Chapter I: Front Matter

POPULAR NOVELS.

BY

_MRS. MARY J. HOLMES_.

TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE.
ENGLISH ORPHANS.
HOMESTEAD ON HILLSIDE.
'LENA RIVERS.
MEADOW BROOK.
DORA DEANE.
COUSIN MAUDE.
MARIAN GREY.
EDITH LYLE.
DAISY THORNTON.
CHATEAU D'OR.
QUEENIE HETHERTON.
BESSIE'S FORTUNE.
DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHT.
HUGH WORTHINGTON.
CAMERON PRIDE.
ROSE MATHER.
ETHELYN'S MISTAKE.
MILBANK.
EDNA BROWNING.
WEST LAWN.
MILDRED.
FORREST HOUSE.
MADELINE.
CHRISTMAS STORIES.
GRETCHEN (_New_).

"Mrs. Holmes is a peculiarly pleasant and fascinating writer. Her
books are always entertaining, and she has the rare faculty of
enlisting the sympathy and affections of her readers, and of holding
their attention to her pages with deep and absorbing interest."

G.W. DILLINGHAM, PUBLISHER,

SUCCESSOR TO

G.W. CARLETON & Co., New York.

GRETCHEN.

A Novel.

BY

MRS. MARY J. HOLMES,

AUTHOR OF

TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE.--DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHT.--MILBANK.--ENGLISH
ORPHANS.--'LENA RIVERS.--ETHELYN'S MISTAKE.--HUGH
WORTHINGTON.--MADELINE.--WEST LAWN.--EDNA
BROWNING.--MARIAN GREY.--BESSIE'S
FORTUNE, ETC.

NEW YORK

_G.W. Dillingham, Publisher_,
SUCCESSOR TO G.W. CARLETON & CO.

LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO.
MDCCCLXXXVII.

COPYRIGHT, 1887,
BY DANIEL HOLMES.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

STEREOTYPED BY
SAMUEL STODDER,
42 DEY STREET, N.Y.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Telegram 9

II. Arthur Tracy 12

III. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tracy 19

IV. Getting Accustomed to It 24

V. At the Park 32

VI. The Cottage in the Lane 38

VII. The Party 45

VIII. Arthur 48

IX. Who is Gretchen? 60

X. Arthur Settles Himself 72

XI. The Storm 78

XII. The Tramp House 87

XIII. The Woman 94

XIV. Little Jerry 108

XV. Jerry at the Park 114

XVI. The Funeral, and After 122

XVII. "Mr. Crazyman, Do You Want Some Cherries?" 131

XVIII. Arthur and Jerry 139

XIX. Arthur's Plan 158

XX. The Working of Arthur's Plan 164

XXI. Mrs. Tracy's Diamonds 175

XXII. Searching For the Diamonds 184

XXIII. Arthur's Letter 198

XXIV. Ten Years Later 209

XXV. The Two Faces in the Mirror 216

XXVI. Maude's Letter 224

XXVII. "He Cometh Not," She Said 230

XXVIII. In Shannondale 237

XXIX. Why Harold Did Not Go to Vassar 249

XXX. The Walk Home 258

XXXI. At Home 264

XXXII. The Next Day 269

XXXIII. At the Park House 283

XXXIV. Under the Pines with Tom 287

XXXV. The Garden Party 293

XXXVI. Out in the Storm 301

XXXVII. Under the Pines with Dick 307

XXXVIII. At Le Bateau 312

XXXIX. Maude 326

XL. "Do You Know What You Have Done?" 336

XLI. What Jerrie Found under the Floor 341

XLII. Harold and the Diamonds 352

XLIII. Harold and Jerrie 366

XLIV. Jerrie Clears Harold 372

XLV. What Followed 379

XLVI. The Letters 382

XLVII. Arthur 389

XLVIII. What They were Doing and had Done in Shannondale 393

XLIX. Telling Arthur 404

L. The Flower Fadeth 416

LI. Under the Pines with Harold 422

LII. "For Better, For Worse." 427

LIII. After Two Years 441

GRETCHEN.