ntinued to cherish
her image in his heart, even as he had vowed to do, and though he had come
to believe her lost to him forever, he had determined that no other should
occupy the place he had once given to her.

But about this time something occurred to create a pleasant change in his
saddened life.

A dear friend of his youth died, leaving to his care his fine, manly
little son, now in his twelfth year, who had been the pride of his
father's heart, the comfort of widowered, lonely years.

Major Hamilton had been in Her Majesty's service for many years, and at
the time of his death was serving on an important appointment abroad.

During this service he had acquired many honors and great wealth. His wife
was the second daughter of Lord Shaftonsberry, but she had lived only one
short month after the birth of their only son, Rupert, who was now to
become the ward of Sir William Heath.

He was a noble little fellow, and it was not long before the baronet
became fondly attached to him, and believed that perhaps he had at last
found, in rearing this child of promise to manhood, something that would
add interest and zest to his dreary and monotonous life.

Lady Linton, who was still at Heathdale, and nominally its mistress,
received the orphaned stranger with great kindness.

He was heir presumptive to the title and estates of Shaftonsberry, if
death should remove the present incumbent who as yet had no children of
his own, and this circumstance, in addition to the great wealth which
young Rupert inherited from his father, made him a person of considerable
consequence.

Her ladyship's mind, with its habitual cunning, leaped forward eight or
ten years, and planned a union of the houses of Linton and Shaftonsberry,
by the marriage of her daughter, Lillian, now eleven years of age, with
her brother's ward.

She argued that everything was in her favor for accomplishing this, for
the children would be reared beneath the same roof, and it would be
comparatively easy to educate them to consider themselves destined for
each other.

Of course this arch plotter kept all this to herself, for she well knew
that her brother would sternly oppose all match-making of this sort; but
it became a dearly cherished plan with her, and she bent all her energies
toward its accomplishment.

Chapter XXVI.

"I Shall Never Marry Again."

Virgie returned to San Francisco about two weeks after Sir William quitted
the city.

He