Motoring aboard . were received made us feel per-fectly at home even before the maids had un-packed and placed in the dressers all of thebelongings of the ladies of our party, and thevalet had emptied my trunk, and my sons, andtaken our clothes off to press them. Hot teaand crumpets were served to us as soon as wehad reached our apartments and maids wereassigned to each of our ladies and a valet to myson and myself. As we sat at the windows in the early eveningand looked out over the vast lawns with theirhuge trees and the great estate lying beyond, wecould not but feel that the English of all
Motoring aboard . were received made us feel per-fectly at home even before the maids had un-packed and placed in the dressers all of thebelongings of the ladies of our party, and thevalet had emptied my trunk, and my sons, andtaken our clothes off to press them. Hot teaand crumpets were served to us as soon as wehad reached our apartments and maids wereassigned to each of our ladies and a valet to myson and myself. As we sat at the windows in the early eveningand looked out over the vast lawns with theirhuge trees and the great estate lying beyond, wecould not but feel that the English of all othershave learned how best to enjoy the country andto beautify it by making the most of the naturalsurroundings, and not destroying them with toomuch artificiality. Each morning we breakfastedunder the wide-spreading branches of an enor-mous beech, I commented one day on thevelvety appearance of the lawn, which was thefinest I had ever seen. They should be fairlygood, replied his lordship, for they have been 144. We breakfasted informally on the lawn whichwas as smooth as velvet. artibal at jfalfee£(tone upkept as lawns for more than two hundredand fifty years by the different families living onthis estate. Our time here was employed largely as wechose, for, according to the English custom, wedid not see either our host or hostess until afterluncheon. We spent the forenoons in wander-ing over the great estate, or in visiting nearbyplaces of interest, for there were several motorcars in the garage and twice as many horses atthe disposal of the guests. There was no for-mality until the dinner, which was an affair ofconsiderable ceremony. The end of our visit came all too soon and aswe left we were loaded down with flowers whilethe white-haired old gardener came to us bring-ing a good-sized basket filled with enormoushothouse grapes which would be quite refresh-ing, as he put it, on our ride into London. In our trip to the city, we passed rapidlythrough Chatham and then crossed
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