Chapter I: Front Matter

A NOBLE WOMAN.

BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.

AUTHOR OF "PALACES AND PRISONS," "FASHION AND FAMINE," "MARRIED IN HASTE," "MABEL'S MISTAKE," "DOUBLY FALSE," "WIVES AND WIDOWS," "MARY DERWENT," "THE HEIRESS," "THE REJECTED WIFE," "THE SOLDIER'S ORPHANS," "THE OLD HOMESTEAD," "RUBY GRAY'S STRATEGY," "THE CURSE OF GOLD," "THE WIFE'S SECRET," "THE GOLD BRICK," "SILENT STRUGGLES," ETC.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

"A Noble Woman," is the name of the new novel written by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens. Its pages are replete with incidents of absorbing interest, and her admirers will read it with avidity, and with a zest which would indicate that the freshness and interest of each of her new novels are still as potent as were her earliest productions. The leading characters are carried through a series of exciting adventures, all of which are narrated and drawn out with such ingenuity that the reader's attention is kept on a tension of interest from the opening page to the close of the volume. This is the great secret of Mrs. Stephens' success--her readers cannot get out of her influence. She does not fatigue them with the subtleties of metaphysics or philosophy. She gives you a thrilling story, pure and simple, sensational if you please, and she leaves the whole affair in the hands of her readers, feeling quite secure of a favorable verdict on every new emanation from her pen. "A Noble Woman" will prove to be the most popular novel that she has ever written.

PHILADELPHIA: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS; 306 CHESTNUT STREET.

CONTENTS.

I.--A PROPOSAL

II.--TOM THE GROOMSMAN

III.--A FRIGHT AND A RESCUE

IV.--HIGH FESTIVAL AT PINEY COVE

V.--A BALL IN THE BASEMENT

VI.--THE WEDDING

VII.--THE FIRST CLOUD

VIII.--THE BRIDE'S WELCOME HOME

IX.--COUSIN TOM VISITS PINEY COVE

X.--SHADOWS OF A SEPARATION

XI.--THE BALL

XII.--TOM MAKES A DECLARATION

XIII.--WHO COULD IT HAVE BEEN?

XIV.--THE HUSBAND'S LAST CHARGE

XV.--MRS. HARRINGTON'S FRIENDS

XVI.--THE WIDOW'S FLIRTATION

XVII.--STARTING FOR THE PIC-NIC

XVIII.--FACE TO FACE

XIX.--LETTERS

XX.--AN INTERVIEW IN THE WOODS

XXI.--FIRE AND WATER

XXII.--AMONG THE BREAKERS

XXIII.--DEAD AND GONE

XXIV.--HOME IN A STORM

XXV.--THE SUNSHINE OF THE HOUSE

XXVI.--SUNSHINE AND STORMS

XXVII.--COURTSHIP IN THE KITCHEN

XXVIII.--THE DEAD SECRET

XXIX.--TOM FULLER'S LETTER

XXX.--THE WIDOW'S FASCINATIONS

XXXI.--THE HEIR COMES HOME

XXXII.--THE GAUNTLET BRACELETS

XXXIII.--SEARCHING FOR THE BRACELET

XXXIV.--BELOW STAIRS

XXXV.--MRS. MELLEN AND HER COUSIN

XXXVI.--LURED INTO DANGER

XXXVII.--THE AFTER STRUGGLE

XXXVIII.--A HALF UNDERSTANDING

XXXIX.--TRIFLES LIGHT AS AIR

XL.--TWO FACES IN THE GLASS

XLI.--SECRECY IMPOSED ON TOM FULLER

XLII.--THE RIDE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

XLIII.--KINDLY ANXIETIES

XLIV.--ALMOST DEFIANCE

XLV.--THE TIGER IN HIS DEN

XLVI.--THE PAWNBROKER'S SHOP

XLVII.--TEASING CONTINUALLY

XLVIII.--THE PET MESSENGER

XLIX.--ELSIE FINDS THE BRACELET

L.--IN THE TEMPEST

LI.--THE OLD CEDAR TREE

LII.--WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE

LIII.--CLORINDA'S GHOST STORY

LIV.--THE SABLE FORTUNE HUNTER

LV.--IN THE NET

LVI.--THE SECRET TELEGRAM

LVII.--KITCHEN GOSSIP

LVIII.--THE INTERCEPTED TELEGRAM

LIX.--FORCED HOSPITALITY

LX.--WAITING FOR THE HOUR

LXI.--THE MIDNIGHT SEARCH

LXII.--UNDER THE CEDAR

LXIII.--FACE TO FACE

LXIV.--BURIED OUT OF SIGHT

LXV.--THE HUSBAND RELENTS

LXVI.--GONE

LXVII.--UTTER LONELINESS

LXVIII.--PLANS AND LETTERS

LXIX.--ELSIE PROMISES TO BE FAITHLESS

LXX.--ALMOST A PROPOSAL

LXXI.--FUTILE PLEADINGS

LXXII.--TOM FULLER RETURNS

LXXIII.--A FEAST AND A LOVE FEAST

LXXIV.--THAT MONEY IN THE BANK

LXXV.--UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS

LXXVI.--THE CONFESSION

LXXVII.--SEARCHING

LXXVIII.--IN BENSON'S TAVERN

LXXIX.--RECONCILIATIONS

LXXX.--TOM ACCEPTS THE SITUATION

A NOBLE WOMAN.