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John Marchmont's Legacy, Volume I (of 3) By: M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon (1835-1915) |
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BY [M.E. Braddon] THE AUTHOR OF
"LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET,"
ETC. ETC. ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL.I.
Published by Tinsley Brothers of London in 1863 (third edition).
THIS STORY Is Dedicated TO MY MOTHER
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. THE MAN WITH THE BANNER.
CHAPTER II. LITTLE MARY.
CHAPTER III. ABOUT THE LINCOLNSHIRE PROPERTY.
CHAPTER IV. GOING AWAY.
CHAPTER V. MARCHMONT TOWERS.
CHAPTER VI. THE YOUNG SOLDIER'S RETURN.
CHAPTER VII. OLIVIA.
CHAPTER VIII. "MY LIFE IS COLD, AND DARK, AND DREARY."
CHAPTER IX. "WHEN SHALL I CEASE TO BE ALL ALONE?"
CHAPTER X. MARY'S STEPMOTHER.
CHAPTER XI. THE DAY OF DESOLATION.
CHAPTER XII. PAUL.
CHAPTER XIII. OLIVIA'S DESPAIR.
CHAPTER XIV. DRIVEN AWAY.
JOHN MARCHMONT'S LEGACY.
VOLUME I.
CHAPTER I. THE MAN WITH THE BANNER.
The history of Edward Arundel, second son of Christopher Arundel
Dangerfield Arundel, of Dangerfield Park, Devonshire, began on a
certain dark winter's night upon which the lad, still a schoolboy, went
with his cousin, Martin Mostyn, to witness a blank verse tragedy at one
of the London theatres. There are few men who, looking back at the long story of their lives,
cannot point to one page in the record of the past at which the actual
history of life began. The page may come in the very middle of the
book, perhaps; perhaps almost at the end. But let it come where it
will, it is, after all, only the actual commencement. At an appointed
hour in man's existence, the overture which has been going on ever
since he was born is brought to a sudden close by the sharp vibration
of the prompter's signal bell; the curtain rises, and the drama of life
begins. Very insignificant sometimes are the first scenes of the
play, common place, trite, wearisome; but watch them closely, and
interwoven with every word, dimly recognisable in every action, may be
seen the awful hand of Destiny. The story has begun: already we, the
spectators, can make vague guesses at the plot, and predicate the
solemn climax; it is only the actors who are ignorant of the meaning of
their several parts, and who are stupidly reckless of the obvious
catastrophe. The story of young Arundel's life began when he was a light hearted,
heedless lad of seventeen, newly escaped for a brief interval from the
care of his pastors and masters. The lad had come to London on a Christmas visit to his father's sister,
a worldly minded widow, with a great many sons and daughters, and an
income only large enough to enable her to keep up the appearances of
wealth essential to the family pride of one of the Arundels of
Dangerfield. Laura Arundel had married a Colonel Mostyn, of the East India Company's
service, and had returned from India after a wandering life of some
years, leaving her dead husband behind her, and bringing away with her
five daughters and three sons, most of whom had been born under canvas. Mrs. Mostyn bore her troubles bravely, and contrived to do more with
her pension, and an additional income of four hundred a year from a
small fortune of her own, than the most consummate womanly management
can often achieve. Her house in Montague Square was elegantly
furnished, her daughters were exquisitely dressed, her sons sensibly
educated, her dinners well cooked. She was not an agreeable woman; she
was perhaps, if any thing, too sensible, so very sensible as to be
obviously intolerant of anything like folly in others. She was a good
mother; but by no means an indulgent one. She expected her sons to
succeed in life, and her daughters to marry rich men; and would have
had little patience with any disappointment in either of these
reasonable expectations. She was attached to her brother Christopher
Arundel, and she was very well pleased to spend the autumn months at
Dangerfield, where the hunting breakfasts gave her daughters an
excellent platform for the exhibition of charming demi toilettes and
social and domestic graces, perhaps more dangerous to the susceptible
hearts of rich young squires than the fascinations of a valse à deux
temps or an Italian scena... Continue reading book >>
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