What would Lady Earle--so
truthful, so honorable--have thought or said had she known that
their bright favorite with the Earle face had plighted her troth,
unknown to any one, to the captain of a trading vessel, who was
to claim her in two years for his wife?
Lady Earl had formed her own plans for Beatrice; she hoped the
time would come when she would be Lady Earle of Earlescourt.
Nothing could be more delightful, nothing easier, provided
Beatrice would marry the young heir, Lionel Dacre.
One morning, as the sisters sat in Lillian's room, Lady Earle
entered with an unusual expression of emotion on her fair, high-
bred face. She held an open letter in her hand.
"My dear children," she said, "you must each look your very best
this evening. I have a note here--your father will be home
tonight."
The calm, proud voice faltered then, and the stately mistress of
Earlescourt wept at the thought of her son's return as she had
never wept since he left her.
Chapter XXI
Once more Ronald Earle stood upon English shores; once again he
heard his mother tongue spoken all around him, once again he felt
the charm of quiet, sweet English scenery.
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