ying man, clasping his hands--"my son!"

Those who saw it never forgot the blank, awful terror that came upon
the dying face as he uttered his last words.

They bore the weeping wife from the room. Lady Earle, strong, and
resolute though she was, could not drive that scene from her mind. She
was ill for many days, and so it happened that the lord of Earlescourt
was laid in the family vault long ere the family at the Elms knew of
the change awaiting them.

Ronald was summoned home in all haste; but months passed ere letters
reached him, and many more before he returned to England.

Lord Earle's will was brief, there was no mention of his son's name.
There was a handsome provision for Lady Earle, the pretty little estate
of Roslyn was settled upon her; the servants received numerous
legacies; Sir Harry Laurence and Sir Hugh Charteris were each to
receive a magnificent mourning ring; but there was no mention of the
once-loved son and heir.

As the heir at law, everything was Ronald's--the large amount of money
the late lord had saved, title, estates, everything reverted to him.
But Ronald would have exchanged all for one line of forgiveness, one
word of pardon from the father he had never ceased to love.

It was arranged that until Ronald's return his mother should continue
to reside at Earlescourt, and the management of the estates was
intrusted to Mr. Burt, the family solicitor.

Lady Earle resolved to go to the Elms herself; great changes must be
made there. Ronald's wife and children must take their places in the
world; and she felt a proud satisfaction in thinking that, thanks to
her sensible and judicious management, Dora would fill her future
position with credit. She anticipated Ronald's delight when he should
see his beautiful and accomplished daughters. Despite her great
sorrow, the lady of Earlescourt felt some degree of hope for the
future. She wrote to the Elms, telling Dora of her husband's death,
and announcing her own coming; then the little household understood
that their quiet and solitude had ended forever.

The first thing was to provide handsome mourning. Dora was strangely
quiet and sad through it all. The girls asked a hundred questions
about their father, whom they longed to see. They knew he had left home
in consequence of some quarrel with his father--so much Lady Earle told
them--but they never dreamed that his marriage had caused the fatal
disagreement; they never knew that, for