d with a hundred
wild-flowers; great clusters of yellow buttercups looked in the distance
like the upspreading of a sea of gold; the violets perfumed the air, the
bluebells stirred in the sweet spring breeze, and the birds sang out
loudly and jubilantly.

If one spot looked more lovely than another on this bright May day, it
was Darrell Court, for it stood where the sun shone brightest, in one of
the most romantic and picturesque nooks of England--the part of
Woodshire bordering on the sea.

The mansion and estates stood on gently rising ground; a chain of purple
hills stretched away into the far distance; then came the pretty town of
Audleigh Royal, the Audleigh Woods, and the broad, deep river Darte.
The bank of the river formed the boundary of the Darrell estates, a rich
and magnificent heritage, wherein every beauty of meadow and wood seemed
to meet. The park was rich in its stately trees and herds of deer; and
not far from the house was a fir-wood--an aromatic, odorous fir-wood,
which led to the very shores of the smiling southern sea.

By night and by day the grand music of nature was heard in perfection at
Darrell Court. Sometimes it was the roll of the wind across the hills,
or the beat of angry waves on the shore, or the wild melody of the storm
among the pine trees, or the full chorus of a thousand feathered
songsters. The court itself was one of the most picturesque of mansions.
It did not belong to any one order or style of architecture--there was
nothing stiff or formal about it--but it looked in that bright May
sunshine a noble edifice, with its square towers covered with clinging
ivy, gray turrets, and large arched windows.

Did the sun ever shine upon such a combination of colors? The spray of
the fountains glittered in the air, the numerous balconies were filled
with flowers; wherever it was possible for a flower to take root, one
had been placed to grow--purple wistarias, sad, solemn passion-flowers,
roses of every hue. The star-like jessamine and scarlet creepers gave to
the walls of the old mansion a vivid glow of color; gold and purple
enriched the gardens, heavy white lilies breathed faintest perfume. The
spot looked a very Eden.

The grand front entrance consisted of a large gothic porch, which was
reached by a broad flight of steps, adorned with white marble vases
filled with flowers; the first terrace was immediately below, and
terrace led from terrace down to the grand old gardens, where s