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So they went to London, and Marion, by her wonderful beauty and grace, created a great sensation there; Heiress of Hanton, one of the prettiest estates in England, she had plenty of lovers; her appearance was the most decided success, just as Lady Ridsdale had foreseen that it would be.

"Before long Miss Arleigh will be one of the queens of society, heiress of Hanton, and of the large fortune left by her father; we shall have some of the first men in England wooing her. She may be a duchess if she likes." At which intelligence Lord Ridsdale opened his eyes. He had thought of his ward as of a tiresome responsibility, a child of whom the charge would be very troublesome.

She had talked it over and over again with him how they must wait until she was twenty-one, then they would be married and go to live at Hanton. "You will like Hanton," she said. "It is old, gray and picturesque; the woods are beautiful, there is a river running through them." "I shall like any place that I could share with you," he replied. "When shall you leave this place, Marion?"

There came a day when Lady Atherton could no longer meet the demands made upon her; the estate near Hanton was to be sold, and her husband wished to purchase it. "A little economy for one year," he said to his wife, "and we shall do it easily. You will not mind being careful for one year, Marion?"

Much may be forgiven her, for lovely Marion Arleigh, one of the richest heiresses in England, was an orphan. No mother's love had taught her wisdom. She had no memory of a mother's gentle warning, or sweet and tender wisdom. Her mother died when she was born, and her father, John Arleigh, of Hanton, did not long survive his wife.

That is very little for one who ought, as your husband, to be at this moment the master of Hanton Hall and its rich domain. However, for a time, that will content me; when I want another I will come to you for it. I will not call at your house; you can send me a check, bank note, or what you will.

There were times when Marion, Lady Atherton, heiress of Hanton, mistress of one of the finest fortunes in England, wife of one of the richest men when she hardly knew where to turn for money; the poorest beggar in the street was more at ease. In the meantime, Allan Lyster, by his successful trading on a woman's secret, was leading a life of complete and perfect luxury.

Mr Brown's herd came first prominently into notice at the Highland Society's show at Inverness in 1856, when he carried off the highest honours for heifers, and was second to "Hanton" who never was beaten but once in the aged bull class. At the Highland Society's show at Aberdeen, he was first with "Windsor" in the two-year-old class.

"At Christmas, I expect. But, Allan, shall we never see each other until I am twenty-one?" "I hope so," he replied. "You do not know where you will live?" "No, that is not decided. Lord Ridsdale says I cannot go to Hanton alone, and I know that I cannot live at his house." "But go where you will, Marion, you will write to me and see me sometimes?" "Of course I shall.

He could not marry her without the consent of her guardian, and to ask for it was, of course, nonsense. He would bind her to himself with the most solemn of promises, and the very day she was of age they would be married. As he walked toward his humble lodgings he amused himself by thinking what he should do when he became master of Hanton Hall.