Explore "Suffered in Vain" by Bertha M. Clay on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Flore Hall was naturally a quiet, silent place, for it had rarely been favored by the presence of its owners since the days when it had passed from the hands of Squire Rashleigh, whose extravagant habits had ended in his losing a pretty, well-cultivated estate that had been in the family since the reign of King Henry II.
The late Mr. Vere Gardiner would have settled tranquilly down into the calm beatitude of a country gentleman's existence, had he succeeded in obtaining the long-yearned-for desire of his heart -- had his one only love consented to become his wife.