Visiting in the country is what must be done; but there is some difficulty in managing it well, and making it perfectly agreeable. The entertainer must be entertaining, or the entertained will not be entertained; and the entertained must endeavour to entertain themselves, or their entertainer cannot entertain them. The Hon. Philip Martindale was not the most dexterous hand at this kind of employment. In fact, he felt himself not altogether master of his own house; and the good people who were there seemed rather to be visiting the house than its occupier. They did very well at dinner-time. Then there was amusement for all, adapted to the meanest capacities. There was also in the mornings for the gentlemen the pleasure of shooting; or, more properly and accurately speaking, the pleasure of looking for something to shoot at: for as Philip Martindale was not very popular at Brigland, the poachers made a merit of plundering him with peculiar diligence. It also happened that the gentlemen who were at the Abbey were none of them very keen sportsmen. Sir Gilbert Sampson carried a gun, and occasionally discharged it; sometimes successfully, and sometimes unsuccessfully; and, in the latter case, Sir Andrew Featherstone laughed at him, and said it was a sad waste of shot, for powder alone would make noise enough to frighten the birds: and then he would ask Philip Martindale if small shot were not very useful to clean bottles withal. As for old John Martindale, he was so perverse and obstinate that he would scarcely ever join the party at the Abbey till dinner-time; and then he would complain of late hours, and sit till midnight or later grumbling at the foolish fashion of turning night into day. Several mornings were wet, very wet: there was no getting out of doors, and the Abbey was very ill-furnished with playthings. The young ladies could draw. The Miss Featherstones were adepts especially in architectural drawing. They sketched the interior of the principal apartments in the Abbey; and talked very learnedly of Palladio and Vitruvius, and Sir Christopher Wren and Mr. Nash, and others. They thought that Waterloo Place was not equal to the Parthenon, and St. Paul’s Cathedral was not equal to St. Peter’s. They talked about the building in which they were then sitting, demonstrated that it was the most beautiful and best proportioned building in the world, and then proceeded to show how much more beautiful it might be made. As the party had nothing else to do, they were very happy in listening to the architectural lectures of the Miss Featherstones.