Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's Notes:

1. Page scan source:
http://books.google.com/books?id=gIQ1AAAAMAAJ

2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].

SOPHIA

By STANLEY J. WEYMAN

* * *

THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF. A Romance. With Frontispiece and Vignette. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.25.

THE STORY OF FRANCIS CLUDDE. A Romance. With four Illustrations. Crown 8vo, $1.25.

A GENTLEMAN OF FRANCE. Being the Memoirs of Gaston de Bonne, Sieur de Marsac. With Frontispiece and Vignette. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.25.

UNDER THE RED ROBE. With twelve full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.25.

MY LADY ROTHA. A Romance of the Thirty Years' War. With eight Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.25.

FROM THE MEMOIRS OF A MINISTER OF FRANCE. With thirty-six Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.25.

SHREWSBURY. A Romance. With twenty-four Illustrations. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

THE RED COCKADE. A Novel. With 48 Illustrations by R. Caton Woodville. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

THE CASTLE INN. A Novel. With six full-page Illustrations by Walter Appleton Clark. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

SOPHIA. A Romance. With twelve full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

New York: Longmans, Green, And Co.

SOPHIA

A ROMANCE

BY

STANLEY J. WEYMAN

AUTHOR OF "THE CASTLE INN," "A GENTLEMAN OF FRANCE," "UNDER THE
RED ROBE," "MY LADY ROTHA," ETC.

_ILLUSTRATED_

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
91 AND 93 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
LONDON AND BOMBAY.
1900

Copyright, 1899
BY
STANLEY J. WEYMAN
* * *
Copyright, 1900
BY
STANLEY J. WEYMAN

TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY
NEW YORK

To

THE GRACIOUS MEMORY

OF

JAMES PAYN

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. A Little Toad.

II. At Vauxhall.

III. The Clock-maker.

IV. A Discovery.

V. The World Well Lost.

VI. A Chair and a Coach.

VII. In Davies Street.

VIII. Unmasked.

IX. In Clarges Row.

X. Sir Hervey Takes the Field.

XI. The Tug of War.

XII. Don Quixote.

XIII. The Welcome Home.

XIV. The First Stage.

XV. A Squire of Dames.

XVI. The Paved Ford.

XVII. In the Valley.

XVIII. King Smallpox.

XIX. Lady Betty's Fate.

XX. A Friend In Need.

XXI. The Strolling Players.

XXII. 'Tis Go or Swim.

XXIII. Two Portraits.

XXIV. Who Plays, Pays.

XXV. Repentance at Leisure.

XXVI. A Dragon Disarmed.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

'One Minute!' she cried.

'Sir!' Sophia cried, her cheeks burning.

Grocott ... stole forward, and ... leant over the flushed features of the unconscious lad.

'This must be--must be stopped at once!'

'Oh, la! I don't want to stay!' Mrs. Martha cried.

'He cannot!'

'About the two guineas--you stole this morning.'

He stood, grinning in his finery, unable to say a word.

Lady Betty wasted no time on words. She was already in the water and wading across.

'Why, Betty,' Sophia cried in astonishment, 'What is it?'

'Do you sit, and I'll make you a posy.'

Her hair ... hung undressed on her neck. He touched it gently. It was the first caress he had ever given her.

SOPHIA