Austin's, which greeted Anne Merton's delighted
eyes, as on the 27th of August, she, with her father and mother, came
to the top of a long hill, about five miles from Abbeychurch. What
that sight was to her, only those who have shared in the joys of
church-building can know. She had many a time built the church in
her fancy; she knew from drawing and description nearly every window,
every buttress, every cornice; she had heard by letter of every step
in the progress of the building; but now, that narrow white point, in
the greyish green of the distance, shewed her, for the first time,
what really was the work of her father--yes, of her father, for
without him that spire would never have been there; with the best
intentions, Mr. Woodbourne could not have accomplished more than a
solid well-proportioned building, with capabilities of embellishment.
It was not till they had nearly reached the town, that her thoughts
turned to the pleasure of seeing her cousins, or even of meeting her
brother, whom she expected to find at the Vicarage, on his return
from Scotland, where he had been spending the last six weeks.
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