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FERNLEY HOUSE




BOOKS FOR GIRLS

By Laura E. Richards


_The_ MARGARET SERIES

        Three Margarets
        Margaret Montfort
        Peggy
        Rita
        Fernley House


_The_ HILDEGARDE SERIES

        Queen Hildegarde
        Hildegarde's Holiday
        Hildegarde's Home
        Hildegarde's Neighbors
        Hildegarde's Harvest

        DANA ESTES & COMPANY
        Publishers
        Estes Press, Summer St., Boston

[Illustration: "HUGH AND MARGARET, ALL UNCONSCIOUS OF HER SCRUTINY, WERE
ENJOYING THEMSELVES EXTREMELY."]




FERNLEY HOUSE

BY
LAURA E. RICHARDS

AUTHOR OF "CAPTAIN JANUARY," "MELODY," "QUEEN HILDEGARDE," "GEOFFREY
STRONG," ETC.

Illustrated by
ETHELDRED B. BARRY

[Illustration]

        BOSTON
        DANA ESTES & COMPANY
        PUBLISHERS




        _Copyright, 1901_
        BY DANA ESTES & COMPANY

        _All rights reserved_

        FERNLEY HOUSE

        Colonial Press
        Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.
        Boston, Mass., U.S.A.




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                           PAGE

      I. A DUET                                                       11

     II. MRS. PEYTON'S COMPANION                                      23

    III. AN ARRIVAL                                                   33

     IV. UNCLE JOHN'S IDEA                                            46

      V. A VISION                                                     58

     VI. ALI BABA                                                     70

    VII. MORE ARRIVALS                                                86

   VIII. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF                                      100

     IX. ABOUT NOTHING IN PARTICULAR                                 114

      X. GRACE'S SYSTEM                                              128

     XI. THE MYSTERIES OF FERNLEY                                    143

    XII. THE EGG OF COLUMBUS                                         161

   XIII. IN THE TWILIGHT                                             168

    XIV. THE FIRE                                                    183

     XV. JEWELS: AND AN AWAKENING                                    195

    XVI. FOR AULD LANG SYNE                                          205

   XVII. IN THE GARDEN                                               217

  XVIII. UNCLE JOHN'S BIRTHDAY                                       225




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                                    PAGE
  "HUGH AND MARGARET, ALL UNCONSCIOUS OF HER SCRUTINY,
    WERE ENJOYING THEMSELVES EXTREMELY"                    _Frontispiece_

  "MARGARET DID THE HONORS, STILL FEELING VERY SHY"                   29

  "AT THIS MOMENT POLLY APPEARED, RED-CHEEKED AND BREATHLESS"         33

  "SHE WAS A SLENDERER PEGGY, WITH THE SAME BLUE, HONEST EYES"        86

  "SHE LOOKED UP, AND SAW GRACE SITTING ON A BROAD, LOW BRANCH"      137

  "ON THE SECOND LANDING THEY PAUSED TO SALUTE THE OLD PORTRAITS"    148

  "A TALL, SLENDER FIGURE HALF RAN, HALF TOTTERED INTO THE ROOM"     181

  "'I PROPOSE... THE HEALTH OF THE BEST MAN... THAT LIVES
    UPON THIS EARTH TO-DAY;... THE HEALTH OF MY UNCLE JOHN!'"     238




FERNLEY HOUSE




CHAPTER I.

A DUET


"Well, Margaret!"

"Well, Uncle John!"

"Not a word to throw at a dog, as Rosalind says?"

"You are not a dog, Uncle John. Besides, you know all about it without
my saying a word, so why should I be silly, and spoil your comfortable
cigar? Dear children! They will have a delightful time, I hope; and of
course it is perfectly right that they should go to their father when he
wants them; and--the summer will pass quickly."

"Very quickly!" Mr. Montfort assented, watching his smoke rings float
upward.

"And Peggy is coming; and--oh, we shall be all right, of course we
shall; only--we do miss them, don't we, Uncle?"

"I should think we did! A house is a poor place without children; and we
flatter ourselves that our two--eh, Margaret?"

"Oh, they are the dearest children in the world," said Margaret with
conviction. "There