It was his last utterance. Unconsciousness supervened; and he never awoke from it. A severe paralytic stroke had fallen; and before next morning he had passed away.
"Ah—well!—better so!" the Rector said, much moved. "It is mercifully ordered. He is spared a great deal that would have sorely tried him. And when all's said and done—he was a noble fellow!"
Thus Dick entered at once upon his inheritance.
And "this" did make all the difference with regard to Doris. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Winton offered any further objections. True, there was still Mrs. Morris at the farm,—somehow, people persisted in calling her by that name, though she really was Mrs. Maurice Stirling,—and she could hardly fail to be a thorn in the side of Doris's mother. But Dick's own position, inclusive of his line of ancestors, was assured. The objectionable Jane had taken herself happily out of reach; and everybody liked the gentle Winnie, whose hospital treatment had proved entirely a success. Thenceforward she was in better health and spirits than ever before.
Hamilton met the reverse in his prospects like a man. He did not bemoan himself; he showed no resentment; and he treated the new heir with kind courtesy, recognising that Dick at least was not to blame. Moreover, he lost no time in bringing about an engagement between Katherine and himself, though she would not hear of being married till a year after her uncle's death.
Some delay, too, was necessary with Dick and Doris. The Wintons objected to parting with their child too soon; and Dick, entering upon a position of no small difficulty, as successor to, the beloved Squire, had an infinitude of business to claim his attention.
So it came to pass that the honeymoon was not until the following August. Dick then amply redeemed his promises, scaling two or three difficult peaks with his bride, and, one glorious day, landing her safely on the summit of the Glückhorn.
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