One of the 28th | Page 4

Had it been otherwise he would have again entered the lists and
tried to recover the love he had thrown away.

Although he occasionally yielded to the entreaties of his sisters and
showed himself with them at county gatherings, gave stately
dinner-parties at regular intervals, and accepted the invitations of his
neighbors, he lived the life almost of a recluse.
His sole companion and friend was the rector of the parish, who had
been his tutor during his Continental tour, and whom he had presented
with the living which was in his gift, to the secret dissatisfaction of his
sisters, who had always considered that Herbert's tutor had endeavored
to set him against them. This had to some extent been the case, in so far,
at least, that Mr. Withers, who had left college only a short time before
starting with Herbert, had endeavored to give him habits of
self-reliance and independence of thought, and had quietly striven
against the influence that his sisters had upon his mind. It was not until
after the Mary Vernon episode that the living had fallen vacant; had it
been otherwise things might have turned out differently, for Herbert
would certainly have sought his friend's advice in his troubles.
After that it was too late for his interference. Mr. Withers had watched
the state of matters at the Hall, and his young wife had often urged him
to try to induce Herbert Penfold to rouse himself and assert himself
against his sisters, but the vicar remained neutral. He saw that though at
times Herbert was a little impatient at the domination of his sisters, and
a chance word showed that he nourished a feeling of resentment toward
them, he was actually incapable of nerving himself to the necessary
effort required to shake off their influence altogether, and to request
them to leave the Hall.
Nothing short of this would suffice to establish his independence; for
after a mere temporary assertion of authority he would, if they
remained there, assuredly speedily allow affairs to lapse into their
present state, and the vicar thought that harm rather than good would be
caused by his interference, and that, as his influence would be sure to
be suspected, there would be a breach between the Hall and the Rectory.
As it was the connection was an intimate one. Herbert was always glad
to see him when he came in for a talk in the course of his rounds, or
when he and his wife would come up to dine quietly. The Miss

Penfolds were always ready with their purses to aid him to carry out his
schemes for the good of the parish, and to sympathize with his young
wife in her troubles; for of these she had a large share--all her children,
save one girl, having been carried off in their infancy.
Mabel Withers was as much at home at the Hall as at the Rectory. She
was chief pet and favorite with Mr. Penfold; and although his sisters
considered that the rector allowed her to run wild, and that under such
license she was growing up a sad tomboy, they could not withstand the
influence of the child's happy and fearless disposition, and were in their
way very kind to her.
Such was the state of things at Penfold Hall when its owner's sudden
announcement that he had invited young Ralph Conway to come to
stay there had fallen like a bombshell upon his sisters.
The invitation had caused almost as much surprise to Mrs. Conway as
to the Miss Penfolds. Her father had died a few months after her
marriage, and at the death of her husband she found herself left with an
income of about a hundred a year--the interest of the sum for which he
had insured his life.
To her surprise she had a month or two later received an intimation
from the lawyer who managed her business that a friend had arranged
to pay the sum of a hundred pounds every quarter to her account, on
condition only that no inquiry whatever should be made as to his or her
identity. Mary Conway had thankfully accepted the gift, which had,
however, caused her intense wonderment and curiosity. So far as she
knew neither her father nor her husband had any relations who could
have afforded so handsome a gift. She knew that Colonel Vernon had
been most popular with his regiment, and the supposition at which she
finally arrived was that some young officer whom he had befriended in
difficulties had, on coming into a large property, determined similarly
to befriend the daughter of his former colonel.
Had she been alone in the world she would have declined to accept this
aid from an unknown benefactor, but for her son's sake she felt