Explore "A Tragedy of Love and Hate" by Bertha M. Clay on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The neighborhood of Leeholme was essentially an aristocratic one; in fact, Leeholme calls itself a patrician country, and prides itself on its freedom of all manufacturing towns. It is essentially devoted to agriculture, and has rich pasture lands, fertile meadows and luxuriant gardens.
The Aldens of Aldenmere were, perhaps, the oldest family of any. Aldenmere was a magnificent estate; the grounds were more extensive and beautiful than any other in the country. Nature had done her utmost for them; art had not been neglected. The name was derived from a large sheet of water formed by the river Lee -- a clear, broad, deep mere, always cool, shaded by large trees, with water lilies lying on its bosom. The great beauty of the place was the mere.