Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed. [Illustration: "Calamity seems to be her portion," said the man coolly. _Jock's Inheritance]_ _[Frontispiece_] _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ PUBLISHED BY WARD, LOCK & CO., LTD. ADRIENNE A GIRL AND HER WAYS HER KINGDOM MY HEART'S IN THE HIGHLANDS A STRANGE COURTSHIP UNDER A CLOUD NOEL'S CHRISTMAS TREE JOCK'S INHERITANCE BY AMY LE FEUVRE Author of "My Heart's in the Highlands," "A Girl and Her Ways," "Noel's Christmas Tree," etc. WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED LONDON AND MELBOURNE MADE IN ENGLAND Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London CONTENTS CHAP. I A VENTURE II THE OLD HOUSE III WHAT A CUPBOARD CONTAINED IV LILAC FARM V A HARD BLOW VI IN NEW QUARTERS VII VENETIA DISAPPEARS VIII DISASTER IX JOCK'S CONFESSION X ORRIS'S LETTER XI IN RETREAT XII NEW QUARTERS AGAIN XIII JOCK'S ARRIVAL XIV A VISIT TO VEDDON WEAL XV WED XVI JOCK'S INHERITANCE JOCK'S INHERITANCE CHAPTER I A VENTURE IT was four o'clock in the afternoon in the beginning of January. The room was cosy and comfortable. Outside, there was a bitter north-east wind; the grey dusk hid the opposite row of houses, but the noise of the traffic in the next street was ceaseless, and the girl sitting before the blazing fire, her hands clasped loosely round her knees, was continually raising her head in a listening attitude. Then she heard the electric bell of her flat ring, and she rose to her feet expectantly. The door opened, and a man was ushered in by a very trim maid. The girl uttered an exclamation of dismay. "'You,' Dugald!" "Yes, it's myself," said the newcomer in brisk tones; "don't look so 'dour,' as we Scotch say." The girl smiled. She was tall and slender, but she was not beautiful; only a pair of merry brown eyes and a humorously twisted mouth redeemed her from plainness, but she carried her inches with dignity, and she had an attractive personality. "Sit down. I'm expecting my sister-in-law and my small niece to stay with me. It is all rather sudden. Here's her letter. What do you think of it?" She took a letter off her mantelpiece and handed it to him. "MY DEAR ORRIS,—