{"product_id":"2940012791269","title":"THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE SINS OF THE FATHER ARE VISITED ON THE CHILDREN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe January afternoon was passing into night, the air was cold and\u003cbr\u003estill, so still that not a single twig of the naked beech-trees stirred;\u003cbr\u003eon the grass of the meadows lay a thin white rime, half frost, half\u003cbr\u003esnow; the firs stood out blackly against a steel-hued sky, and over the\u003cbr\u003etallest of them hung a single star. Past these bordering firs there ran\u003cbr\u003ea road, on which, in this evening of the opening of our story, a young\u003cbr\u003eman stood irresolute, glancing now to the right and now to the left.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought,\u003cbr\u003esupported by stone pillars on whose summits stood griffins of black\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emarble embracing coats of arms, and banners inscribed with the device\u003cbr\u003e_Per ardua ad astra_. Beyond these gates ran a broad carriage drive,\u003cbr\u003elined on either side by a double row of such oaks as England alone can\u003cbr\u003eproduce under the most favourable circumstances of soil, aided by the\u003cbr\u003enurturing hand of man and three or four centuries of time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the head of this avenue, perhaps half a mile from the roadway,\u003cbr\u003ealthough it looked nearer because of the eminence upon which it was\u003cbr\u003eplaced, stood a mansion of the class that in auctioneers' advertisements\u003cbr\u003eis usually described as \"noble.\" Its general appearance was Elizabethan,\u003cbr\u003efor in those days some forgotten Outram had practically rebuilt it; but\u003cbr\u003ea large part of its fabric was far more ancient than the Tudors,\u003cbr\u003edating back, so said tradition, to the time of King John. As we are\u003cbr\u003enot auctioneers, however, it will be unnecessary to specify its many\u003cbr\u003ebeauties; indeed, at this date, some of the tribe had recently employed\u003cbr\u003etheir gift of language on these attractions with copious fulness and\u003cbr\u003eaccuracy of detail, since Outram Hall, for the first time during six\u003cbr\u003ecenturies, was, or had been, for sale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuffice it to say that, like the oaks of its avenue, Outram was such\u003cbr\u003ea house as can only be found in England; no mere mass of bricks\u003cbr\u003eand mortar, but a thing that seemed to have acquired a life and\u003cbr\u003eindividuality of its own. Or, if this saying be too far-fetched and\u003cbr\u003epoetical, at the least this venerable home bore some stamp and trace\u003cbr\u003eof the lives and individualities of many generations of mankind, linked\u003cbr\u003etogether in thought and feeling by the common bond of blood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe young man who stood in the roadway looked long and earnestly towards\u003cbr\u003ethe mass of buildings that frowned upon him from the crest of the hill,\u003cbr\u003eand as he looked an expression came into his face which fell little, if\u003cbr\u003eat all, short of that of agony, the agony which the young can feel at\u003cbr\u003ethe shock of an utter and irredeemable loss. The face that wore such\u003cbr\u003eevidence of trouble was a handsome one enough, though just now all the\u003cbr\u003echarm of youth seemed to have faded from it. It was dark and strong, nor\u003cbr\u003ewas it difficult to guess that in after-life it might become stern. The\u003cbr\u003eform also was shapely and athletic, though not very tall, giving promise\u003cbr\u003eof more than common strength, and the bearing that of a gentleman who\u003cbr\u003ehad not brought himself up to the belief that ancient blood can cover\u003cbr\u003emodern deficiencies of mind and manner. Such was the outward appearance\u003cbr\u003eof Leonard Outram as he was then, in his twenty-third year.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile Leonard watched and hesitated on the roadway, unable, apparently,\u003cbr\u003eto make up his mind to pass those iron gates, and yet desirous of doing\u003cbr\u003eso, carts and carriages began to appear hurrying down the avenue towards\u003cbr\u003ehim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I suppose that the sale is over,\" he muttered to himself. \"Well, like\u003cbr\u003edeath, it is a good thing to have done with.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen he turned to go; but hearing the crunch of wheels close at hand,\u003cbr\u003estepped back into the shadow of the gateway pillar, fearing lest he\u003cbr\u003eshould be recognised on the open road. A carriage came up, and, just as\u003cbr\u003eit reached the gates, something being amiss with the harness, a footman\u003cbr\u003edescended from the box to set it right. From where he stood Leonard\u003cbr\u003ecould see its occupants, the wife and daughter of a neighbouring squire,\u003cbr\u003eand overhear their conversation. He knew them well; indeed, the younger\u003cbr\u003elady had been one of his favourite partners at the county balls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How cheap the things went, Ida! Fancy buying that old oak sideboard for\u003cbr\u003eten pounds, and with all those Outram quarterings on it too! It is as\u003cbr\u003egood as an historical document, and I am sure that it must be worth at\u003cbr\u003eleast fifty. I shall sell ours and put it into the dining-room. I have\u003cbr\u003ecoveted that sideboard for years.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe daughter sighed and answered with some asperity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I am so sorry for the Outrams that I should not care about the\u003cbr\u003esideboard if you had got it for twopence.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152570597616,"sku":"2940012791269","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012791269_p0.jpg?v=1763572787","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012791269","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}