men who had acquired them in his absence. He
had married in France, the daughter of an exile like himself; but
before the "king came to his own" his wife had died, and he
returned with one son, Herbert.

Herbert had, when he arrived at manhood, restored the fortunes of
the Chace by marrying Mistress Dorothy Maynard, the daughter and
heiress of a wealthy brewer of Derby, who had taken the side of
parliament, and had thriven greatly at the expense of the royalist
gentry of the neighbourhood. After the restoration he, like many
other roundheads who had grown rich by the acquisition of forfeited
estates, felt very doubtful whether he should be allowed to retain
possession, and was glad enough to secure his daughter's fortune by
marrying her to the heir of a prominent royalist. Colonel Holliday
had at first objected strongly to the match, but the probable
advantage to the fortune of his house at last prevailed over his
political bias. The fortune which Mistress Dorothy brought into the
family was eventually much smaller than had been expected, for
several of the owners of estates of which the roundhead brewer had
become possessed, made good their claims to them.

Still Herbert Holliday was a rich man at his father-in-law's death,
which happened three years after the marriage. With a portion of
his wife's dowry most of the outlying properties which had belonged
to the Chace were purchased back from their holders; but Herbert
Holliday, who was a weak man, cared nothing for a country life, but
resided in London with his wife. There he lived for another six
years, and was then killed in a duel over a dispute at cards,
having in that time managed to run through every penny that his
wife had brought him, save that invested in the lands of the Chace.

Dorothy Holliday then, at the Colonel's earnest invitation,
returned to the Chace with her son Rupert, then five years old.
There she ruled as mistress, for her disposition was a masterful
one, and she was a notable housekeeper. The colonel gladly resigned
the reins of government into her hands. The house and surrounding
land were his; the estate whose rental enabled the household to be
maintained as befitted that of a county family, was hers; and both
would in time, unless indeed Dorothy Holliday should marry again,
go to Rupert. Should she marry again--and at the time of her
husband's death she wanted two or three years of thirty--she might
divide the estate between Rupert and