Mrs. Thompson: A Novel

"My dear Mrs. Prentice," said the guest, calmly and philosophically, "the town that you and I loved has gone. It was inevitable--one can't put back the clock. Time won't stand s...

But the loss of the cabinets and sofas made the living rooms seem bare and forlorn. The house and the shop had become alike: in each one could now see the empty, cheerless aspec...

She moved her hand away, and for a moment an angry flame of thought swept through her brain. Had it been an accident, or a monstrous impertinence? He went on talking without a t...

"Oh, yes. I tell you, he has just about got to the end of his tether. All the best people funk having him on their books.... I give him two years from to-day."

"To show how absolutely I trust you, I'll say to you what I wouldn't say to anyone--no, not to my daughter. I am sorry if I have seemed fretful of late. But the reason is this....

"Bravo. Excellent! I want all the help that anyone can give me;" and he seated himself in the chair of honour. "But look here. Don't mess about with the papers on this desk. I w...

"So I thought I knew what she was--but I never did really know what she was, till we came to fair handy grips over this.... Mr. Prentice, I flattered her--no go. I tried to bluf...

Enid told her tale confusedly. She was too much distressed to record events in their logical sequence. She worked backwards and forwards, breaking the thread with ejaculations,...

He sat down, drew out a dirty handkerchief, and wiped his forehead. His argumentative efforts had made him warm; but he smiled contentedly. He considered that "in the circs." it...

"Abuse you? I shan't waste breath on abusing you. You have cheated me--or you've _tried_ to cheat me. For I'm not going to let you;" and he turned towards the others. "Take noti...

But Yates, the old spinster, speaking so wisely and confidently, said, "Don't tell me, ma'am. If he's fond of you, a little thing like that isn't going to put him off.... Beside...

"Yes, my darling girl," said Mrs. Thompson tenderly. "And so do I. It's all summed up in that. We must do what's right and wise--not just what seems easy and delightful. There....

"I think that would be a pity, Susan. If you leave me like this, I may not be able to get you another place. Why should you throw up a comfortable situation?"

Her mistress was not in the least angry. She smiled at the sound of the rival's name;--and, of course, in this particular department there was no rivalry between the two shops.

The front door stood open; and while she waited for somebody to answer the bell, she had an opportunity of glancing at the decorations of the hall. They had all been paid for by...

Mr. Greig, the obese chieftain of Cretonnes in the days of old Thompson's, is threatened with no real peril. If he ceases working to-morrow, he will continue to receive his work...

"Yes, in a minute.... You'll dismiss me to-morrow, won't you? I'd better pack to-night. But I shall always go on loving you.... Oh, my goodness, what is my life to be without you?"

When Mrs. Marsden, bravely facing the situation and calmly acknowledging the logic of facts, had declared that it was imperatively necessary to reduce what in railway management...

"What a horrid thing to say! I'd forgotten all about the money. Why can't _you_ forget it?... No, hang the money. Money isn't everything.... But, Jane, I've been thinking--for a...

She would not go away, and she would not undertake to refrain from seeing or writing to Mr. Kenion. She did give her word that she would not slink out and marry him on the sly....

Well then, Bence had come across the road once more. In the letter which Mrs. Thompson, when showing it to her solicitor, had described as impertinent, Bence presented his compl...

And she could not resist him. There was the abominable basis of the tragedy--worse, infinitely worse than the imagined horrors that had troubled her before the marriage. Love di...

At first she possessed only one commercial asset, the reputation of Thompson's. For so many years Thompson's had been known as a good shop that here was a legend which might cou...

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Mr. Mears sat down, put the folded letter in his pocket, but did not speak. He noticed that her eyes were free from moisture, and her quiet voice betrayed no emotion of any sort.