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A Nest of Linnets




[_Frontispiece_: "Dick--Dick," she gasped, "a dreadful thing has
happened!"                                         [_page_ 350.]




    A Nest of Linnets

    BY FRANK FRANKFORT MOORE
    AUTHOR OF "I FORBID THE
    BANNS," "THE JESSAMY BRIDE,"
    "THE FATAL GIFT," "ACCORDING
    TO PLATO," ETC., ETC.

    WITH 16 ILLUSTRATIONS
    BY J. JELLICOE

    _London_: HUTCHINSON & CO
    PATERNOSTER ROW      1901

    PRINTED BY
    HAZELL, WATSON, AND VINEY, LD.
    LONDON AND AYLESBURY.




A NEST OF LINNETS




CHAPTER I


"This will never do, Betsy," said Mr. Linley, shaking his head. "Sir
Joshua calls you Saint Cecilia, but 'twere a misnomer if you do not
sing the phrase better than you have just sung it. 'She drew an angel
down': let that be in your mind, my dear. There is no celestial being
that would move a pinion to help a maiden who implored its aid in so
half-hearted a way. Let us try again. One, two, three----"

    "'Angels, ever bright and fair,'"

sang Miss Linley.

Her father sprang from the harpsichord.

"Gracious powers, madam! the angels are not in the next room--they are
not even in Pierrepont Street, take my word for it; they are in heaven,
and heaven, let me tell you, is a very