Alice Lorraine: A Tale of the South Downs

								

it would have been as well to leave them in their quiet slumber, if it
could have been shown without them how the house was built up there.
Also one may fairly fancy that a sweet and gallant knight may have
found his own vague pleasure in a fine and ample view. Regarding which
matter we are perhaps a little too hard on our ancestors; presuming
that they never owned such eyes as ours for “scenery,” because they
knew the large impossibility of describing it.

CHAPTER III.
LINEAGE AND LINEAMENTS.

Whether his fathers felt, or failed to see, the beauty beneath their
eyes, the owner of this house and land, at the time we have to speak
of, deserved and had the true respect of all who dwelled below him.
It is often said that no direct descendant, bred from sire to son,
still exists (or at any rate can show that he has right to exist) from
any knight, or even cook, known to have come with the Conqueror. The
question is one of delicacy, and therefore of deep feeling. But it must
be owned, in candour, upon almost every side, that there are people,
here and there, able to show something. The present Sir Roland Lorraine
could show as much in this behalf as any other man in England. Here was
the name, and here the place; and here that more fugitive being, man,
still belonging to both of them.
Whether could be shown or not the strict red line of lineage, Sir
Roland Lorraine was the very last man likely to assert it. He had his
own opinions on that all-important subject, and his own little touches
of feeling when the matter came into bearing. His pride was of so
large a nature, that he seldom could be proud. He had his pleasant
vein of humour about almost everything, wholly free from scoffing, and
most sensitive of its limit. Also, although he laid no claim to any
extensive learning, or especially accurate scholarship, his reading had
been various; and his knowledge of the classics had not been allowed to
fade away into misty memory.
Inasmuch as he added to these resources the further recommendation of
a fine appearance and gentle manners, good position and fair estates,
it may be supposed that Sir Roland was in strong demand among his
neighbours for all social purposes. He, however, through no petty
feeling or small exclusiveness, but from his own taste and likings,
kept himself more and more at home, and in quietude, as he grew older.
So that ere he turned sixty years, the owner of Coombe Lorraine had
ceased to appear at any county gatherings, or even at the hospitable
meetings of the neighbourhood.
His dinner-party consisted only of himself and his daughter Alice.
His wife had been dead for many years. His mother, Lady Valeria, was
still alive and very active, and having just numbered fourscore years,
had attained the right of her own way. By right or wrong, she had
always contrived to enjoy that special easement; and even now, though
she lived apart, little could be done without her in the household