This,
Lady Constance, is a lineal descendant of Lady Nethsdale--the brave Lady
Nethsdale."
She clung to his arm as she stood there.
"Oh, Norman," she said, "do you mean that my portrait, too, will hang
here?"
"I hope so, my darling, very soon."
"But how can I have a place among all these fair and noble women," she
asked, with sad humility--"I whose ancestors have done nothing to
deserve merit or praise? Why, Norman, in the long years to come, when
some Lord Arleigh brings home his wife, as you have brought me, and they
stand together before my picture as I stand before these, the young wife
will ask: 'Who was this?' and the answer will be: 'Lady Madaline
Arleigh.' She will ask again: 'Who was she?' And what will the answer
be? 'She was no one of importance; she had neither money, rank, nor
aught else.'"
He looked at the bent face near him.
"Nay, my darling, not so. That Lord Arleigh will be able to answer: 'She
was the flower of the race; she was famed for her pure, gentle life, and
the good example she gave to all around her; she was beloved by rich and
poor.' That is what will be said of you, my Madaline.
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