Chapter XX: “What’s been the matter with me?”

“Nothing very serious, Lord Somerville,” cheerily replied Sir Edward Bartley. “You are all right now; but you must not excite yourself. Now, now, don’t look round in that way.” And the eminent surgeon laid his soft hand on his patient’s wrist.

“This is strange, Sir Edward. Have the carpets and curtains come back?” and two tears trickled down Lionel’s emaciated cheeks.

“Sh, sh! that’s all right.” Sir Edward turned to the valet, who stood close by. “Temple, you must put some more ice on your master’s head. That same idea is haunting him; and we shall have him delirious again if we don’t look out.”

“No, Sir Edward,” murmured Gwendolen Towerbridge, seated at the foot of the bed. “Lord Somerville is all right, leave him to me, and you will find him perfectly well when you return this afternoon.” The eminent surgeon took Gwen’s hand in his own and looked intently into her face.

“My dear young lady, you have already saved his life; for no trained nurse could have shown more skill, more tact, than you have done throughout this alarming case. It is a perfect mystery to me how a fashionable and spirited young girl like you could, in one day, become such a clever nurse and a devoted woman.”

“Ah! that is my secret, Sir Edward.” Gwen looked down blushingly. “But some day I may tell it you, if he allows me.”

“Well, well,” and he gently patted her hand, “I leave the patient in your hands; if you can bring him round to a saner view of his surroundings, you will have done a great deal; for he is quite unhinged, and I am not sure that his brain is not affected.”

“Oh dear, no! my dear Sir Edward, Lord Somerville is quite sane; who knows, perhaps even saner than you or I.”

“Poor, dear lady, I am afraid the strain has been too much for you, and we shall have you laid up if you persist in not taking a rest.” And Sir Edward silently left the room, followed by Temple.

“My precious Lion, you have at last come back to me!” exclaimed Gwen, as she threw herself on her knees and kissed Lionel’s hand.

“Ah! I knew it was all true,” wearily said Lord Somerville, “for you call me as she did—Lion. But tell me, dearest, when did all these clothes and curtains come back?”

“My poor darling, these clothes, these carpets never disappeared. It has been a long dream—a long and beautiful dream.”

“All a dream—then Danford, the witty and faithful guide—?”

“Yes, a dream, my precious Lionel.”

“And all is as it was before that storm? But you, Gwen, you are not the same, you are the Una of my dream; I see it in your radiant expression. Tell me, dearest, how did it happen? Did I really shoot myself?”

“Yes, dear—but to go back to that night. As you remember, the storm was of such a nature as to prevent our reaching Richmond Park, and we turned back to town as fast as ever we could to Hertford Street. At about two o’clock in the morning father was roused by his valet, who told him that Temple had come to say he had found you in the library, shot through the head.”

“And you—?” Poor Gwen evaded the searching look of her lover by burying her face in the counterpane.

“My father never told me what had happened until next day.” She looked up at Lionel. “Do not ask me if I felt for you; I do not know, and I do not wish to remember. I only know that two days after, as I rode back through the Park, I looked in to inquire how you were. I came into this room, and found the surgeon, who told me your nurse had to leave, for she had been suddenly taken ill; and I sat down by your bed, just as I was in my riding-habit, to watch you until another nurse had been found.”

“Poor Gwen, it was a horrid ordeal, for you always hated sickness and loathed nursing.”

“Yes, and I was so mad at the surgeon suggesting that I should watch you, that I lashed your dog with my whip as he came running into the room. He set up a most awful howl which you never heard, fortunately. I sat down, and you began to wander. At first it seemed but the ravings of a madman and I did not pay much attention; but by the evening, I was amused at your suggestions, and told the upper housemaid to go and fetch my maid with my things. I had made up my mind to stay.”

“To nurse me, Gwen? Ah! how good of you,” interrupted Lionel.

“No, Lionel, I don’t want you to have a wrong impression of me, it was not at all to nurse you, it was in the hopes that you would renew that fascinating dream. You were most entertaining that night, and I laughed outright at the funny things you said.”

“I daresay it was as amusing as the play you would have gone to that night,” laughingly remarked Lionel.

“Oh! my dear Lionel, I was so very tired of my social entertainments; and the whole show had lost a good deal of its glamour, for it was my third season.”

“So you thought my dream was more diverting, and therefore decided to remain in the seat for which you had not paid.”

“Yes, that’s it; I must confess the truth, for we must never deceive each other again.”

