Bertie was very happy that night as he sat in his solitary chambers and smoked his favorite pipe.
All the weary, hopeless months gone by since first he had seen and loved sweet Ethel Boisdale seemed to have vanished like dark spirits before the joy of that night.
He had told her that he loved, and had won the sweet confession from her lips that she loved him in return.
How bright seemed the world to him—how full of hope and enjoyment!
His dull, book-lined rooms assumed a new aspect under his happy eyes and all at once appeared comfortable quarters, full of pleasant peace and quiet.
But in the morning, after a night of happy, glorious dreams, came the stern reality.
He dressed himself with unusual care, and surveyed himself in the glass.
Would the earl, proud Lord Lackland, accept him as a son-in-law?
He dared not answer his own query, but whiled away the early hours by pacing to and fro, doing a little work, smoking at intervals and thinking always.