Lackland Hall was an immense place in the Midlands, a grand old house, with famous associations. You could not turn a page of English history without coming directly, or indirectly, upon the deeds and doings of the Lacklands.
It was a question with some politicians whether if by some dreadful chance the house of Lacklands had been extinguished, the history of England could have been written at all!
There were men who, when they wanted to illustrate the grandeur, the nobility, the importance of England, would point the admiring finger at Lacklands and exclaim:
"There is one type! Look at Lacklands and see epitomized the glory of our land!"
Certainly the Earl of Lackland was a most important individual.
Besides the great Lackland Hall there were also the great mansion in Grosvenor Square, the castle in Scotland, the villa on the banks of the Arno, and the fishing boxes in Ireland and Wales.
The present earl and countess was blessed, in addition to the places of residence above enumerated, with a son and daughter.
The former, Lord Fitz Plantagenet Boisdale, was a young man just passed his majority. Fair—insipid he would have been called had he not been heir to Lackland—somewhat simple-minded, certainly not clever, and extremely fond of dress, billiards, his betting-book, and his cigar.
Lady Ethel Boisdale, his sister, presented a marked contrast to him.
She was tall, dark, by no means insipid, and if not positively clever, certainly possessed of the average quantity of brains.