d row upon row of stiff poplars
waving in the wintery wind. A lonely, forlorn old place--a vivid
contrast to the beauty and brightness of Kingsland Court; and from the
first day of her entrance, Lady Kingsland, senior, hated her
daughter-in-law with double hatred and rancor.

"For the pauper half-pay officer's bold-faced daughter we must drag out
our lives in this horrible place!" she burst out, bitterly. "While
Harriet Hunsden reigns _en princesse_ amid the splendors of our
ancestral home, we must vegetate in this rambling, dingy old barn.
I'll never forgive your brother, Mildred--I'll never forgive him as
long as I live for marrying that creature!"

"Dear mamma," the gentle voice of Milly pleaded, "you must not blame
Everard. He loves her, and she is as beautiful as an angel. It would
have been all the same if he had married Lady Louise, you know. We
would still have had to quit Kingsland Court."

"Kingsland Court would have had an earl's daughter for its mistress in
that case. But to think that this odious, fox-hunting,
steeple-chase-riding, baggage-cart-following _fille du regiment_ should
rule there, while we--Oh, it sets me wild only to think of it!"

"Don't think of it, then, mamma," coaxed Mildred. "We will make this
wilderness 'blossom as the rose' next summer. As for Harrie, you don't
know her yet--you will like her better when you do!"

"I shall never like her!" Lady Kingsland replied, with bitterness. "I
don't want to like her! She is a proud upstart, and I sincerely hope
she may make Everard see his folly in throwing himself away before the
honey-moon is ended."

It was quite useless for Mildred to try to combat her mother's fierce
resentment. Day after day she wandered through the desolate, draughty
rooms, bewailing her hard lot, regretting the lost glories of
Kingsland, and nursing her resentment toward her odious
daughter-in-law; and when the bridal pair returned, and Milly timidly
suggested the propriety of calling, my lady flatly refused.

"I never will!" she said, spitefully. "I'll never call on Captain
Hunsden's daughter. I never countenanced the match before he made it.
I shall not countenance it now when she has usurped my place. She
should never have been received in society--a person whose mother was
no better than she ought, to be."

"But, mamma--"

"Hold your tongue, Milly! You always were a little fool! I tell you I
will not call on my son's wife, and no more shall y