Transcriber's Notes: 1. Page scan source: http://archive.org/details/secretinheritanc01farj (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) A SECRET INHERITANCE A SECRET INHERITANCE BY B. L. FARJEON, AUTHOR OF "GREAT PORTER SQUARE," "IN A SILVER SEA," "THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS," ETC. _IN THREE VOLUMES_ VOL. I LONDON WARD AND DOWNEY 12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. 1887 Richard Clay and Sons, LONDON AND BUNGAY. A SECRET INHERITANCE. * * * * * * BOOK THE FIRST. THE RECORD OF GABRIEL CAREW. VOL. I. CHAPTER I. My earliest distinct remembrances are of a mean and common home in London, in which I lived with my parents and a servant named Fortress. She was a young woman, her age being twenty-four or five, but her manners were as sedate as those of a matron who had a distaste for frivolity and tittle-tattle. She performed her duties quietly and in silence, and seldom spoke unless she were first addressed. She did not take the trouble to render herself agreeable to me, or to win my affection. This was entirely to my liking, as I was of a retired habit of mind and disposition. It was not unusual for weeks to pass without our exchanging a word.