The star dreamer: A romance

CHAPTER PAGE I. FAIR, YOUNG CAPABLE HANDS, 3 II. A MASS OF SELFISHNESS, 13 III. RUSTLING LEAVES OF MEMORY, 18 IV. BACK AT A NEW DOOR OF LIFE, 24 V. QUENCHLESS STARS ELOQUENT, 34...

I. MIDSUMMER SUNRISE, 105 II. _EUPHROSINE_, STAR-OF-COMFORT, 109 III. A QUEEN OF CURDS AND CREAM, 120 IV. OPEN-EYED CONSPIRACY, 127 V. EVIL PROMPTER, JEALOUSY, 138 VI. THE PERFE...

I. THE LITTLE MASTER OF BINDON, 181 II. TOTTERING LIFE AND FORTUNE, 188 III. STRAWS ON THE WIND, 195 IV. A SHOCK AND A REVELATION, 200 V. SILENT NIGHT THE REFUGE, 207 VI. THE LU...

I have clung To nothing, lov’d a nothing, nothing seen Or felt but a great dream! O I have been Presumptuous against love, against the sky, Against all elements, against the tie...

Alone and forgotten, absolutely free, His happy time he spends, the works of God to see In those wonderful herbs which here in plenty grow, Whose sundry strange effects he only...

... Such eyes were in her head; And so much grace and power, breathing down From over her arch’d brows, with every turn Lived thro’ her to the tips of her long hands.... —TENNYS...

Master Simon, sunk in his chair, his head bent on his breast, had fallen into a deep muse. His eyes, fixed upon the face of his daughter—fair and thrown into fairer relief by Be...

He fixed his gaze once more upon his daughter, and stared at her for a moment as if her comely presence were but some freakish play of his own senses.

O, who shall tell what deep inspirèd things Thou speakest me, when, tranquil as the skies, O Night, I stand in shadow of thy wings, And with thy robe of suns fulfil mine eyes! —...

On the new-comer’s entrance Ellinor looked up. The smile was arrested on her lips and her eyes grew grave with wonder: there was something curiously unsubstantial, something alm...

The stars at midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear In many a secret place ... And beauty born of murmuring sound Shall pass into her face. —WORDSWORTH (_Lyri...

When the fame of her housekeeperly prowesses had gained for comely Miss Sophia Rickart the unexpected offer of parson Tutterville’s hand and heart—the divine had taken this wise...

Here finds he on the oak rheum-purging Polypode; And in some open place that to the sun doth lie He Fumitory gets, and Eyebright for the eye; The Yarrow wherewithal he stays the...

——Upon nearer view, A spirit, yet a woman too! And steps of virgin liberty— Her household motions light and free A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, and promises as s...

Out of the warm library into the deserted, echoing round-vaulted hall, on the walls of which broad sheets of tapestry hung, dimly splendid, between fluted pilasters of marble. I...

The fruit in the rectory garden, the pears from the rector’s own tree, had all been culled; Madam Tutterville had seen to that. And where she ruled, if there was always abundanc...

The night Hath been to me a more familiar face Than that of man; and in her starry shade Of dim and solitary loveliness I learned the language of another world. —TENNYSON.

A dawn in June: the dawn of a night that has held no real blackness, but merged from a sky of sapphire to one of grey pearl—sapphire so starlit, that ever deeper deeps and ever...

She still took note that, when the living smile Died from his lips, across him came a cloud Of melancholy severe; from which again, Whenever in her hovering to and fro, The lily...

And Enid brought sweet cakes to make them cheer, · · · · · And stood behind and waited ... And seeing her so sweet and serviceable, Geraint had longing in him evermore To stoop...

Old Giles, in the plate-room! Old Giles, butler of Bindon and confidential servant to Sir David, sunk in his wooden armchair and his head inclined till his double chin rested on...

July over the meadows, sweeter in death than in life, where the long grass lay in swathes and the bared earth split and crumbled under the fierce sun. July in the great woods, w...

Such is the fond illusion of my heart, Such pictures would I at that time have made; And seen the soul of truth in every part, A steadfast peace that might not be betrayed.

Within Bindon house the next ten days were as uneventful as those that had preceded this night of emotional trouble; days similar in routine, in outward tranquillity. But how un...

