Excerpt from The Secret Marriage, Vol. 2 of 3: Or Contrasts in Life She had, it is true, to contend with nu wonted trials, but in some respects she felt how far superior was her lot to that of many, who, in addition to the loss of their natural support and comfort, had to struggle against all the difficulties of poverty and change of position in life. Her own jointure was large, and Alice, as the heiress of Ashton, would be endowed with every advantage, which would render her path through life a brilliant one. The only living descendant of a long line of ancestry, in her would be centred the hopes and the posses sions of future generations. By every tie but that of kindred were Lady Lisle and Ormond joined as parent and child. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.