I insisted upon making her a very handsome allowance, which, after a
little resistance, she accepted.
For a time everything went on most prosperously. How I loved my new life
no words of mine can tell. The luxury of having plenty of money, of
being able to do what I liked with my time, of seeing my sister so
happy, of being altogether without those dark fears for the future which
so often beset those whose lot is hard work and very limited means--I
thanked God for it all.
I had made the acquaintance of most of the tenants on the estate, and my
neighbors had begun to call upon me. It was surprising how every one
liked, or, I may say, loved, my sister Clare. That invalid couch of hers
became a kind of center of society.
One morning I saw some cards lying on the hall table. Coralie was
standing near when I took them up. "Sir John Thesiger," "Lady Thesiger."
"That is a new name," I said to mademoiselle.
When she took the card from my hand and saw it, a dark look came over
her face; I saw her lips close more firmly.
"Have you not heard of the Thesigers? I thought every one knew Sir John.
They live at Harden Manor, about five miles from here.
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