At this request of the poor man, or rather at the occasion for the request, Mr. Martindale was really vexed and angry. He had tolerated many of his cousin’s vices under the name of youthful follies; but when he found him guilty of the meanness of so despicable a species of revenge, he was deeply mortified, and with great emotion replied: “The very day that you are driven out of the cottage, Philip shall leave the Abbey.” Having said this, he hurried home to his guests in no enviable frame of mind. Mr. Denver was accustomed to the old gentleman’s peculiarities; but Horatio Markham, who had never known, and who scarcely apprehended what it was to be dependent on another’s caprices, felt uneasy and constrained, and was beginning to wish that he could, consistently with common politeness, reduce his visit to a day, instead of a week or ten days. He was however soon relieved from his temporary uneasiness, by the return of good humour to the tone and countenance of his host, who proposed that, before visiting the Abbey, they should call at old Richard’s cottage, and inquire into his circumstances. CHAPTER IV. “Exceeding fair she was not, and yet fair, In that she never studied to be fairer Than nature made her.” CHAPMAN. In pursuance of the arrangement proposed the preceding evening, Mr. Martindale and his guest, immediately after an early breakfast, went out in search of Richard Smith’s cottage. They had some little difficulty to find the place; for, though the old man had lived several years at Brigland, he was of such retired habits that he was comparatively unknown in the parish: some persons knew him by sight who did not know his name, and others had heard his name, who were unacquainted with his person. The cottage in which he lived seemed to have been selected for its very retired situation. It stood in a narrow lane, which, before the building of the great house, had served as a thoroughfare from Brigland Common to the meadows, which, since the erection of the Abbey, had been included in the park. The cottage, though apparently so secluded and almost embowered in wood, was by no means a gloomy abode; for through a natural vista in the wood before it there was an extensive view of highly-cultivated scenery, which showed between the over-arching trees like a beautiful painting in a rustic frame. The light which shone through this opening, drew the eyes of Markham and his companion to notice the beauty of the landscape.