About these two he had his projects, intending that Bell should be the future mistress of the Great House of Allington; as to which project, however, Miss Dale was as yet in very absolute ignorance.
We may now, I think, go back to our four friends, as they walked out upon the lawn.

They were understood to be on a mission to assist Mrs Dale in the picking of the peas; but pleasure intervened in the way of business, and the young people, forgetting the labours of their elder, allowed themselves to be carried away by the fascinations of croquet.

The iron hoops and the sticks were fixed.

The mallets and the balls were lying about; and then the party was so nicely made up! "I haven't had a game of croquet yet," said Mr Crosbie.

It cannot be said that he had lost much time, seeing that he had only arrived before dinner on the preceding day.