resting for a moment
upon her.

"You do not seem to find much occupation for your leisure hours,"
continued Lady Hampton. "You are making the round of the grounds, I
suppose? They are very beautiful. I am afraid that you must feel keenly
how much my niece has deprived you of."

It was not a lady-like speech; but Lady Hampton felt irresistibly
impelled to make it--the proud, defiant, beautiful face provoked her.
Pauline merely smiled; she had self-control that would have done honor
to one much older and more experienced.

"Your niece has deprived me of nothing, Lady Hampton," she returned,
with a curl of the lip, for which the elder lady could have shaken her.
"I possess one great advantage of which no one living can deprive
me--that is, the Darrell blood runs in my veins."

And, with a bow, she walked away, leaving her ladyship more angry than
she would have cared to own. So Pauline met all her enemies. Whatever
she might suffer, they should not triumph over her. Even Sir Oswald felt
himself compelled to yield to her an admiration that he had never given
before.

He was walking one evening on the terrace. The western sunbeams,
lingering on the grand old building, brightened it into beauty. Flowers,
trees, and shrubs were all in their fullest loveliness. Presently Sir
Oswald, leaning over the balustrade of the terrace, saw Pauline
sketching in the grounds below. He went to her, and looked over her
shoulder. She was just completing a sketch of the great western tower of
the Court; and he was struck with the vivid beauty of the drawing.

"You love Darrell Court, Pauline?" he said, gently.

She raised her face to his for a minute; the feud between them was
forgotten. She only remembered that he was a Darrell, and she his
nearest of kin.

"I do love it, uncle," she said, "as pilgrims love their favorite
shrine. It is the home of beauty, of romance, the cradle of heroes;
every stone is consecrated by a legend. Love is a weak word for what I
feel."

He looked at the glowing face, and for a few moments a doubt assailed
him as to whether he had done right in depriving this true Darrell of
her inheritance.

"But, Pauline," he said, slowly, "you would never have----"

She sprang from her seat with a quickness that almost startled him. She
had forgotten all that had happened; but now it all returned to her with
a bitter pang that could not be controlled.

"Hush, Sir Oswald!" she cried, interrupting him; "it is too l