The love which had sprung up in his heart was not the sudden, changeable fancy of a boy, but rather the wild, fierce passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper.

He had been accustomed to succeed in all that he undertook.

He swore in his heart that he would not fail in this if human effort and human perseverance could render him successful.
He called on John Ferrier that night, and many times again, until his face was a familiar one at the farm-house.

John, cooped up in the valley, and absorbed in his work, had had little chance of learning the news of the outside world during the last twelve years.

All this Jefferson Hope was able to tell him, and in a style which interested Lucy as well as her father.