Verner's Pride. Mrs. Henry Wood

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СКАЧАТЬ LXXVII.

       AN EVENING AT LADY VERNER'S.

       CHAPTER LXXVIII.

       AN APPEAL TO JOHN MASSINGBIRD.

       CHAPTER LXXIX.

       A SIN AND A SHAME.

       CHAPTER LXXX.

       RECOLLECTIONS OF A NIGHT GONE BY.

       CHAPTER LXXXI.

       A CRISIS IN SIBYLLA'S LIFE.

       CHAPTER LXXXII.

       TRYING ON WREATHS.

       CHAPTER LXXXIII.

       WELL-NIGH WEARIED OUT.

       CHAPTER LXXXIV.

       GOING TO THE BALL.

       CHAPTER LXXXV.

       DECIMA'S ROMANCE.

       CHAPTER LXXXVI.

       WAS IT A SPECTRE?

       CHAPTER LXXXVII.

       THE LAMP BURNS OUT AT LAST.

       CHAPTER LXXXVIII.

       ACHING HEARTS.

       CHAPTER LXXXIX.

       MASTER CHEESE BLOWN UP.

       CHAPTER XC.

       LIGHT THROWN ON OBSCURITY.

       CHAPTER XCI.

       MEDICAL ATTENDANCE GRATIS, INCLUDING PHYSIC.

       CHAPTER XCII.

       AT LAST!

       CHAPTER XCIII.

       LADY VERNER'S "FEAR."

       CHAPTER XCIV.

       IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN JAN!

       CHAPTER XCV.

       SUNDRY ARRIVALS.

CHAPTER I.

       Table of Contents

RACHEL FROST.

       Table of Contents

      The slanting rays of the afternoon sun, drawing towards the horizon, fell on a fair scene of country life; flickering through the young foliage of the oak and lime trees, touching the budding hedges, resting on the growing grass, all so lovely in their early green, and lighting up with flashes of yellow fire the windows of the fine mansion, that, rising on a gentle eminence, looked down on that fair scene as if it were its master, and could boast the ownership of those broad lands, of those gleaming trees.

      Not that the house possessed much attraction for those whose taste savoured of the antique. No time-worn turrets were there, or angular gables, or crooked eaves, or mullioned Gothic casements, so chary of glass that modern eyes can scarcely see in or out; neither was the edifice constructed of gray stone, or of bricks gone black and green with age. It was a handsome, well-built white mansion, giving the promise of desirable rooms inside, whose chimneys did not smoke or their windows rattle, and where there was sufficient space to turn in. The lower windows opened on a gravelled terrace, which ran along the front of the house, a flight of steps descending from it in its midst. Gently sloping lawns extended from the terrace, on either side the steps and the broad walks which branched from them; on which lawns shone gay parterres of flowers already scenting the air, and giving promise of the advancing summer. Beyond, were covered walks, affording a shelter from the sultry noontide sun; shrubberies and labyrinths of many turnings and windings, so suggestive of secret meetings, were secret meetings desirable; groves of scented shrubs exhaling their perfume; cascades and rippling fountains; mossy dells, concealing the sweet primrose, the sweeter violet; and verdant, sunny spots open to the country round, to the charming distant scenery. These open spots had their benches, where you might sit and feast the eyes through the live-long summer day.

      It was not summer yet—scarcely spring—and СКАЧАТЬ