"Go home now," he said, "and tomorrow my father himself shall see you. I will teach that young farmer his place. No more tears, Dora--our troubles will end tonight." He went with her down the broad walk, and then returned to the Hall. He walked very proudly, with his gallant head erect, saying to himself that this was a free country and he could do what he liked; but for all that his heart beat loudly when he entered the drawing room and found Lord and Lady Earle. They looked up smilingly at him, all unconscious that their beloved son, the heir of Earlescourt, was there to ask permission to marry the lodge keeper's daughter. Chapter V Ronald Earle had plenty of courage--no young hero ever led a forlorn hope with more bravery that he displayed in the interview with his parents, which might have daunted a bolder man. As he approached, Lady Earle raised her eyes with a languid smile. "Out again, Ronald!" she said. "Sir Harry Laurence left his adieus for you. I think the park possesses some peculiar fascination. Have you been walking quickly? Your face is flushed." He made no reply, but drew near to his mother; he bent over her and raised her hand to his lips. "I am come to tell you something," he said. "Father, will you listen to me? I ask your permission to marry Dora Thorne, one of the fairest, sweetest girls in England." His voice never faltered, and the brave young face never quailed. Lord Earle looked at him in utter amazement. "To marry Dora Thorne!" he said. "And who, in the name of reason, is Dora Thorne?" "The lodge keeper's daughter," replied Ronald, stoutly. "I love her, father, and she loves me." He was somewhat disconcerted when Lord Earle, for all reply, broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. He had expected a storm--expostulations, perhaps, and reproaches--anything but this. "You can not be serious, Ronald," said his mother, smiling. "I am so much in earnest," he replied, "that I would give up all I have in the world--my life itself, for Dora." Then Lord Earle ceased laughing, and looked earnestly at the handsome, flushed face. "No," said he, "you can not be serious. You dare not ask your mother to receive a servant's daughter as her own child. Your jest is in bad taste, Ronald." "It is no jest," he replied. "We Earles are always terribly in earnest. I have promised to marry Dora Thorne, and, with your permission, I intend to keep my word." An angry flush rose to Lord Earle's face, but he controlled his impatience. "In any case," he replied, quietly, "you are too young to think of marriage yet. If you had chosen the daughter of a duke, I should, for the present, refuse." "I shall be twenty in a few months," said Ronald, "and I am willing to wait until then." Lady Earle laid her white jeweled hand on her son's shoulder, and said, gently: