Clare Avery: A Story of the Spanish Armada

It was drawing towards the dusk of a bright day early in May. The landscape was not attractive, at least to a tired traveller. It was a dreary waste of sandhills, diversified by...

"His power secured thee, when presumptuous Spain Baptised her fleet Invincible in vain; Her gloomy monarch, doubtful and resigned To every pang that racks an anxious mind, Asked...

"The mossy marbles rest On the lips he hath pressed In their bloom, And the names he loved to hear Have been carved for many a year On the tomb."

A few weeks after that conversation, Lucrece Enville sat alone in the bedroom which she shared with her sister Margaret. She was not shedding tears--it was not her way to weep:...

The bells were pealing merrily for the marriage of Clare Avery--I beg her pardon--of Clare Tremayne; and the wedding party were seated at breakfast in the great hall at Enville...

"In service which Thy love appoints There are no bonds for me; My secret heart has learned the truth Which makes Thy children free: A life of self-renouncing love Is a life of l...

"For perhaps the dreaded future Has less bitter than I think; The Lord may sweeten the waters Before I stoop to drink; Or if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside the brink."

Rather late on the same evening, Sir Thomas walked into the parsonage, and rapped with his silver-hilted staff at the parlour door. Clare had gone up-stairs, and Mrs Tremayne wa...

"A cross of gold, of silver, or of wood, Or of mean straw, hid in each shape of life; Some trial working for eternal good, Found in our outward state or inward strife."

Lady Enville was doubtful of the weather, but she expressed no compassion for the bull. Clare declined without giving her reason. Blanche looked as if she did not know whether o...

Blanche spoke dreamily, as she stood leaning against the side of the window in the parsonage parlour, and with busy idleness tied knots in her gold chain, which at once untied t...

Blanche Enville sat on the terrace, on a warm September afternoon, with a half-finished square of wool-work in her hand, into which she was putting a few stitches every now and...

"Hear the just law, the judgment of the skies! He that hates truth shall be the dupe of lies; And he that _will_ be cheated to the last, Delusions strong as Hell shall bind him...

"Our treasures moth and rust corrupt: Or thieves break through and steal; or they Make themselves wings and fly away. One man made merry as he supped, Nor guessed how, when that...

Jack's letters from London were exuberant. He was delighted with his new phase of existence. He had made some most advantageous friendships, and was in hopes of obtaining a mono...

"'Twas a cruel rough night, in sooth," was the answer. "Yet the wind is westerly. God help the poor souls that were on the sea this night! They must have lacked the same."

"Then look you, Mistress Blanche, that it is greater matter than you maybe made account, when a man shall say, `I believe in Jesus Christ.' For it signifieth not only that I bel...