They passed through two or three rooms which, by their splendor, completely awed the farmer and his wife. Mark's shoes had never seemed to be so large and so thick as when they trod on that velvet pile. The wondrous mirrors, pictures and statues dazzled him, the quantity of ornaments puzzled him; he wondered how one could possibly move freely in such over-crowded rooms. "We cannot all be earls," thought Mark, "and I am not sorry for it. I am more comfortable in my kitchen than I could be here." Mrs. Brace followed with a pale face. She wondered less about the externals, and more what they were about to see. When they reached the library, chairs were placed for them. "My lord will be with you in a few minutes," said the servant, and they were left alone. "I cannot help trembling," said Mrs. Brace. "What have we to hear?" The words had hardly left her lips, when the door opened, and a tall, handsome man entered the room. They saw that his face was pale and agitated, and his lips trembled. He looked at the farmer and Mrs. Brace, but not at the young girl who stood near them. As yet his eyes never met hers or rested on her. He went up to Mark with outstretched hands. "You are Mr. Brace," he said. "Let me introduce myself--I am the Earl of Linleigh." "I thought as much," replied Mark, anxious to do his best. "I have done what you wished, my lord--brought Mrs. Brace and Doris with me." The earl held out his hand in silent greeting to the farmer's wife, but never once looked at the young girl. Then he drew a chair near to them. "I must thank you for coming," he said. "You have been very prompt and attentive. I hoped you would come to-day, but I hardly dared expect it." "We thought it better to lose no time," said Mark. "You did well, and I thank you for it. I have something of great importance to say to both of you--something which ought to have been told years ago. You, perhaps, can almost guess it." Mark nodded, while his wife sighed deeply. "Twenty years ago," continued the earl, "I was a young man, gay, popular, fond of life, an officer in the army, and the younger son of a noble family, but poor. You do not know how poor a man of fashion can be. I was very popular--every house in London was open to me--but I knew that I was sought for my good spirits and genial ways. As for marriage--well, it was useless to think of it, unless I could marry some wealthy heiress." He paused for a few minutes, and Mark shook his head sadly, as though he would say it was indeed a wretched state of things.