counteracting influence in the thought of all he had left in Canada. He
found himself, without hesitation or difficulty, but with a suddenness
which was like the transformations in a fairy tale, changed from a
Backwoods farmer's son into an important member of an old and wealthy
family. Only the other day he had been working hard and holding up to
himself as the reward of his work, the hope of becoming a successful
provincial lawyer; now he was the heir, and all but the actual
possessor, of a splendid fortune and an estate which gave him a foremost
place among English country gentlemen.

His arrival at Hunsdon, his grandfather's house, had been a moment of
some embarrassment both to him and to Mr. Beresford. Each had some
feeling of prejudice against the other, yet each felt that it was only
by having a mutual liking and regard that they could get on comfortably
together. Happily their very first meeting cleared up all doubts on the
subject. Mr. Beresford instantly decided that a grandson who so strongly
resembled his own family, and who even in the backwoods had managed to
grow up with the air and manner of a gentleman, would be, in a year or
two, quite qualified to become Squire of Hunsdon, and that in the
meantime he would be a pleasant companion.

Maurice, on the other hand, forgot his grandfather's former harshness,
and reproached himself for his unwillingness to come to England, when he
saw how solitary the great house was, and how utterly the feeble and
paralytic old man was left to the care and companionship of servants. He
wondered at first that this should be so, for the rich generally have no
want of friends; but the puzzle soon explained itself as he began to
know his grandfather better. Mr. Beresford had been a powerful and very
active man; he had been proud of his strength and retained it to old
age. Then, suddenly, paralysis came, and he was all at once utterly