It requires no great stretch of imagination to understand that Lord
Bazelhurst had an undesirable neighbor. That neighbor was young Mr.
Shaw--Randolph Shaw, heir to the Randolph fortune. It may be fair to
state that Mr. Shaw also considered himself to be possessed of an
odious neighbor. In other words, although neither had seen the other,
there was a feud between the owners of the two estates that had all
the earmarks of an ancient romance.
Lady Bazelhurst was the daughter of a New York millionaire; she was
young, beautiful, and arrogant. Nature gave her youth and beauty;
marriage gave her the remaining quality. Was she not Lady Bazelhurst?
What odds if Lord Bazelhurst happened to be a middle-aged, addle-pated
ass? So much the better. Bazelhurst castle and the Bazelhurst estates
(heavily encumbered before her father came to the rescue) were among
the oldest and most coveted in the English market. Her mother noted,
with unctuous joy, that the present Lady Bazelhurst in babyhood had
extreme difficulty in mastering the eighth letter of the alphabet,
certainly a most flattering sign of natal superiority, notwithstanding
the fact that her father was plain old John Banks (deceased), formerly
of Jersey City, more latterly of Wall street and St. Thomas's.
Bazelhurst was a great catch, but Banks was a good name to conjure
with, so he capitulated with a willingness that savored somewhat of
suspended animation (so fearful was he that he might do something to
disturb the dream before it came true).
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