_L'amitié est l'amour sans ailes_




PREFACE


My object in writing this book has been to present as many phases as
possible of the strangely romantic story of the British Peerage, so that
those who have not the time or facilities for exploring the library of
books over which these stories are scattered, may be able, within the
compass of a single volume, to review the panorama of our aristocracy,
with its tragedy and comedy, its romance and pathos, its foibles and its
follies, in a few hours of what I sincerely hope will prove agreeable
reading. If my book gives to any reader a fraction of the pleasure I
have derived from its writing, I shall be more than rewarded for a
labour which has been to me a delight.

THORNTON HALL.


_As love plays a prominent part in at least twenty of these stones, and
is only really absent from one or two of them, I venture to hope that my
good friends, the reviewers, who have been so kind to my previous books,
will not find fault with my title, which, more accurately than any other
I can think of, describes the nature and scope of my book_.

T.H.