“Well, dear mamma,” said Edward, finding that his mother did not proceed, “have you quite done with the Pavilion?”
Mrs. Ashton did not recollect anything else that would be likely to interest them: she was disappointed in the library, which contained but few books; the royal chapel, near the south wing of the palace, she hoped papa would be able to show them, on his return to Brighton.
Edward and Lewis thanked her for the treat in store for them, and for the entertaining account she had given them.
“And now,” said Mrs. Ashton, “I am quite rested; and we must not sit here any longer if we wish to see Kemp-Town this morning.”
Edward asked why it was so called, and was told that the buildings were erected on the estate of a gentleman of that name. They include a square of great extent, opening from the centre of a crescent, which is terminated at each end by a wing; and consist of elegant and commodious private dwellings, all commanding a view of the Channel. The fronts of the houses are adorned with Corinthian columns and entablatures, and surmounted with balustrades; and before them is spread a fine lawn, enclosed with cast-iron railings. Many of the houses, however, were uninhabited, which made Edward and Lewis think the place had an air of desolation.
“Perhaps,” said Mrs. Ashton, as they turned to go homewards, “you may like Kemp-Town better should you live to see it some years hence. Suppose now we return over the Downs, in order to vary our walk.”
The boys joyfully assented, and the party soon found themselves above the dusty road, and out of the immediate neighbourhood of houses.
Edward and Lewis were in high spirits; sometimes they toppled each other on the turf, or ran races together; and, when tired of such active games, they gathered the wild flowers that grew on that chalky soil, or turned to admire the wide-stretching ocean which lay beneath, and to inhale the fresh breeze which blew towards the shore. Those who have roamed the hills, with a clear blue sky above them, and soft turf beneath their feet, while the light breeze played around them, will know something of the pleasure which Edward and Lewis felt during their walk over the Downs, that bright summer morning.
CHAPTER IV.
The dwelling of old Price was not what Edward and Lewis had at first pictured to themselves a snug cottage by the sea-shore, from whose latticed windows, the dwellers might watch the ever-varying face of the ocean, or hail the first glimpse of the returning fishing-vessel; but a small house in one of the confined, back streets of Brighton, so close and narrow, that the children could almost fancy themselves in London again.