eral old gentleman, but the young couple were blessed with
contented minds and moderate ambitions, so they laughed good-naturedly
at his crusty speeches, and considered themselves rich, inasmuch as they
were able to pay their way and were spared anxiety for the future. And
then an extraordinary thing happened! The old man died suddenly, and
left to his beloved nephew a fortune which, even in these days of
millionaires, might truthfully be called enormous. Henry Chester could
not believe the lawyers when the amount of his new wealth was broken to
him, for his uncle had lived so unostentatiously that he had had no idea
of the magnitude of his savings. The little wife, who had never known
what it was to spend sixpence carelessly in all her thirty-five years,
grew quite hysterical with excitement when an arithmetical calculation
proved to her the daily riches at her disposal; but she recovered her
composure with wonderful celerity, and expressed her intention of
enjoying the goods which the gods had sent her. No poking in gloomy
town houses after this! No hoarding of riches as the poor old uncle had
done, while denying himself the common comforts of life! She herself
had been economical from a sense of duty only, for her instincts were
all for lavishness and generosity--and now, now! Did not Henry feel it
a provision of Providence that Erley Chase was empty, and, as it were,
waiting for their occupation?

Her husband gasped at the audacity of the idea. Erley Chase! the finest
place around, one of the largest properties in the county, and Marianne
suggested that he should take it! that he should remove from his fifty-
pound house into that stately old pile! The suggestion appalled him,
and yet why not? His lawyer assured him that he could afford it; his
children were growing up, and he had their future to consider. He
thought of his handsome boys, his curly-headed girl, and decided proudly
that nothing was too good for them; he looked into the future, and saw
his children's children reigning in his stead, and the name of Chester
honoured in the land. So Erley Chase was bought, and little Mrs
Chester furnished it, as we have seen, to her own great contentment and
that of the tradespeople with whom she dealt; and in the course of a few
months the family moved into their new abode.

At first the country people were inclined to look coldly on the new-
comers, but it was impossible to keep up an unfriendly attitude t