Books Should Be Free Loyal Books Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads |
|
Simon Dale By: Anthony Hope (1863-1933) |
---|
![]()
by ANTHONY HOPE T. Nelson & Sons London and Edinburgh Paris: 189, rue Saint Jacques Leipzig: 35 37 Königstrasse [Illustration: "It is only that a low laugh echoes distantly in my ear."] [Illustration] CONTENTS I. The Child of Prophecy 3 II. The Way of Youth 18 III. The Music of the World 33 IV. Cydaria revealed 49 V. I am forbidden to forget 65 VI. An Invitation to Court 84 VII. What came of Honesty 103 VIII. Madness, Magic, and Moonshine 122 IX. Of Gems and Pebbles 140 X. Je Viens, Tu Viens, Il Vient 160 XI. The Gentleman from Calais 180 XII. The Deference of His Grace the Duke 201 XIII. The Meed of Curiosity 222 XIV. The King's Cup 244 XV. M. de Perrencourt whispers 263 XVI. M. de Perrencourt wonders 283 XVII. What befell my Last Guinea 303 XVIII. Some Mighty Silly Business 324 XIX. A Night on the Road 345 XX. The Vicar's Proposition 362 XXI. The Strange Conjuncture of Two Gentlemen 378 XXII. The Device of Lord Carford 396 XXIII. A Pleasant Penitence 414 XXIV. A Comedy before the King 434 XXV. The Mind of M. de Fontelles 451 XXVI. I come Home 468 SIMON DALE CHAPTER I THE CHILD OF PROPHECY One who was in his day a person of great place and consideration, and has left a name which future generations shall surely repeat so long as the world may last, found no better rule for a man's life than that he should incline his mind to move in Charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of Truth. This condition, says he, is Heaven upon Earth; and although what touches truth may better befit the philosopher who uttered it than the vulgar and unlearned, for whom perhaps it is a counsel too high and therefore dangerous, what comes before should surely be graven by each of us on the walls of our hearts. For any man who lived in the days that I have seen must have found much need of trust in Providence, and by no whit the less of charity for men. In such trust and charity I have striven to write: in the like I pray you to read. I, Simon Dale, was born on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year of Our Lord sixteen hundred and forty seven. The date was good in that the Divine Number was thrice found in it, but evil in that it fell on a time of sore trouble both for the nation and for our own house; when men had begun to go about saying that if the King would not keep his promises it was likely that he would keep his head as little; when they who had fought for freedom were suspecting that victory had brought new tyrants; when the Vicar was put out of his cure; and my father, having trusted the King first, the Parliament afterwards, and at last neither the one nor the other, had lost the greater part of his substance, and fallen from wealth to straitened means: such is the common reward of an honest patriotism wedded to an open mind. However, the date, good or bad, was none of my doing, nor indeed, folks whispered, much of my parents' either, seeing that destiny overruled the affair, and Betty Nasroth, the wise woman, announced its imminence more than a year beforehand... Continue reading book >>
|
eBook Downloads | |
---|---|
ePUB eBook • iBooks for iPhone and iPad • Nook • Sony Reader |
Kindle eBook • Mobi file format for Kindle |
Read eBook • Load eBook in browser |
Text File eBook • Computers • Windows • Mac |
Review this book |
---|