One of the 28th | Page 3

broken off. How
it came about no one exactly knew. Unpleasant reports were set on foot;

there were misunderstandings which should easily have been cleared up,
but which grew until they gave rise to serious quarrels. Letters which
might have set matters straight somehow failed to come to hand; and so
at last things went from bad to worse until there was a final quarrel, a
return of letters and presents on both sides, and a final breaking off of
the engagement. A year later Mary Vernon married Mr. Conway, an
architect, resident in London.
Mr. Penfold had before this become convinced that Mary Vernon had
not been to blame in the matter, and that he had in some way or other
taken an altogether mistaken view of the subject. He knew by the
comments of such friends as were intimate enough to speak, and the
coolness of many others, that he was considered to have behaved very
badly toward her. And this thought was a most distressing one, for he
was deeply attached to Mary; and had he not been convinced that from
some reason or other she herself had ceased to care for him, and was
anxious to break off the engagement, he would have gone any length
towards healing the breach. When it was too late he bitterly regretted
his own weakness in submitting to the domination of his sisters, and
felt a deep though silent resentment against them for the share that he
was convinced they had taken in causing the breach between himself
and Mary Vernon; but although he resented, he had neither the will nor
firmness to free himself from their domination.
At times he struggled feebly against it; and on two or three occasions
had suddenly gone up to town, and thence on to the Continent, and had
traveled there for weeks. On one of these occasions he had written to
them saying that he thought it would be for the happiness of them all if
they were to leave Penfold Hall and set up an establishment of their
own. But upon his return he found things going on exactly as before,
and Miss Penfold had spoken somewhat severely of the silly letter he
had written to them, a letter displaying at once such ingratitude and
folly that it had been beneath them to notice it. As Herbert Penfold was
in a way really fond of his sisters, who spared no effort in making his
home comfortable for him, and who allowed him to have his own way
in all minor matters, he could not bring himself to repeat when face to
face with them the opinion he had expressed in writing; and so things

had gone on for years.
The Miss Penfolds were really anxious to see their brother married.
Provided only that it was to a lady who would be, in their estimation,
fitted for him, and who would also have a feeling of gratitude towards
themselves for their share in installing her as mistress of the Hall, they
were quite prepared to abdicate in her favor, and to retire to some pretty
house near a pleasant watering-place, paying visits once or twice a year
to the Hall.
The listless life their brother led was a source of grief to them; for they
were really attached to him, and believed that they had in every way
been working for his happiness.
They had no shadow of regret for the part they had played in breaking
off his engagement with Mary Vernon. Having once convinced
themselves that she was a frivolous girl, quite unsuited for the position
of mistress of Penfold Hall, they had regarded it as an absolute duty to
protect Herbert from the consequences of what they considered his
infatuation. Consequently, for years they were in the habit of inviting
for long visits young ladies whom they considered in every way
eligible as their successor, and had been much grieved at their want of
success, and at the absolute indifference with which Herbert regarded
the presence of these young women. When, four years after his
marriage to Mary Vernon, Mr. Conway had died suddenly they had
been seized with a vague disquiet; for they believed that the
remembrance of his first love was the real cause of Herbert's
indifference to others, and considered it probable he might still be
sufficiently infatuated with her to attempt to undo the past.
To their gratification Herbert never alluded to the subject, never, so far
as they knew, made the slightest effort to renew her acquaintance. In
fact, Herbert Penfold was a diffident as well as a weak man. Once
convinced that he had acted badly toward Mary Vernon, he was equally
convinced that she must despise him and that he was utterly unworthy
of her.