肯尼思有着很高的绘画天赋，由于幼年被人疏忽造成的孤僻性格及其继承大笔财产后特殊的身份，他与周围的邻里很少来往，关系疏远。一天，他骑马想到自己心仪的地方写生，却被张贴在那里的不和谐的广告激怒，他会做出出格的举动吗？
To m o s t p e o p l e t h e g r e a t r a m b l i n g a m a n s i o n a t Elmhurst，with its ample grounds and profusion of flowers and shrubberyb，would afford endless delight.But Kenneth Forbes，the youthful proprietorc，was at times dreadfully bored by the loneliness of it all，though no one could better have appreciated the beauties of his ？ne estate.
The town，an insignificant village，was five miles distant，and surrounding the mansion were many broad acres which rather isolated it from its neighbors.Moreover，Elmhurst was the one important estate in the county，and the simple，hard—working farmers in its vicinityd considered，justly enough，that the owner was wholly out of their class.
This was not the owner's fault，and Kenneth had brooded upon the matter until he had come to regard it as a distinct misfortune.For it isolated him and deprived him of any social intercoursee with his neighbors.
The boy had come to live at Elmhurst when he was a mere child，but only as a dependent upon the charities of Aunt Jane，who had accepted the charge of the orphan because he was a nephew of her dead lover，who had bequeathedf her his estate of Elmhurst.Aunt Jane was Kenneth's aunt merely in name，since she had never even married the uncle to whomshe had been betrotheda，and who had been killed in an accident before the boy was born.
She was an irritable old woman，as Kenneth knew her，and had never shown him any love or consideration.He grew up in a secludedb corner of the great house，tended merely by servants and suffered to play in those quarters of the ample grounds which Aunt Jane did not herself visit.The neglect which Kenneth had suffered and his lonely life had in？uenced the youth's temperament，and he was far from being an agreeable companion at the time Aunt Jane summoned her three nieces to Elmhurst in order to choose one of them as her heiress.These girls，bright，cheery and wholesome as they were，penetrated the boy's reserve and drew him out of his misanthropicc moods.They discovered that he had remarkable talent as an artist，and encouraged him to draw and paint，something he had long loved to do in secret.
Then came the great surprise of the boy's life，whichchanged his condition from one of dependency into af？uenced.Aunt Jane died and it was discovered that she had no right to transfer the estate to one of her nieces，because by the terms of his uncle's deed to her the property reverted on her death to Kenneth himself.Louise Merrick，Beth DeGraf and Patsy Doyle，the three nieces，were really glad that the boyinherited Elmhurst，and returned to their eastern homes with the most cordial friendship existing between them all.
Kenneth was left the master of Elmhurst and possessor of considerable wealth besides，and at ？rst he could scarcely realize his good fortune or decide how to take advantage of it.He had one good and helpful friend，an old lawyer named Watson，who had not only been a friend of his uncle，and the con？dant of Aunt Jane for years，but had taken an interest in the lonely boy and had done his best to make his life brighterand happier.
When Kenneth became a landed proprietor Mr.Watson was appointed his guardian，and the genial old lawyer abandoned the practice of law and hencefortha devoted himself to his ward's welfare and service.
They made a trip to Europe together，where Kennethstudied the pictures of the old masters and obtained instruction from some of the foremost living artists of the old world.
It was while they were abroad，a year before the time ofthis story，that the boy met Aunt Jane's three nieces again.They were "doing"Europe in company with a wealthy bachelor uncle，John Merrick，a generous，kind—hearted and simple—minded old gentleman who had taken the girls "under his wing，"as he expressed it，and had really provided for their worldly welfare better than Aunt Jane，his sister，could have done.
This "Uncle John"was indeed a whimsicala character，as the reader will presently perceive.Becoming a millionaire "against his will，"as he declared，he had learned to know his nieces late in life，and found in their society so much to enjoy that he was now wholly devoted to their interests.His one friend was Major Doyle，Patsy's father，a dignified but agreeable old Irish gentleman who amused Uncle John nearly as much as the girls delighted him.The Major managed John Merrick's ？nancial affairs，leaving the old millionaire free to do as he pleased.
So he took the girls to Europe，and the four had a ？ne，adventurous trip，as may be imagined.Kenneth and Mr.Watson met them in Sicily，and afterward in the Italian cities，and the friendship already existing between the young people was more ？rmly cemented than before.
In the spring Kenneth returned with his guardian to Elmhurst，where he devoted himself largely to painting from the sketches he had made abroad，while Mr.Watson sat beside him comfortably smoking his pipe and reading his favorite authors.The elder man was contented enough in his condition，but the boy grew restless and impatient，and longed for social intercourse.His nature was moody and he had a tendency to brood if left much to himself.
Uncle John had carried his nieces to a farm at Millville，in the Adirondack region，for the summer，so that Kennethheard but seldom from his friends.
Such was the disposition of the characters when our story opens.
