Had it not been for
the silent, shut-up castle, standing summer and winter on the loch-side,
with its flower-gardens blossoming for none to gather, and its woods--
the pride of the whole country--budding and withering, with scarcely
a foot to cross, or an eye to notice their wonderful beauty, people
would ere long have forgotten the very existence of the last Earl of
Cairnforth.
Chapter 2
It was on a June day--ten years after that bright June day when the
minister of Cairnforth had walked with such a sad heart up to Cairnforth
Castle, and seen for the first time its unconscious heir--the poor
little orphan baby, who in such apparent mockery was called "the Earl."
The woods, the hills, the loch, looked exactly the same--nature never
changes. As Mr. Cardross walked up to the Castle once more--the
first time for many months--in accordance with a request of Mr.
Menteith's, who had written to say the earl was coming home, he could
hardly believe it was ten years since that sad week when the baby-heir
was born, and the countess's funeral had passed out from that now
long-closed door.
Mr. Cardross's step was heavier and his face sadder now than then.
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