difference!"

But the mother did look on with a rather jealous eye. Floyd came home,
and they discussed plans, viewed every foot of soil, selected the
finest spot, had the different kinds of rock examined, and finally
discovered the right place for a quarry. There was so much preliminary
work that they did not really commence until the ensuing spring, and
the foundation only had been laid when Floyd's vacation came around
again. Meanwhile, houses below them seemed to spring up as if by magic.
The mystery and fame of the "castle" helped. No one knew quite what it
was going to be, and the strange old lady intensified the whole.

There was no special haste about it, though Floyd was so interested
that he had half a mind to throw up his last year at college, but Aunt
Marcia would not agree, and he graduated with honors. Meanwhile the
house progressed, and if it did not quite reach the majesty of a
castle, it was a very fine, substantial building. Floyd threw himself
into the project now with all his energy. They would be quite detached
from their neighbors by the little grove Aunt Marcia had left standing.
There were walks and drives to build, lawns to lay out, new gardens to
plan, but before it was all completed Aunt Marcia, who had been a
little ailing for several weeks, dropped suddenly out of life, fondly
loved and deeply regretted by her grand-nephew.

Her will showed that she had planned not to have her name perish with
her. The house and several acres of ground were to constitute the
Grandon estate proper. This was to be used by Floyd during his life and
then to descend to his eldest son living. If he left no sons, and
Eugene should have a male descendant, he was to be the heir. If neither
had sons, it was to go in the female line, provided such heir took the
name of Grandon. The rest of the property was left unconditionally to
Floyd, with the exception of one thousand dollars apiece to the
children.

Floyd was at this period two-and-twenty, a rather grave and reserved
young man, with no special predilection for society. And yet, to the
great surprise of his mother, Irene Stanwood captured him and rather
cruelly flaunted her victory in the faces of all the Grandons. Yet
there really could be no objection. She was a handsome, well-educated
girl, with some fortune of her own and a considerable to come from her
mother.

Mrs. Stanwood and her daughter went abroad, where Floyd was to meet
them presently, when whatev