Haredale ought to have been enjoying herself. She did not have many
opportunities for pleasures of this kind, for, sooth to say, Sir George
Haredale was a poor man. He had a constant struggle to keep up
appearances, and most of his friends wondered how he managed to pay the
expenses of his racing stable. But the Haredales had been kings of the
turf for a hundred years or more, and Sir George clung desperately to
this last vestige of the family greatness. The whole estate was going to
rack and ruin, the gardens and grounds were neglected, the
conservatories were empty, the carpets and old furniture were faded and
worn. But the stables left nothing to be desired. How near they were to
the verge of collapse only Sir George himself knew.

He had few rich and influential friends. He did not care for moneyed
men, as a rule, and so the old county families were surprised to see the
intimacy that had grown up between him and Raymond Copley. They
professed not to understand it, but one or two shrewd observers declared
that May Haredale was at the bottom of it, and that Copley was over head
and ears in love with the girl.

It would have been strange were it otherwise. She was just the sort of
girl to attract a man like Copley. She was tall, well formed and
exceedingly pretty, though cold and haughty at the mere suggestion of a
liberty.

What she thought of Copley she had never been heard to say. She had not
many friends in her own circle. She was perfectly happy and contented so
long as she had a good horse and the promise of a day with the hounds.
Most people deemed her rather distant and reserved, but a few hinted
that May Haredale could be chummy enough when she chose. Others,
however, had noticed a great change in the girl during the past two
years. There was a time when she had been one of the merriest madcaps,
and then, all at once, she seemed to grow up and become staid and
dignified. And it was not altogether the weight of family trouble which
bore her down, for, as a matter of fact, she had no idea how desperate
Sir George's fortunes were.

She appeared on friendly terms with Copley, but, though for the past
twelve months he had been a familiar visitor at Haredale Park, he did
not think that he was making much progress in her good graces. Clever as
he was, the girl managed to keep him at a distance without wounding his
pride, and as time went on he found himself more and more infatuated
with May Haredale.

He belong