tory occurred."

"What is that, if I may ask, sir?"

"Certainly. The principal landowner of our part of the county is on his
way home, and there will be a great home-coming, which you may care to
see. The fact is, for more than a century the various owners in the
succession here, with the exception of a short time, have lived abroad."

"How is that, sir, if I may ask?"

"The great house and estate in our part of the world is Castra Regis, the
family seat of the Caswall family. The last owner who lived here was
Edgar Caswall, grandfather of the man who is coming here--and he was the
only one who stayed even a short time. This man's grandfather, also
named Edgar--they keep the tradition of the family Christian
name--quarrelled with his family and went to live abroad, not keeping up
any intercourse, good or bad, with his relatives, although this
particular Edgar, as I told you, did visit his family estate, yet his son
was born and lived and died abroad, while his grandson, the latest
inheritor, was also born and lived abroad till he was over thirty--his
present age. This was the second line of absentees. The great estate of
Castra Regis has had no knowledge of its owner for five
generations--covering more than a hundred and twenty years. It has been
well administered, however, and no tenant or other connected with it has
had anything of which to complain. All the same, there has been much
natural anxiety to see the new owner, and we are all excited about the
event of his coming. Even I am, though I own my own estate, which,
though adjacent, is quite apart from Castra Regis.--Here we are now in
new ground for you. That is the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, and when
we leave that we shall be getting close to the old Roman county, and you
will naturally want your eyes. So we shall shortly have to keep our
minds on old Mercia. However, you need not be disappointed. My old
friend, Sir Nathaniel de Salis, who, like myself, is a free-holder near
Castra Regis--his estate, Doom Tower, is over the border of Derbyshire,
on the Peak--is coming to stay with me for the festivities to welcome
Edgar Caswall. He is just the sort of man you will like. He is devoted
to history, and is President of the Mercian Archaeological Society. He
knows more of our own part of the country, with its history and its
people, than anyone else. I expect he will have arrived before us, and
we three can have a long chat after dinner. He is