Mrs. Sundon was never “high” to Lady Bell; not only was she too magnanimous and loyal a woman to forget old service, because its gain had passed away—there was balm to the woman’s wounded spirit in the girl’s enthusiastic admiration and firm faith. Only slightly separated in years, both of them wives, and unhappy wives, Lady Bell was still half a lifetime younger in experience than Mrs. Sundon. Next to her child, Lady Bell became the consolation and interest of Mrs. Sundon’s life—blighted by a blight of which she could not speak. Lady Bell, too, had been wounded by the hunters, but her wound had not been dealt by the hand of a friend, and had not pierced to the quick. Mrs. Sundon could not only cherish Lady Bell, she could devise plans for the girl’s restoration to life and happiness. END OF VOL. I. VIRTUE AND CO., PRINTERS, CITY ROAD, LONDON. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ =TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:= Italics, bold letters and small capitals have been converted to _ = and ALL CAPS respectively. Perceived typos have been silently corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.