He would not see her. He refused to accept
any favour at her hands, and a complete estrangement took place. The
brother and sister never met again; and it was only through the medium
of the newspapers that Lionel and Douglas Dale learned, some time after
their father's death (Melville Dale died young), that severe affliction
had befallen their aunt, Lady Verner. The bitter and deadly breach
between father and son, and between brother and sister, was destined
never to be healed. Lionel and Douglas grew up knowing nothing of their
father's family, but treated always with persistent kindness by their
uncle, Sir Oswald Eversleigh, who insisted upon their making Raynham
Castle a second home."
"Their cousin Reginald must have liked _that_, I fancy," remarked Miss
Brewer, in her coldest tone.
"He _did_, as you suppose," said Carrington; "he hated the Dales, and I
fancy they had but little intimacy with him. He was early taken up by
Sir Oswald, and acknowledged and treated as his heir. You know, of
course, how all that came to grief, and how Sir Oswald married a
nobody, and left her the bulk of his fortune?"
"Yes, I have heard all that," said Miss Brewer. "Sir Reginald did not
spare us the details of the injustice Sir Oswald had done him, or the
expression of his feelings regarding it. Sir Reginald is the most
egotistical man I know."
"Well, then, as you are in possession of the family relations so far,
let me return to Lady Verner, of whom her nephews knew nothing during
their father's lifetime.
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