I have in the world--my life itself, for Dora."

Then Lord Earle ceased laughing, and looked earnestly at the
handsome, flushed face.

"No," said he, "you can not be serious. You dare not ask your
mother to receive a servant's daughter as her own child. Your
jest is in bad taste, Ronald."

"It is no jest," he replied. "We Earles are always terribly in
earnest. I have promised to marry Dora Thorne, and, with your
permission, I intend to keep my word."

An angry flush rose to Lord Earle's face, but he controlled his
impatience.

"In any case," he replied, quietly, "you are too young to think
of marriage yet. If you had chosen the daughter of a duke, I
should, for the present, refuse."

"I shall be twenty in a few months," said Ronald,"and I am
willing to wait until then."

Lady Earle laid her white jeweled hand on her son's shoulder, and
said, gently:

"My dear Ronald, have you lost your senses? Tell me, who is Dora
Thorne?" She saw tears shining in his eyes; his brave young face
touched her heart. "Tell me," she continued, "who is she? Where
have you seen her? What is she like?"