“Poor little Gwen, how you must have hated me, for I am ashamed to say, some of my remarks were anything but flattering.”

“No, Lionel; but you taught me how to know you, and I learned how to know myself. I have sat night after night in this chair, listening to your dream, watching every phase of your regenerated London. I shared in all your reforms, and at times you even answered my questions. I could start your weird dream at any time, and at a suggestion of mine you would take up the thread of your narrative just where you had left it the night before.”

“It must have been like a sensational _feuilleton_ which you expected each day to thrill you anew. But how worn out you must be, sweetheart. How long have I been in this condition?” inquired Lionel.

“Two months, dearest; but instead of wearing me out this hallucination kept me alive and put new blood into my veins. I can quite well see that Sir Edward believes I am on the verge of a mental collapse. Poor man, he does not see what we see and cannot feel as we do; he is still hopelessly ignorant.”

“What a narrow escape I have had,” remarked Lionel.

“It was miraculous, and the surgeons said they only knew of one other case in which a man who had been shot right through the head recovered consciousness after two months.”

“I daresay everyone will say my brain is affected whenever I say or do anything out of the common.”

“Never mind, Lionel, you and I have seen into each other’s heart, and that is sufficient to outweigh the loss of the world’s approbation. You see, we cannot look to a storm to wash away all our world’s shams; so we shall have to pass for eccentric or unorthodox, if we mean to live in a world of our own.”

“But then, dear Gwen, you remember that Danford said we should be followed in our social reforms by all the cads that surround us.”

“Yes, I daresay, but it will be a long time before that happens, and I have done my little work of reform personally, by dismissing my maid, and by sending all my wardrobe to poor gentlewomen. This old shabby dress is the only one I have worn for two months. Ah! Lionel, I am ashamed at appearing before you in such an indecent thing as a dress—but you know, we cannot reform the world too abruptly, and besides I was afraid Sir Edward might give me in charge!” and they both laughed heartily. It did him good to recall the old jokes, and his face brightened as he watched Gwen pirouetting round the room.

There was a gentle knock at the door, and Temple came in with Gwendolen’s luncheon, which he placed on the table. He handed to her on a silver tray a bundle of letters and cards.

“How funny to see letters again,” said Lionel. “Who are they from?”

“A card from the Duke of Saltburn—Lord Petersham—”

“Oh! I must ask the old fellow if he is accustomed to sitting next to his butcher on the Board of Public Kitchens! Who next, Gwen?”

“There is your pet aversion, Joe Watson, with solicitous inquiries.”

“Gwen, I misjudged the old draper. There is a deal of good behind his insular self-consciousness.”

“Ha! ha! ha! Little Montagu Vane came to ask how you were!”

“Beg pardon, Miss,” broke in the conscientious valet, “Mr Vane never came himself, he sent round a messenger boy.”

“Oh! how good, just like him,” said Lionel; “he is a _dilettante_ even in sympathy, and prefers to get his information indirectly.”

“There are letters from Mrs Webster, from Mrs Archibald.”

“What can they want?” interrupted the patient. “These letters are of no earthly use; the first wants my subscription for some charity fraud, the second needs my name for some social parade. Throw them in the waste-paper basket.”

“Mrs Pottinger also sent her card,” went on Gwen, as she dropped the cards and letters one by one on the table.

“Excuse me, Miss,” again said Temple, “I forgot to say that Mrs Pottinger came to inquire everyday; and yesterday she left a small parcel which I put on the hall table.”

“Let us see what she says on her card,” and Gwen read the following words: “‘Mrs Pottinger hopes that Lord Somerville will accept and use the small pocket battery which accompanies this card. One of the most renowned New York surgeons has invented this wonderful brain restorer, and Mrs P. trusts Lord Somerville will give the discovery a fair trial, and that he will patronise the inventor and the invention.’”

“My first and only call will be on Mrs David Pottinger!” exclaimed Lionel, sitting up in his bed. “We shall see her yet presiding at the Palace of Happiness, and leading by the hand the American Seer.”

“Is my lord worse, Miss?” gravely inquired the valet, as he leaned towards Gwen.

“No, Temple, your master has never been in better spirits, nor has he ever been so clear in his mind. But it is—what can I call it?—a joke between us, and no one besides ourselves can understand it.”

“My good Temple,” echoed Lionel, with a joyous ring in his voice, “it is a conundrum which we are trying to guess. We have already made out the first part of the riddle, but the second will be more difficult, for it will consist in making _you_ see the joke, Temple.”

