"Ay," said the old man, with a chuckle, "and we none of us shed a tear; we didn't, I assure you."

"Then the present Earl came here?" asked Kenneth.

"Yes; he'd been travelling in foreign parts, but he came home afore t' old Earl died, and he married a lady o' these parts too."

"Is she living?"

"No, she lies in t' churchyard over there; ye can see t' old church tower over them trees."

"Has she been dead long?"

"It'll be about a year now. Since my lady died, he has had a good few of his friends at the Castle; there was some of them there for the shooting; t' Castle was pretty full t' night of t' fire."

"Was Lord Kenmore there?"

"Not he; he don't come here if t' Earl can help it. He's got an estate down South somewhere; he got it from his mother's father, so I'm told. We don't want him here; do we, Betty?"

"No, we don't," said Betty, "chip of t' old block, that's what he is."