Light slowly dawned upon Aunt Dorothy’s mind, and she exclaimed in a terrified whisper:—­

“My God, child, is it he?”

“Yes,” responded the girl, “yes, it is he.”

“Do not speak his name, Dorothy,” the old lady said.  “Do not speak his name.  So long as you do not tell me, I cannot know with certainty who he is.”  After a pause Aunt Dorothy continued, “Perhaps, child, it was his father whom I loved and was compelled to give up.”

“May the blessed Virgin pity us, sweet aunt,” cried Dorothy, caressingly.

“And help us,” returned Lady Crawford.  “I, too, shall help you,” she continued.  “It will be through no fault of mine if your life is wasted as mine has been.”

Dorothy kissed her aunt and retired.

Next morning when Dorothy arose a song came from her heart as it comes from the skylark when it sees the sun at dawn—­because it cannot help singing.  It awakened Aunt Dorothy, and she began to live her life anew, in brightness, as she steeped her soul in the youth and joyousness of Dorothy Vernon’s song.

I have spoken before in this chronicle of Will Dawson.  He was a Conformer.  Possibly it was by reason of his religious faith that he did not share the general enmity that existed in Haddon Hall against the house of Rutland.  He did not, at the time of which I speak, know Sir John Manners, and he did not suspect that the heir to Rutland was the man who had of late been causing so much trouble to the house of Vernon.  At least, if he did suspect it, no one knew of his suspicions.

Sir George made a great effort to learn who the mysterious interloper was, but he wholly failed to obtain any clew to his identity.  He had jumped to the conclusion that Dorothy’s mysterious lover was a man of low degree.  He had taken for granted that he was an adventurer whose station and person precluded him from openly wooing his daughter.  He did not know that the heir to Rutland was in the Derbyshire country; for John, after his first meeting with Dorothy, had carefully concealed his presence from everybody save the inmates of Rutland.  In fact, his mission to Rutland required secrecy, and the Rutland servants and retainers were given to understand as much.  Even had Sir George known of John’s presence at Rutland, the old gentleman’s mind could not have compassed the thought that Dorothy, who, he believed, hated the race of Manners with an intensity equalled only by his own feelings, could be induced to exchange a word with a member of the house.  His uncertainty was not the least of his troubles; and although Dorothy had full liberty to come and go at will, her father kept constant watch over her.  As a matter of fact, Sir George had given Dorothy liberty partly for the purpose of watching her, and he hoped to discover thereby and, if possible, to capture the man who had brought trouble to his household.  Sir George had once hanged a man to a tree on Bowling Green Hill