Miss Virginia E. Otis was a girl who was fifteen years old. She did a lot of exercise and she was as lovely as a baby deer. Her eyes were very big and blue. She liked to do sport. Once she had a horse race against old Lord Bilton.

The race was in Hyde park in London and Virginia won. One of the people who was watching was the young Duke of Cheshire. He thought Virginia was really delightful and he asked her to marry him. Because of this, the Duke was sent back to Eton, his boarding school, which made him so upset that he cried.

Virginia's two younger brothers were twins. Sometimes they were called The Stars and Stripes. This is because the United States flag is on the end of a stick, and so were the twins, because they were very naughty and their father often beat them.

They were delightful boys. They were like their father, the Ambassador, because they did not think people were special just because they were aristocrats.

Canterville Chase is seven miles from an English town called Ascot. From the railway station at Ascot the family had to travel to their new home in a vehicle pulled by a horse. Everyone was in a good mood as they started the journey.

It was a lovely evening in July. The air had a sweet smell of pine trees. Sometimes the birds called softly, or the family saw a beautiful bird deep in the bushes.