Gaskell  were  invited  to  spend  a  few  days  at  his  pretty
country  residence.  The  house  is  still  there,  though  it
has  been  somewhat  altered  since  the  days  when  Sir
James  Kay-Shuttleworth  delighted  in  entertaining  the
literary  people  of  the  day.  The  house  has  been  en-
larged, and  the  drawdng-room  and  library  have  been
thrown  into  one,  but  the  magnificent  view  from  the
house  is  much  the  same  as  it  was  when  Mrs.  Gaskell
and  Charlotte  Bronte  stayed  there.  Mrs.  Gaskell
wrote  a  long  letter  to  a  friend  describing  this  meeting  :
"  Dark  when  I  got  to  Windermere  station  ;  a  drive
along  the  level  road  to  Low-wood  ;  then  a  stoppage
at  a  pretty  house,  and  then  a  pretty  drawing-room,
in  which  were  Sir  James  and  Lady  Kay-Shuttleworth,
and  a  little  lady  in  a  black  silk  gown,  whom  I  could
not  see  at  first  for  the  dazzle  in  the  room  ;  she  came
up  and  shook  hands  with  me  at  once.     I  went  up  to

17— (2303)


258  MRS.   GASKELL

unbonnet,  etc.  ;  came  down  to  tea  ;  the  little  lady
worked  away  and  hardly  spoke,  but  I  had  time  for  a
good  look  at  her.  She  is  (as  she  calls  herself)  un-
developed, thin,  and  more  than  half  a  head  shorter
than  I  am  ;  soft  brown  hair,  not  very  dark  ;  eyes
(very  good  and  expressive,  looking  straight  and  open
at  you)  of  the  same  colour  as  her  hair  ;  a  large  mouth  ;
the  forehead  square,  broad,  and  rather  overhanging.
