consoled her by sharing her sorrow.

"It shall be exactly as you like," he said, after a quiet interval. "You

say that no answer is needed; and there is no address to send one to. We

shall hear of it, of course, when he takes possession, if, indeed, he is

allowed to do so."

"Who is to prevent him from coming, if he chooses, to live in the home

of his ancestors? The estates are all mortgaged, and the park is gone,

turned into a pound for Scotch cattle-breeding. But the poor old castle

belongs to us still, because no one would take the expense of it."

"And because of the stories concerning it, Maria. Your nephew Caryl is

a brave young fellow if he means to live there all alone, and I fear he

can afford himself no company. You understand him so much better: what

do you suppose his motive is?"

"I make no pretence to understand him, dear, any more than his poor

father could. My dear brother was of headstrong order, and it did him

no good to contradict him, and indeed it was dangerous to do so; but his

nature was as simple as a child's almost, to any one accustomed to him.

If he had not married that grand French lady, who revelled in every

extravagance, though she knew how we all were impoverished, he might

have been living and in high position now, though a good many years my

senior. And the worst of it was that he did it at a time when he ought

to have known so much better. However, he paid for it bitterly enough,

and his only child was set against him."

"A very sad case altogether," said the rector. "I remember, as if it

were yesterday, how angry poor Montagu was with me. You remember what

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