One Red Rose. By Mary H. Debenham. (National Society.)— A
certain Giles Brent, temp. Edward IV., saved the life of Sir Gervase Lacy at the battle of Barnet. When Henry VII. came to the throne the Lacies leased a certain domain known as Weld Lodge to the Brenta, with the quit-rent of a red rose to be paid every Midsummer Day. (It is not a happy way of putting it to say that Henry VII. "succeeded in gaining the throne of his ancestors." Henry Tudor's ancestors never possessed anything like a throne, much less the throne of England.) Miss Alicia Brent, temp. George III., is the last representative of the house, save for a girl, Rosamond by name, daughter of a brother who had met with his death in the Irish Rebellion of 1797. The story opens with a scene in which the somewhat formal Miss Alicia and the anything but formal Rosamond are the actors. Then come in the Lacies, for their family still holds the manor, and a pretty story follows, somewhat dragging at first, but increasing in interest as it goes on.
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