"All alone; yes."
"In this great place? How lonely he must be!"
"No, my dear," said the old lady. "Great people are never lonely; they are quite—quite different to us humble folks."
Margaret smiled to herself at the naive assertion.
"I thought he would have had some relations to live with him. Hasn't he any sons—children?"
Mrs. Hale shook her head.
"No, no children! There was a son, but he died. There is a nephew, Lord Blair Leyton, but he and the earl don't agree, and he has never been here, though, of course, he will come into the property when the earl dies, which won't be for many a long year, I hope."
"Blair Leyton! and he's a lord too——"
"A viscount," said the old lady. "I don't like to speak ill of a gentleman, especially one I don't know, but I am afraid his young lordship is—is"—she looked round for a word—"is a very wicked young man, my dear."
"How do you know?" asked Margaret, nestling into the comfortable chair to listen at her ease.