Bearing an armful of roses, she met him on the morning of the arrival at the foot of the great stairs. She had scarcely seen him since the night on the tower; and hurt to her he...

If a woman, being in love, gain thereby a certain intuition into the character of the man she loves, the thousand contradictory emotions of that unrestful state, its despairs, a...

In the terraced gardens, under the spreading shadows of the cedar trees, was gathered a motley group. Beyond that patch of shade the sun blazed down on stone steps and balusters...

... Loathsome sight, How from the rosy lips of life and love Flashed the bare grinning skeleton of death! White was her cheek; sharp breaths of anger puff’d Her nostrils.... —TE...

But the worthy lady’s countenance was overcast as she spoke; and the hands which were smoothing and folding the surplice that the parson had just laid aside were shaking. The re...

Ellinor sat on the stone bench in the Herb-Garden, gazing disconsolately at the flourishing bed of _Euphrosinum_—at the Star-of-Comfort—and reviewing the events of the past days...

My life has crept so long on a broken wing Thro’ cells of madness, haunts of horror and fear, That I come to be grateful at last for a little thing: My mood is changed, for it f...

O purblind race of miserable men, How many among us at this very hour Do forge a life-long trouble for ourselves By taking true for false or false for true! —TENNYSON (_Geraint...

Be mine a philosopher’s life in the quiet woodland ways, Where, if I cannot be gay, let a passionless peace be my lot. Far off from the clamour of liars, ... And most of all wou...

Had’st thou but shook thy head or made a pause When I spake darkly ... Or turned an eye of doubt upon my face As bid me tell my tale in express words.... —SHAKESPEARE (_King Joh...

The old man good-humouredly, but firmly, resisted his daughter’s anxious endeavours to lead him back to his room. He entered the garden, established himself on the bench, and, w...

“Ah, David,” cried Master Simon, in excited greeting, “you come very well to complete our pleasant party—you come well! ’Tis the red-letter day in the calendar of my life. See t...

The atmosphere of Master Simon’s laboratory was much the same, winter or summer. No extreme of heat or cold could penetrate this crypt, deep set as it was in the foundations of...

My heart a charmed slumber keeps And a languid fire creeps Through my veins to all my frame, Dissolvingly and slowly: soon From thy rose-red lips my name Floweth. And then, as i...

Across a lively interchange of words between Mrs. Geary and Mr. Villars, across Lady Lochore’s shrill laughter and malicious intervention, there fell a silence. It was as if a s...

It was late at night when Colonel Harcourt dismounted, stiff and tired, in front of the _Cheveral Arms_. He had successfully sought at Bath a pair of friends who were to call up...

Ellinor, after hastily donning a few garments, stole on light foot in her visitors’ wake and reached the cross-door at the instant when, on the other side, the key was being tur...

“Thou Ghost,” I said, “and is thy name To-day?— Yesterday’s son, with such an abject brow!— And can To-morrow be more pale than thou?” While yet I spoke, the silence answered: Y...

It was ten o’clock, and not even the barred shutters, not even the heavy hangings, could keep shafts of sunshine from piercing through. Lady Lochore wanted to shut out the light...

... My sweet dream Fell into nothing. Ah, my sighs, my tears, My clenched hands;—for, lo! the poppies hung Dew-dabbled on their stalk, the ousel sung A heavy ditty, and the sull...

Here then she comes.—I’ll have a bout with thee: Devil, or devil’s dam!... Blood will I draw on thee—thou art a witch! And straightway give thy soul to him thou serv’st! —SHAKES...

Bindon woods were growing yellow. After an early and glorious summer, rain had set in with much wind and storm, and though it was but the first of September, the country had alr...

Sir David turned into the library and flung himself into a chair with a sigh that was almost a groan. And Dr. Tutterville could have echoed it as he looked round:—the ghosts tha...

... Indeed I love thee: come Yield thyself up: my hopes and thine are one: Accomplish thou my manhood and thyself; Lay thy sweet hands in mine and trust to me. —TENNYSON (_The P...

Has our whole earth gone nearer to the glow Of your soft splendours, that you look so bright? _I_ have climbed nearer out of lonely Hell. Beat, happy stars, timing with things b...