Category: Novels
The morning-room which she occupied was better fitted for summer than winter uses. Indian matting covered the floor; Indian drapery clothed the walls; light cane chairs of foreign make were scattered among tables no less fragile. This being June, a fringe of Gloire de Dijon ro...
The morning-room which she occupied was better fitted for summer than winter uses. Indian matting covered the floor; Indian drapery clothed the walls; light cane chairs of forei...
7. CHAPTER II.She was an only child, about nine years old, of tall and slim make, with a straight back and a well-balanced head. The face was oval, but too thin for prettiness; indeed, nobody...
8. CHAPTER III."Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind; How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do! Opinion, there...
9. CHAPTER IV."I shall have to appeal to General Villiers," she murmured. "He has more influence over the girl than I have. So very wilful and obstinate! It is most melancholy. But she will l...
10. CHAPTER V."A dim Ideal of tender grace In my soul reigned supreme; Too noble and too sweet, I thought, To live, save in a dream— Within thy heart to-day it lies, and looks on me from thy...
11. CHAPTER VI."And just because I was thrice as old, And our paths in the world diverged so wide, Each was nought to each, must I be told? We were fellow-mortals, nought beside?" R. BROWNING.
12. CHAPTER VII.The muffled sound was due to a physical cause, not to a mental condition. Madame Collier was putting a false hem to an old serge skirt of Jean's for lengthening purposes; and th...
13. BOOK II.14. CHAPTER I."No, I don't. Miss Devereux will have done the business by then. I wouldn't say so much to most people, Mabel: but it's just the old story over again—the hen with one chick, you...
15. CHAPTER II."I wait for the day when dear hearts shall discover, While dear hands are laid on my head, The child is a woman, the book may close ever, For all the lessons are said."
16. CHAPTER III.DUTTON PARK stood on sufficiently high ground to command a view of the town, and of the surrounding country. In one direction Ripley Brow might be seen, the Brow standing up bol...
17. CHAPTER IV.SYBELLA's exercise of authority over Cyril had reached the limit of her tether. The pull had been too strong, inducing a new resistance which, once started, was not likely to di...
18. CHAPTER V.ONCE more Jem and Jean were in the gorge, not rushing headlong down the steep path, but walking steadily up. Jean could have raced as lightly the one way as the other; only she...
19. CHAPTER VI.MRS. VILLIERS of Dutton Park was a marked personage in Dutton; partly from her husband's wealth and position, partly from her own personal charms. Her actions were watched and c...
20. CHAPTER VII."The world goes up, and the world goes down, And the sunshine follows the rain; And yesterday's sneer, and yesterday's frown Can never come over again, Sweet wife: No, never com...
21. CHAPTER VIII.EVELYN was strung up to a condition of mind which would admit of no difficulties, which for the moment, could scarcely be conscious of fatigue. The cold blast came sideways, hap...
22. CHAPTER IX.WHETHER he had simply lost his way in the storm, and had wandered to and fro among the marshes, finding himself again and again turned back by intercepting dykes, till so exhaus...
23. CHAPTER X.She was in ante-lunch déshabillé, and looked, to say the least, not tidy. The inevitable end of loose hair obtruded itself from under a cap which had long passed its prime; and...
24. CHAPTER XI."And is it true Fire rankles at the heart of every globe? Perhaps. But these are matters one may prove Too deeply for poetic purposes: Rather select a theory that . . . yes, Lau...
25. CHAPTER XII.MRS. TREVELYAN carried out her intention, and made abundant use of Giles Cuthbert for the amusing of Jean. Usually he was not amenable to such efforts, having a great objection...
26. BOOK III.27. CHAPTER I."O let me be myself! But where, O where, Under this heap of precedent, this mound Of customs, modes and maxims, cumbrance rare, Shall the Myself be found?" JEAN INGELOW.
28. CHAPTER II.OSWALD had not turned up when they reached the lodgings. A note was there, apologising for his failure, which of course "could not be helped," and promising to appear next day—a...
29. CHAPTER III."Those busy subtle pronouns, I and Me, Unsought and unexpected they appear; No barriers heed they, and no laws revere; But wind and penetrate, with dexterous force, Through all...
30. CHAPTER IV."We alter day by day; Each little moment, as life's current rolls, Stamps some faint impress on our yielding souls; We may not rest nor stay, Drifting on tides unseen to one dre...
31. CHAPTER V.THESE thoughts flashed through Jean's mind, as she stood resolutely still, trying to be unconscious of the sense of dread which drove all colour from her face. It was a sensatio...
32. CHAPTER VI.Dinner-parties at the Brow were not altogether unusual; and the servants knew what they were about; and Sybella was able to afford what she considered necessary, without reachin...
33. CHAPTER VII."Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay; Their want of light and intellect supplied By sparks absurdity strikes out of pride: With...
34. CHAPTER VIII.THE "queer little red house near the Post-Office," owned by Captain Lucas, had been for three years empty. It was not an easy house to let: standing just too far out of the main...
35. CHAPTER IX."I have no answer for myself or thee, Save that I learned beside my mother's knee 'All is of God that is, and is to be; And God is good.' Let this suffice us still, Resting in c...
36. CHAPTER X.She spoke in a contemplative tone, lounging forward, while a loose tail of hair obtruded itself from beneath a not too tidy cap, and her placid gaze was riveted on the Doctor's...
37. CHAPTER XI.AFTER the evening call, witnessed by Mrs. Kennedy, Cyril did not go again for three whole days. He really was unable, being prevented by a close run of engagements: but none the...
38. CHAPTER XII.CAPTAIN LUCAS was in the depths of despair next morning. It was always thus, after these disappointing failures; but never more thus than now. The breakdown had been so unexpect...
39. CHAPTER XIII."She's bonny, blooming, straight and tall, And lang has had my heart in thrall; And aye it charms my very saul, The kind love that's in her e'e." R. BURNS.
40. BOOK IV."Yet in one respect, Just one, beloved, I am in nowise changed; I love you, loved you . . . loved you first and last, And love you on for ever. Now I know I loved you always." E...
41. CHAPTER I.Jem looked up, and his grey eyes broke into laughter. When absorbed in thought, he had a harassed look, too old for his thirty-five years; but when he smiled, all was transforme...
42. CHAPTER II.JEAN'S estimate of Evelyn Villiers as one who "had always a pet worry," was not far wrong—indeed, such a statement might perhaps be made of nine out of every ten individuals, th...
43. CHAPTER III."Rouen has not done you such an amount of good that you need wish to stay. I don't believe there is anything very wrong—only you are weak, and you want building up. I think you...
44. CHAPTER IV.JEM had crossed the Channel many a time, but he had never known a rougher passage. Until they were well out of Dieppe harbour, nobody—not even the experienced Captain—had imagin...
45. CHAPTER V.THE dreaded peril did not develop into fact. Those massive loose floats, made of steel and weighing between two and three tons, though they struck heavily, with a frightful cras...