Araminta

It was a quarter to nine in the morning by the ormolu clock on the chimney-piece; and the old lady, somewhat shriveled, very wide-awake, and in the absence of her toupee from th...

It was a quarter to three when the old woman awoke. She was alone save for Ponto, her _fidus Achates_, who was snoring in front of the fire with his tail curled up in the most r...

Three days later there was delivered in Hill Street a letter bearing the west-country postmark. It was written in narrow, upright characters, which seemed to bear a shade of def...

Wrapped in these reflections that we have dared to disclose, Miss Burden was oblivious of the fact that an old woman leaning upon an ebony stick, and accompanied by the roundest...

It is impossible to forgive Mr. Marchbanks. He of all men ought to have known that the fair intruder was what is technically known as “a lady.” In these democratic times it is t...

It is regrettable to have to state that a subtle air of triumph was hovering around Mr. Marchbanks as he announced Miss Perry. For that irresponsible person still retained her h...

“Caroline,” said he, “as I was coming out of Truefitt’s I remembered that for the first time in forty years I had forgotten to give you a present on your birthday. Last year I g...

From the moment that “Caroline Crewkerne’s Gainsborough” came upon the town there was no denying her success. She was a new sensation; and happy in her sponsors the diminished g...

“I must mind my umbrella,” said Cheriton, plaintively. “If one attends Divine worship in London in the middle of the season without one’s umbrella, one is bound to be taken for...

DEAREST MUFFIN,--_London is a_ much _larger place than Slocum Magna, but I don’t think it is nearly so nice. I think if I had not got Tobias with me, sometimes I might be very m...

The next morning at ten o’clock, when Jim Lascelles appeared for the second time in Hill Street, he was received in the blue drawing-room by the lilac frock and its wonderful ca...

Caroline Crewkerne’s “Wednesdays” had not been so thronged for many years past. They had been in their heyday twenty years earlier in the world’s history, when the spacious mans...

All the same, Miss Perry did not dance twice with Jim Lascelles that evening. For Jim took his mother to the Theatre Royal, at Brixton, to witness a performance of that excellen...

Jim Lascelles continued his labors. He arrived at Hill Street each morning at ten, and worked with diligence until two p.m. Urged by the forces within him, and sustained by the...

“Caroline,” said he, firmly, “if you behaved in that way no right-minded person could possibly forgive you. The lad is very poor, and his history is a sad one. He is the son of...

Little recked Jim Lascelles of the train of circumstances which enabled his precious half-finished work to return to its maker. When it arrived at his hermitage at Balham that a...

The next morning, a little before eleven, the wonderful Miss Perry, accompanied by the admirable Mr. Bryant, was approaching Apsley House when the figure of a solitary horseman...

Jim Lascelles was inclined to view his morning as a very great success. It is true that it had cost him the last half-sovereign he had in the world, but he felt that it had been...

For almost the space of a minute a battle royal was waged between the monocle and the long-handled folders. All present, with the exception of Miss Perry, who was not in the hab...

Miss Burden was subjected to severe treatment on her return to Hill Street. She was forbidden to go to Hurlingham again during the rest of the season. The faithful gentlewoman f...

Old Lady Crewkerne’s interview with her legal adviser did her no harm. Indeed she seemed to sleep the more soundly for it. All the same her condition continued to demand much sk...

Cheriton was a good deal perturbed. He felt that the conduct of Caroline Crewkerne bore a perilous resemblance to the pointing at one of a loaded pistol. He had a constitutional...

It was now July, and in spite of Goodwood, and Lord’s, and a constant succession of parties, Miss Perry remained faithful in her allegiance to the Acacias. Her attendance at the...

It was in the middle of the afternoon of Saturday that Cheriton arrived at Pen-y-Gros Castle by the station fly from Dwygyfy. George Betterton had arrived at the same hour the p...

Miss Perry insisted on conducting Jim and his mother to their lodgings, which were at a small cottage in Pen-y-Gros hamlet. She was afraid they might get lost in the wood. Jim’s...

Four hours later saw the inception of an imperial August day. The previous night Muffin had entered Goose’s chamber by stealth, with bare feet and clad in a white nightgown only...

Modest revel was held that evening at the Castle. Jim’s mother erred so much on the side of youth that Jim was disposed to blame her for wearing her best gown. She knew as well...

While the rain was beating with monotonous persistence upon the oriel windows of Pen-y-Gros Castle, Araminta was summoned to Aunt Caroline’s boudoir. So little did that artless...

Walford preserved so much discretion upon the subject of Jim Lascelles that, although several of his name were mentioned, neither he nor his forbears were singled out for specia...

Before breakfast next morning Jim Lascelles said good-by to the Goose Girl on the slopes of Gwydr. It was an overwhelming day for that slow-witted, but tenaciously affectionate,...

From the moment that train steamed away from Dwygyfy there was no more decent weather. Day after day it thundered and lightened, it hailed and it blew; day after day it poured i...

About tea-time on the following Monday Jim Lascelles found himself at Barne Moor. The house was a bleak upstanding place in the north of Yorkshire. It was in a fold of the moors...

Jim Lascelles returned to Balham exactly nine days after he had left that friendly but uninspired suburb. He had worked hard during his absence in Yorkshire; the picture of the...