“Oh! my lord, I always was a bad hand at guessing.”

“Ev’n News! Probable date of th’ Coronation!” The hurried footsteps passed in front of Selby House.

“What does that mean, Gwen? Is not the Coronation over by this time?”

“My poor boy, of course you do not know the news! Many things have happened since that night when you shot yourself. The war is over—thank goodness that is a thing of the past! But the royal tragedy-comedy was never acted. You shall read for yourself.” And Gwen went to fetch a bundle of newspapers and illustrated journals that lay on a console.

“’Ooligan murderer sentenced!” Again the hurried steps passed in the street.

Lionel read on and on, thrilled at the perusal of dailies and weeklies.

“The strangest of events brought the curtain down on our social pantomime. Quite as strange as the storm of London. If only it brought England to its senses I would not lament over the disappointment of the public.”

“I doubt whether England will take the hint,” said Gwen.

“This is all very strange, dearest Gwen, but still no stranger than my visions; and if it is true that ‘we are such stuff as dreams are made of,’ we can yet hope that our Society will save itself in time.”

The handle of the door was turned and Sir Edward walked in.

“Hullo! already reading, my dear Lord Somerville! You are a wonderful patient, and we shall see you in the Row before long.” Taking Lionel’s hand he felt his pulse. “That’s right, you are better, and you will soon resume your duties at Court. The King was inquiring after you the other day.”

“Very kind of him, I am sure, Sir Edward. I am sorry to disappoint you, but as soon as I can I shall start on a long journey, and England will not see me for many years.”

“My dear Lord Somerville,” and Sir Edward held his patient’s pulse firmly within his slender fingers, “we cannot spare you from London; besides which, this devoted young nurse cannot allow you to abandon her in this way.”

“I shall accompany Lord Somerville wherever he goes,” proudly said Gwen.

Sir Edward laid his patient’s hand gently on the bed and put back his watch into his waistcoat pocket.

“I never doubted for one instant that you would, Miss Towerbridge, but Lord Somerville has his duties to his King and to Society; and it would be quite unnecessary to take a long voyage when I can vouch for his speedy recovery, and can promise that he shall take part in the procession.”

“My dear Sir Edward, I am so sorry to disappoint you again, but the royal procession will not include my unworthy person, nor shall I witness the royal pageant. It may be bad taste on my part, but I resign all my duties at Court from to-day. As to social duties—they only existed in our imaginations, and the sooner we emancipate ourselves from such bondage the better. Besides, my dear Sir Edward, who knows whether there will be a Coronation?”

“You are tired, dear friend”—the physician laid his hand on Lionel’s brow. “You have done far too much in one day, and need rest. But I will tell you just to put your mind at ease, that the date of the Coronation is fixed. I met the Lord Chamberlain an hour ago, and he informed me that we may look forward at an early date to our Sovereign’s public apotheosis.”

“Always the same incorrigible snobbery.” Lionel heaved a long sigh and lay back on his pillow. “My poor Sir Edward, England has missed the opportunity it ever had of learning a lesson; and we are ambling back to Canterbury on a Chaucerian cob.”

“Dear Miss Towerbridge”—Sir Edward came close to Gwen and spoke in a whisper—“I am afraid Lord Somerville is not yet out of the wood. I notice symptoms of the recurring fever. If by ten o’clock this evening the patient has not completely recovered his senses, call for me; for I fear the case will then be very grave, and one that will need the greatest care.”

“Do not worry about him, dear Sir Edward,” said Gwen, smiling her most bewitching smile. “Lord Somerville will never recover what you call his senses, and as soon as he can be taken away with safety we shall start for the Continent.”

“Good gracious! you do not realise what condition he is in! And what about your father? What about Society? You are very self-sacrificing, but you are reckless. Pray let me advise you, my dear young lady.”

“We shall start as soon as Lionel can be moved,” firmly answered Gwen.

“Yes, dear Sir Edward,” added Lionel, looking wistfully at the surgeon; “but we shall keep you posted up as to our whereabouts.”

“And we shall always sympathise with you in your tragic state of overclothing,” playfully said Gwen.

“My last words to you, Miss Towerbridge,” sententiously spoke Sir Edward, as he stiffly bowed farewell, “are these: You will very soon regret your rash enterprise.”

