CHAPTER II.


I LIVED far from the busy haunts of men, and the rumour of wars or
political changes came worn to a mere sound, to our mountain abodes.
England had been the scene of momentous struggles, during my early boyhood.
In the year 2073, the last of its kings, the ancient friend of my father,
had abdicated in compliance with the gentle force of the remonstrances of
his subjects, and a republic was instituted. Large estates were secured to
the dethroned monarch and his family; he received the title of Earl of
Windsor, and Windsor Castle, an ancient royalty, with its wide demesnes
were a part of his allotted wealth. He died soon after, leaving two
children, a son and a daughter.

The ex-queen, a princess of the house of Austria, had long impelled her
husband to withstand the necessity of the times. She was haughty and
fearless; she cherished a love of power, and a bitter contempt for him who
had despoiled himself of a kingdom. For her children's sake alone she
consented to remain, shorn of regality, a member of the English republic.
When she became a widow, she turned all her thoughts to the educating her
son Adrian, second Earl of Windsor, so as to accomplish her ambitious ends;
and with his mother's milk he imbibed, and was intended to grow up in the
steady purpose of re-acquiring his lost crown. Adrian was now fifteen years
of age. He was addicted to study, and imbued beyond his years with learning
and talent: report said that he had already begun to thwart his mother's
views, and to entertain republican principles. However this might be, the
haughty Countess entrusted none with the secrets of her family-tuition.
Adrian was bred up in solitude, and kept apart from the natural companions