The Veiled Man by Ambrose Pratt — Read

Stayton had been dancing on the tiptoe of expectation and excitement from the moment Lord Cawthorne arrived in England. In mansion and cottage his name was at all hours on everybody's tongue. His advent meant so much to the place, industriously, socially--in fact, in every way. The laborers at the shipping works hoped (at the bottom of their hearts) to find in him a champion of their grievances. The works were well managed, but laborers have always grievances, and the Earl's history was known. "Surely," thought they, "a man who has worked hard since childhood with his hands for his living must sympathise with us, who are workers too. Surely his sudden access of fortune will not blunt the memory of his hardship and blind him to our needs."

The tradesmen hoped he would keep open house, as the last Earl had done, and thereby promote the prosperity of the town. Stayton's male upper ten hoped he would prove a social acquisition, and, broadly speaking, a good fellow. The matrons each hoped to find for him a wife in her own family; the maids hoped he would be pleasant and good-looking. The aggregated hopes of Stayton's upper ten, however, were tempered with anxiety. Many persons had read the history of Norfolk Island, and discovered that Lord Cawthorne must have been bred up among the descendants of criminals and savages. Only the youngest, therefore, ventured to predict with any confidence, grace from his coming.