A Royal Amour Author:Richard Davey Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE MANOR HOUSE. "wetberleigh Hall was an old and somewhat dilapidated house, standing almost lost amongst noble trees, not far from Tunbridge... more » Wells, in one of the most beautiful parts of the county of Kent. No spot can be imagined lovelier in late spring time. A stately avenue of lime trees forming with the multitude of their young delicate leaves, a shady vault of verdure, leading from the high road to the front garden of the mansion. At their feet, on the unkept road, the grass was bright and velvety, and richly embroidered with buttercups and daisies. In shady nooks beds of violets still wafted abroad, for the spring had been late, an enchanting and subtle scent, which contended with the stronger perfume of primroses, decking with pale stars the borders of a weedy ditch following close the well-worn footpath. A hedgg dividing the avenue from a sloping meadow was silver with wreaths of may.In this meadow, one fine evening some six months after the murder at the " Monk's Head, " a mild-looking cow, standing under a pink hawthorn tree, watched lazily Master Philip Wetherleigh as, book in hand, he sauntered home to the Hall from his afternoon stroll. No news had been heard of the assassin, notwithstanding unusual zeal on the part of the Government to secure him. He had escaped with the private papers of his victim, thereby rendering his identification impossible, for he was without personal attendance, and his baggage only contained articles of apparel and a few books. The postillion, indeed, remembered that the unfortunate gentleman called himself Marston, and the landlord affirmed that it was by this name Harrowsby had addressed him, but there were no documents found amongst his effects to declare the fact. It was known, however, since he had...« less