squire, and the present attorney had seemed to succeed to these
family blessings. But the whole order of things became changed.
Within a few weeks of the squire's death Mr. Masters found that he
was to be entrusted no further with the affairs of the property,
but that, in lieu of such care, was thrown upon him the task of
defending the will which he had made against the owner of the
estate. His father and grandfather had contrived between them to
establish a fairly good business, independently of Bragton, which
business, of course, was now his. As far as reading went, and
knowledge, he was probably a better lawyer than either of them; but
he lacked their enterprise and special genius, and the thing had
dwindled with him. It seemed to him, perhaps not unnaturally, that
he had been robbed of an inheritance. He had no title deeds, as had
the owners of the property; but his ancestors before him, from
generation to generation, had lived by managing the Bragton
property. They had drawn the leases, and made the wills, and
collected the rents, and had taught themselves to believe that a
Morton could not live on his land without a Masters. Now there was
a Morton who did not live on his land, but spent his rents
elsewhere without the aid of any Masters, and it seemed to the old
lawyer that all the good things of the world had passed away. He
had married twice, his first wife having, before her marriage, been
well known at Bragton Park. When she had died, and Mr. Masters had
brought a second wife home, Lady Ushant took the only child of the
mother, whom she had known as a girl, into her own keeping, till
she also had been compelled to leave Bragton. Then Mary Masters had
returned to her father and stepmother.

The Bragton Park residence is a large, old-fashioned, comfortable
house, but by no means a magnificent mansion. The greater part of