"Better that than a mesalliance," said Lord Earle, shortly.

"She is good," cried Ronald--"good and fair, modest and
graceful. Her heart is pure as her face is fair. What
mesalliance can there be, father? I never have believed and
never shall believe in the cruel laws of caste. In what is one
man better than or superior to another save that he is more
intelligent or more virtuous?"

"I shall never interfere in your politics, Ronald," said Lord
Earle, laughing quietly. "Before you are twenty-one you will
have gone through many stages of that fever. Youth is almost
invariably liberal, age conservative. Adopt what line of
politics you will, but do not bring theory into practice in this
instance."

"I should consider myself a hero," continued the young man, "if I
could be the first to break through the trammels of custom and
the absurd laws of caste."

"You would not be the first," said Lord Earle, quietly. "Many
before you have made unequal marriages; many will do so after
you, but in every case I believe regret and disappointment
followed."

"They would not in my case," said Ronald, eagerly; "and with Dora
Thorne by my side, I could so anything; without her, I can do
nothing."

Lord Earle looked grieved at the pertinacity of his son.