MISS GWYNNE OF WOODFORD. BY GARTH RIVERS. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. M.DCCC.LXI. [The right of Translation is reserved.] MISS GWYNNE OF WOODFORD. CHAPTER I. MAUD. "Poor race of men,' said the pitying spirit, Some flow'rets of Eden ye still inherit, But the trail of the serpent is over them all.'" THE June sun blazed gloriously that fine afternoon over the far-stretching woods and meadows of Forrestrange and Woodford. The drenching thunder-rain that had fallen in the early morning had cleared the air, which now was filled with the smell of new hay; for in the hayfields scores of haymakers were hard at work, turning and spreading the saturated haycocks. Just the day for the country! Pleasant even on the flat high road, where tall hedges shut out the fields from view, for the dust was washed VOL. I. 1 |