ELLEN NE VILLE 
321 
carved escutcheon of her ancestors which surmounted the 
gates. Jt^hoebe stooped down to pick up one of the Snow- 
drops which her beautiful mistress had unconsciously 
dropped, and, presenting her with it, said, 
“Take heart, my dear lady; this flower is the emblem 
of Hope, and something tells me that you will yet live 
to see happier days.’' 
The Lady Ellen took the proffered flower, smiling faint- 
ly through her tears as she thanked her attendant, then 
threaded her way in the direction of the thatched grange, 
in which the honest farmer’s wife lived who had nursed 
her in her infancy. 
Although General Marchmont had risen to such emin- 
ence in the Parliamentary army, it was neither by adhering 
to the strict Puritanic habits of the Roundheads, render- 
ing himself a tool in the hands of Cromwell, nor a time- 
server to any of his emissaries ; for he was one of those 
who drew the sword through conscientious motives against 
King Charles, and his own bravery had called forth the 
thanks of Parliament, while his praises had been recorded 
before the face of the whole army. 
The mansion which he inherited through a long line 
of ancestors had, with all it contained, been burnt to the 
ground by the Royalists during the commencement of the 
wars which so long desolated England. Even the very 
woods which before sheltered it had been cut down for 
fuel by the Cavaliers when they encamped in the neigh- 
bourhood : — all that remained of his ancient estate was 
the broad lands, blackened over by the traces of the con- 
suming fire. He was one of those who wished to over- 
turn the old monarchy through the purest of motives; 
who from his soul believed King Charles to be a tyrant, 
an oppressor, and an enemy of his people ; and who, like 
the noble-hearted patriot Hampden, made up his mind to 
sacrifice both estate and life, when he rushed into the 
struggle, to do battle for the good of his fellow-meo. 
More than one of the confiscated estates which belonged 
to the Royalists had before been offered to him, as a 
•compensation for the losses he had sustained through the 
wars; but these he had steadily refused, from honourable 
motives, when he ascertained that the heirs were still alive, 
although in exile. Nor could he be induced to take pos- 
