CHAPTER III.
THE MASTERS FAMILY.
At six o'clock one November evening, Mr.Masters, the attorney, was sitting at home with his family in the large parlour of his house, his office being on the other side of the passage which cut the house in two and was formally called the hall.

Upstairs, over the parlour, was a drawing-room; but this chamber, which was supposed to be elegantly furnished, was very rarely used.

Mr.and Mrs.Masters did not see much company, and for family purposes the elegance of the drawing-room made it unfit.

It added, however, not a little to the glory of Mrs.Masters' life.

The house itself was a low brick building in the High Street, at the corner where the High Street runs into the market-place, and therefore, nearly opposite to the Bush.
It had none of the elaborate grandeur of the inn nor of the simple stateliness of Hoppet Hall, but, nevertheless, it maintained the character of the town and was old, substantial, respectable, and dark.
"I think it a very spirited thing of him to do, then," said Mrs.
Masters.
"I don't know, my dear.