People talk of troubles, of romances, of sad stories and painful histories before me, but no one ever guessed that I have known perhaps the saddest of all.

My heart learned to ache as the first lesson it learned in life.
When I think of those unhappy children who go about the world with so dark a secret locked in their hearts, I think of myself, and what I hold locked in my heart.
Read for yourself, dear reader, and tell me if you think there have been many fates in this world harder than mine.
My Name is Laura Tayne, and my home Tayne Abbey, in the grand old County of Kent.

The Taynes were of good family, not very ancient--the baronetcy is quite a modern one, dating from George the First--but Tayne Abbey is one of the grandest old buildings in England.

Whenever I looked at it I thought of those beautiful, picturesque, haunted houses that one sees in Christmas annuals, with Christmas lights shining from the great windows.

I am sorry to say that I know very little of architecture.