Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: July 5, 2025
He could not go with him, but he hoped that surveillance would not be needed, that his boy would be wise enough and manly enough to take his first steps in life alone. At college he won the highest honors; great things were prophesied for Ronald Earle. They might have been accomplished but for the unfortunate event that darkened Earlescourt with a cloud of shame and sorrow.
There was an unusual stir of preparation once when Lady Earle told them that the daughter of her devoted friend, Lady Charteris, was coming to spend a few days at Earlescourt. Then, for the first time, they saw the beautiful and stately lady whose fate was so strangely interwoven with theirs. Valentine Charteris was no longer "the queen of the county."
Lionel Dacre was poor in those days; now he was heir to Earlescourt, heir to the title that, with all his strange political notions, Ronald Earle ever held in high honor; heir to the grand old mansion and fair domain his father had prized so highly.
To Dora this seemed boundless riches; but the heir of Earlescourt had spent more in dress and cigars. Now debts began to press upon him, writing home he knew was useless. He would not ask Lady Earle, although he knew that she would have parted with the last jewel in her case for him. Ronald gave himself up to the study of painting.
Once Dora forgot her shyness, and when Ronald said something, she laughed in reply. How sweet and pure that laughter was like a soft peal of silver bells! When Ronald Earle went to sleep that night, the sound haunted his dreams. Every morning brought the young heir of Earlescourt to the bright sunny gardens where Dora worked among the strawberries.
The sunshine and western wind brought no warning to the heir of Earlescourt that he was forging the first link of a dreadful tragedy; he thought only of the shy, blushing beauty and coy grace of the young girl! Suddenly from over the trees there came the sound of the great bell at the Hall. Then Dora started. "It is one o'clock!" she cried. "What shall I do? Mrs. Morton will be angry with me."
The day after the family left Earlescourt, he had workmen engaged. No one was sorry at his determination. Lady Helena highly approved of it. The water was drained off, the deep basin filled with earth, and tall saplings planted where once the water had glistened in the sun. The boat house was pulled down, and all vestige of the lake was done away with.
He had gone direct to Eastham, after leaving Earlescourt, his heart aching with sorrow for home and all that he had left there, and beating high with joy at the thought that now nothing stood between him and Dora. He told her of the quarrel of his father's stern words and Dora, as he had foreseen clung round his neck and wept. She would love him all the more, she said.
Word by word it can not be written, but when the heir of Earlescourt saw Dora again, her artless delight, her pretty joy and sorrow mingled, her fear and dislike of Ralph, her love for himself drove all thought of duty and honor from his mind. He prayed her to become his wife secretly. He had said that when once they were married his father would forgive them, and all would be well.
"No," replied Lionel. "Your father never invited me to Earlescourt after you left." In a few words Lord Earle told his heir that he had married against his father's wish, and in consequence had never been pardoned. "And you gave up everything," said Lionel Dacre "home, friends, and position, for the love of a woman. She must have been well worth loving." Lord Earle grew pale, as with sudden pain.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking