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Strolling Players; A Harmony of Contrasts
Strolling Players A Harmony of Contrasts Author:Charlotte Mary Yonge General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1893 Original Publisher: Macmillan Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can selec... more »t from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER IV INEVITABLE The Misses Dorset lived on in the house that had been the family home for many generations, and which would have been far too expensive for them but for its situation. Holland had evidently furnished the model to the original owner, for the house was tall, and had a steep roof, broken by queer little dormer windows of a red brick modified by time, with elaborate stone quoins and tall doorway, opening on a broad flight of stone steps, heavy sash windows, and a walled court leading to the street. On the other side, it was as near the sluggish estuary as safety permitted, and indeed, in certain conjunctions of wind and tide, the cabbages, not to say the lawn, became acquainted with salt water; although it appeared to Miss Dorset's friends, as if by far the greater portion of their time there was little to be seen from the window save an expanse of mud, with the river lazily creeping through it, and green banks and white houses shining beyond. The vessels, when there were any to see, could only be discerned from the broad balcony that ran round the great bay of the drawing-room. Inside, the house was panelled, painted white, and provided with as many heavy doors and big windows as could possiblybe got into the compass of each room; but the oak staircase was very handsome and very comfortable, and the broad handrail was a delightful place for gymnastics of all degrees. As to the furniture, most of it had suffered a period of degradation to the servants' hall, attics, and nurseries, till it had been of late dug out with rapture, mended, renovated, and i...« less