The woods had opened to leave space for a sloping triangular
meadow. Pretty cottages lined it on two sides, and the upper and
third side was occupied by a new stone church, expensively
simple, a charming shingled spire. Mr. Beebe's house was near the
church. In height it scarcely exceeded the cottages. Some great
mansions were at hand, but they were hidden in the trees. The
scene suggested a Swiss Alp rather than the shrine and centre of
a leisured world, and was marred only by two ugly little villas--
the villas that had competed with Cecil's engagement, having been
acquired by Sir Harry Otway the very afternoon that Lucy had been
acquired by Cecil.
"Cissie" was the name of one of these villas, "Albert" of the
other. These titles were not only picked out in shaded Gothic on
the garden gates, but appeared a second time on the porches,
where they followed the semicircular curve of the entrance arch
in block capitals. "Albert" was inhabited. His tortured garden
was bright with geraniums and lobelias and polished shells.
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