LADY CAROLINE'S TACTICS.

Helmsley Court was generally considered one of the prettiest houses about Beaminster;

a place which was rich in pretty houses, being a Cathedral town situated in one of the

most beautiful southern counties of England. The village of Helmsley was a picturesque

little group of black and white cottages, with gardens full of old-fashioned flowers

before them and meadows and woods behind. Helmsley Court was on slightly higher

ground than the village, and its windows commanded an extensive view of lovely

country bounded in the distance by a long low range of blue hills, beyond which, in

clear days, it was said, keen eyes could catch a glimpse of the shining sea. The house

itself was a very fine old building, with a long terrace stretching before its lower

windows, and flower gardens which were the admiration of half the county