"Just think of seeing the very spot in the garden where Queen Elizabeth met Amy Robsart! And perhaps the same room where she slept. Oh, I can hardly wait till morning!" sighed Betty rapturously. "Kenilworth" had long been one of her favorite books. At bedtime Mrs. Pitt, inwardly rather uncertain about the prospects of the weather, was outwardly most cheerful with her assurance that she "felt sure it would be fine in the morning." Mrs. Pitt was "usually right about things," as the children had long since discovered, and this proved no exception to the rule. The sun shone brightly on the morrow, and the whole country-side looked as though it had been washed and cleaned so as to appear at its loveliest for the visitors. The drive through Leamington revealed a very pretty watering-place, with baths, parks, gay streets of shops, and many neat little private villas, each being dignified by a name. "How do they ever find names enough to go around?" Betty thought to herself. They soon left the town behind, and a short drive along the perfectly smooth, wide, country road, brought them to the well-known bridge over the Avon, and revealed the fact that the river had not lost a bit of its beauty since they left it at the Weir Brake. It is from this bridge that the famous view of Warwick Castle is to be had, and a more charming picture cannot well be imagined. Just at a bend of the river, the great gray front looms up, long and straight, the turrets here and there giving it a most formidable air of old-time majesty and strength. Leaving the carriage at the castle entrance, Mrs. Pitt led the way up the narrow walk, bounded by high walls of rock, to which the damp moss clings and over which flowers and trailing vines hang. Finally they passed under an old gateway with a portcullis, and found themselves in the inner court-yard of the castle, which is almost round in shape. Old towers or buildings very nearly surround this court, and in the center is a wonderfully smooth grass-plot, which is sometimes used as a tennis-court. Several stately peacocks strutted about displaying their magnificent feathers. They were very tame, and almost allowed Betty to come near enough to touch them. She was delighted when the largest most obligingly dropped a gorgeous feather at her very feet. "For a souvenir!" she exclaimed, as she picked it up. "How dear of him! I like peacocks even if they are proud! I would be, if I lived here! They know how important they are, and that this garden wouldn't be complete without them." [Illustration: "THEY KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE, AND THAT THIS GARDEN WOULDN'T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT THEM."--_Page 184._]