Residence at Bulstrode. 113 



to be in fashion ; so tliey returned liome, and 

 occupied the rest of the day in inspecting the 

 farm which his lordship hekl in hand. 



After these visits, Mr. Smith and his wife 

 settled down for a while in the cottage adjoin- 

 ing the lake in Bulstrode Park, which Mr. 

 Florence Yoimg, who was a connection by 

 marriage, begged them to occupy, treating 

 them with all possible hospitality and kind- 

 ness. Here they were visited by Mr. and 

 Lady Charlotte Denison during the Ascot 

 week ; the cottage, curiously enough, . being 

 one that Lady Charlotte's grandfather had built 

 for his gardener. It is necessary to mention 

 this visit, as it was the cause of Mr. Smith's 

 first appearance as an author. He had long 

 been in the habit of keeping a note-book, in 

 which, when he returned from a hunt, he 

 usually jotted down anything in relation to 

 sporting that struck him as remarkable, and 

 as not having been noticed before. Mr. Deni- 

 son having perused these notes, strongly lu'ged 



I 



