The Serpent's Tooth

Colonel Fenchurch stood on his own hearthstone--that is to say, the smoking-room rug--with his back to the fire, and a cup of tea in his hand. He was a good-looking dapper littl...

It must be admitted that November is not an auspicious month for a stranger to make acquaintance with the English country; the trees are bare and leafless, the fields empty and...

Christmas was approaching, and so far, Miss Glyn’s acquaintance was confined to the village of Thornby. Now and then her aunt and uncle went from home for a dine and a shoot, an...

The great day dawned at last; the day of the Hunt Ball, which took place annually in the Town Hall of Ridgefield, and was attended by everybody who was anyone--and many nobodies.

The morning after the ball, Letty was aroused from the profound sleep of youth and exhaustion by a stealthy, grating sound, and opening her eyes, to her amazement she beheld Jon...

For one whole week the post-bag carried to Mrs. Fen a sharp disappointment, instead of an expected letter. In the course of certain promenades and _tête-à-têtes_ at Bonham Court...

The afternoon after her return from London, energetic Mrs. Fen, descended on the Rectory, in order, she declared, “to tell poor dear Amy Denton all her news,” but in reality to...

Although she searchingly scrutinised her niece’s appearance, Mrs. Fenchurch failed to discover any trace of actual misery in face or attitude. Certainly Letty was pale; but the...

Mrs. Fenchurch prided herself on her housekeeping, and boasted that she was always prepared for any emergency or visitor--were it the King! Nevertheless she now brought out the...

Hugo Blagdon was a well-known habitué of Monte Carlo, and he fled thither early in February to avoid an English spring, and escape from a personality that threatened to lure him...

Sauntering along the Casino terrace enjoying a morning cigar, attended by the Baron and Mrs. Corbett, Blagdon was unaffectedly disgusted when a gigantic and majestic Grand Duke...

The news in the telegram was authentic. Blagdon’s determination and her aunt’s strong support, had overborne Letty’s reluctance, and almost in spite of herself, she was about to...

The honeymoon--a not uncommon experience--proved more or less of a disappointment to the wedded pair. The bride, dazed and confounded by her new status, and the change from a no...

On arrival in London the newly married couple established themselves at Claridge’s; Blagdon accompanied his wife to the Opera and to Hurlingham, gave smart dinners, and introduc...

Once in the vast drawing-room, most of the ladies scattered about or assembled in congenial groups. Mrs. Fenchurch wandered round, eyeglass in hand, examining the miniatures and...

Sharsley, its spreading park, and somewhat neglected gardens, had been partly closed for years; the owner merely visiting it spasmodically, with lively parties for shooting or h...

The expected heir, for whom conspicuous preparations had been made--bonfires laid ready for the torch, name and sponsors solemnly selected--turned out to be a girl. This was a s...

The Rev. Adrian Lumley had been ailing for a considerable time; he was no longer able to undertake his parish duties, and compelled to employ a curate. Lately his health had sud...

It had been arranged by Captain Lumley that he was to go to London, where, by a certain train and on a certain day, he would be joined by Mrs. Blagdon. In this short breathing-s...

And now to accompany the fugitive to London. At first, the mere novelty of a drive to the station that delicious June day, and the unaccustomed journey in the train filled her w...

Mr. Blagdon was a late riser; on this particular morning it was eleven o’clock as he stood lathering his great sensual face, in front of a shaving-glass. The operation was but h...

The case of Blagdon _v._ Blagdon and Lumley divided the County into factions and separated chief friends. Some said, that _now_ they thoroughly understood why Blagdon was reluct...

‘Maythorne,’ where Mrs. Glyn--formerly Blagdon--had hidden her diminished head, was a fine old red-brick mansion standing in its own grounds and meadows, and within thirty miles...

For more than a fortnight, every morning and every afternoon, Cara’s mother and nurse foregathered by appointment: sometimes at the band on the Leas, sometimes along the shady L...

As it happened, the kidnapper was not an experienced nurse, or accustomed to the sole charge of a fractious child, and little Cara proved unexpectedly peevish and obstreperous....

Five times had the hill orchards blazed into blossom, the Alpine wild flowers spread their radiance over the slopes, and the white stillness of winter descended on the scene, an...

One lovely September afternoon, when the _Schiller_ touched at the pier at Mitzau, among the passengers who boarded her, were Cara, her mother, and Fritz. The boat was crowded w...

Several summers had passed since that dramatic meeting on the _Schiller_, and these swiftly flying, monotonous years, had left their mark upon Les Plans and its belongings. One...

“And why not? I am her goddaughter, the child of her greatest friend. She has no one belonging to her, and heaps of money. If she is so rich and so fond of you, Mum, why does sh...

Mrs. Hesketh and her goddaughter had always been secretly antagonistic to one another, and as days went by, this feeling increased--especially on the side of the girl, who, from...

Two days before the fête, Mrs. Hesketh had made the unwelcome discovery, that Mrs. and Miss Plassy were again her fellow guests. Many years had elapsed since they met at the Cal...

It was at a late hour for Les Plans, when Letty, seeing a light, timidly pushed open the kitchen door, and beheld Frau Hurter bending over the table, iron in hand, and oh, happy...

“So she has known for a whole fortnight and kept it to herself,” said Mrs. Hesketh with luminous eyes. “I had no idea that Cara was capable of such amazing self-control. This ac...

The shock of Cara’s desertion prostrated her mother, and for many days she remained at the Paradis, blanched and shaken, a stricken, ghost-like guest. Her friend (now completely...

As for Letty Glyn, she returned to Thornby bearing her maiden name; a disgraced wife, who eighteen years previously had left the village in such a blaze of triumph, that its ref...