In truth, whatever faults may be attributable to Lord Rutland,--and I am sure he deserves all the evil you have spoken of him,--his son, Sir John, is a noble gentleman, else I have been reading the book of human nature all my life in vain.

Perhaps he is in no way to blame for his father's conduct He may have had no part in it" "Perhaps he has not," said Dorothy, musingly.
It was not a pleasant task for me to praise Sir John, but my sense of justice impelled me to do so.

I tried to make myself feel injured and chagrined because of Dorothy's manner toward him; for you must remember I had arranged with myself to marry this girl, but I could not work my feelings into a state of indignation against the heir to Rutland.

The truth is, my hope of winning Dorothy had evaporated upon the first sight of her, like the volatile essence it really was.

I cannot tell you why, but I at once seemed to realize that all the thought and labor which I had devoted to the arduous task of arranging with myself this marriage was labor lost.