CHAPTER V

Reginald Morton

We will now go back to Hoppet Hall and its inhabitants.  When the old squire died he left by his will Hoppet Hall and certain other houses in Dillsborough, which was all that he could leave, to his grandson Reginald Morton.  Then there arose a question whether this property also was not entailed.  The former Mr. Masters, and our friend of the present day, had been quite certain of the squire’s power to do what he liked with it; but others had been equally certain on the other side, and there had been a lawsuit.  During that time Reginald Morton had been forced to live on a very small allowance.  His aunt, Lady Ushant, had done what little she could for him, but it had been felt to be impossible that he should remain at Bragton, which was the property of the cousin who was at law with him.  From the moment of his birth the Honourable Mrs. Morton, who was also his aunt by marriage, had been his bitter enemy.  He was the son of an innkeeper’s daughter, and according to her theory of life, should never even have been noticed by the real Mortons.  And this honourable old lady was almost equally adverse to Lady Ushant, whose husband had simply been a knight, and who had left nothing behind him.  Thus Reginald Morton had been friendless since his grandfather died, and had lived in Germany, nobody quite knew how.  During the entire period of this law-suit Hoppet Hall had remained untenanted.

When the property was finally declared to belong to Reginald Morton, the Hall, before it could be used, required considerable repair.  But there was other property.  The Bush Inn belonged to Reginald Morton, as did the house in which Mr. Masters lived, and sundry other smaller tenements in the vicinity.  There was an income from these of about five hundred pounds a year.  Reginald, who was then nearly thirty years of age, came over to England, and stayed for a month or two at Bragton with his aunt, to the infinite chagrin of the old dowager.  The management of the town property was entrusted to Mr. Masters, and Hoppet Hall was repaired.  At this period Mr. Mainwaring had just come to Dillsborough, and having a wife with some money and perhaps quite as much pretension, had found the rectory too small, and had taken the Hall on a lease for seven years.  When this was arranged Reginald Morton again went to Germany, and did not return till the lease had run out.  By that time Mr. Mainwaring, having spent a little money, found that the rectory would be large enough for his small family.  Then the Hall was again untenanted for awhile, till, quite suddenly, Reginald Morton returned to Dillsborough, and took up his permanent residence in his own house.