These ladies had so long been accustomed to rule absolutely at Penfold Hall that Mr.Penfold's assertion of his right to act as he pleased in his own house came upon them like an act of absolute rebellion.

At their father's death they were women of twenty-seven and twenty-six years old respectively.
Herbert was a lad of sixteen.

He was of a gentle and yielding disposition; and as their father for some years previous to his death had been a confirmed invalid, and they had had the complete management of the house, it was but natural that at his death they should continue in the same position.
Owing to weak health, Herbert had not been sent to school, but had been educated under the care of a tutor.

He had wished when he reached the age of nineteen to enter one of the universities; but his sisters had been so opposed to the idea, and had represented so strongly to him his unfitness to take part in the rough sports of the young men, and how completely he would feel out of place in such companionship, that he had abandoned the idea, and had traveled on the Continent for three years with his tutor, his sisters being for most of the time of the party.

Soon after his return he had fallen in love with the daughter of Colonel Vernon, an officer living on half-pay at Poole, which was the nearest town to Penfold Hall.