ff all restraint, and endeavoured to enjoy
himself in his own way. So the orgies became fast and furious; all
which of course reached the ears of poor Clara Desmond.

During the summer holidays, Lord Desmond was not at home, but Owen
Fitzgerald was also away. He had gone abroad, perhaps with the
conviction that it would be well that he and the Desmonds should not
meet; and he remained abroad till the hunting season again commenced.
Then the winter came again, and he and Lord Desmond used to meet in
the field. There they would exchange courtesies, and, to a certain
degree, show that they were intimate. But all the world knew that the
old friendship was over. And, indeed, all the world--all the county
Cork world--soon knew the reason. And so we are brought down to the
period at which our story was to begin.

We have hitherto said little or nothing of Castle Richmond and its
inhabitants; but it is now time that we should do so, and we will
begin with the heir of the family. At the period of which we are
speaking, Herbert Fitzgerald had just returned from Oxford, having
completed his affairs there in a manner very much to the satisfaction
of his father, mother, and sisters; and to the unqualified admiration
of his aunt, Miss Letty. I am not aware that the heads of colleges,
and supreme synod of Dons had signified by any general expression of
sentiment, that Herbert Fitzgerald had so conducted himself as to
be a standing honour and perpetual glory to the University; but at
Castle Richmond it was all the same as though they had done so. There
are some kindly-hearted, soft-minded parents, in whose estimation
not to have fallen into disgrace shows the highest merit on the part
of their children. Herbert had not been rusticated; had not got
into debt, at least not to an extent that had been offensive to
his father's pocket; he had not been plucked. Indeed, he had taken
honours, in some low unnoticed degree;--unnoticed, that is, at
Oxford; but noticed at Castle Richmond by an ovation--almost by a
triumph.

But Herbert Fitzgerald was a son to gladden a father's heart and a
mother's eye. He was not handsome, as was his cousin Owen; not tall
and stalwart and godlike in his proportions, as was the reveller
of Hap House; but nevertheless, and perhaps not the less, was he
pleasant to look on. He was smaller and darker than his cousin; but
his eyes were bright and full of good humour. He was clean looking
and clean made; pleasant an