaunt."
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