Maude's earnestness momentarily affected him--nothing more.
Lord Bereford, the present incumbent, was a man of sterling integrity--a firm friend of his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Seymour.

Though a man of high birth, distinguished, and sought by the great and learned, he was gentle, unassuming, and benign.
From her father Maude Bereford inherited the quiet and unobtrusive demeanor, so strongly in contrast to the haughty and obsequious bearing of Lady Bereford.

Gerald was a strange compound of both--a fact that gave birth to the honest convictions of his nature.
Lord Bereford was an ardent admirer of Lady Rosamond--"a true Bereford,"-- the counterpart of her mother, Maria Bereford, whose beauty had been the theme of unusual admiration.

For hours could he gaze upon his sister's child and recall the past, when a beautiful girl wandered through the old familiar spots and looked to him for brotherly sympathy when any annoyance rose before her.

When the young girl grew to womanhood and gave her affection to his boyhood friend, Sir Thomas Seymour, he bestowed his blessing.