The surgeon went slowly out of the door, which he closed behind him with a sharp click; and as he crossed the hall he muttered between his teeth, “It is the first time I have seen an absolute case of contagious insanity.”

THE END

COLSTON AND COY. LIMITED, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH

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=JOHN LONG’S POPULAR NOVELS=

MR. JOHN LONG has much pleasure in announcing the publication of the following important New Novels, several of which are now ready.

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THE MASK[1] WILLIAM LE QUEUX
THE STORM OF LONDON F. DICKBERRY
BLIND POLICY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN
THE AMBASSADOR’S LOVE ROBERT MACHRAY
LADY SYLVIA LUCAS CLEEVE
THE WATERS OF OBLIVION ADELINE SERGEANT
AN INDEPENDENT MAIDEN ADELINE SERGEANT
THE BOOK OF ANGELUS DRAYTON MRS. FRED REYNOLDS
RONALD LINDSAY MAY WYNNE
LINKS OF LOVE DACRE HINDLE
MERELY A NEGRESS STUART YOUNG
THE TEMPTATION OF ANTHONY ALICE M. DIEHL
LITTLE WIFE HESTER L. T. MEADE
THE NIGHT OF RECKONING FRANK BARRETT
ROSAMOND GRANT MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
THE SECRET PASSAGE FERGUS HUME
CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG LADY RICHARD MARSH
THE FATE OF FELIX MRS. COULSON KERNAHAN
LOVE AND TWENTY JOHN STRANGE WINTER
HIS REVERENCE THE RECTOR SARAH TYTLER
LORD EVERSLEIGH’S SINS VIOLET TWEEDALE
THE INFORMER FRED WHISHAW
THE FACE IN THE FLASHLIGHT FLORENCE WARDEN
THE WAR OF THE SEXES F. E. YOUNG
COUNT REMINY JEAN MIDDLEMASS
THE PROVINCIALS LADY HELEN FORBES
A BOND OF SYMPATHY COLONEL ANDREW HAGGARD
STRAINED ALLEGIANCE R. H. FORSTER
OLIVE KINSELLA CURTIS YORKE
BENBONUNA ROBERT BRUCE
FROM THE CLUTCH OF THE SEA J. E. MUDDOCK
THE CAVERN OF LAMENTS (8 Illusts.) CATHERINE E. MALLANDAINE
LORD OF HIMSELF MRS. AYLMER GOWIN
MADEMOISELLE NELLIE LUCAS CLEEVE
IN SPITE OF THE CZAR (8 Illusts., 5s ) GUY BOOTHBY

☞ _Descriptive paragraphs of these Novels will be found inside_

Footnote 1:

Originally announced as ‘Both of this Parish,’ a title claimed by
another author.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. John Long’s New & forthcoming Books

=THE MASK.= By WILLIAM LE QUEUX

This extraordinary tale plunges the reader at the first word into a
mystery so deep, a story so vital, that one reads page after page in
the spirit that holds the reader of, for example, ‘Treasure Island,’
though the story is not a story of some distant and undiscovered
shore. True, there are a treasure and a treasure-hunter. True, there
are wreckers, traitors, villains. True, there are youth, innocence,
beauty. But all these belong, not to the high seas, but to the
restless tide of human life and love which seethes and boils on this
dry land of England now. There is something in the author’s work
which allies him with Dumas, with Victor Hugo, with the weaver of
the legends of the ‘Arabian Nights.’ He holds you; he fascinates
you. He brings the breath of old-time romance down to the HERE and
the NOW.

=THE STORM OF LONDON.= By F. DICKBERRY

‘Have you read “The Storm of London”?’ is the question which will be
on the lips of everyone. No novel published within recent times is
comparable with it for audacity. It is described as a social
rhapsody, and the author certainly portrays with no flattering pen
the worse side of high-class society. But it is something more. It
is a work of imagination, daringly original, and set boldly in a
frame of modern realism. Yet there is no sadness in the book—only
laughter. The author possesses rare courage and discretion, and his
story can give no offence to any reader with the saving gift of
humour. Again we ask, ‘Have you read “The Storm of London”?’

=BLIND POLICY.= By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN

Daring in conception, masterly in execution, and strong in real
human interest is Mr. George Manville Fenn’s new story, which deals
with the amazing doings of fashionable London life. That such things
can be seems almost past belief, and yet, given the actual
circumstances, and the consequences are perfectly natural. The
feminine interest is particularly strong in this particularly strong
story.

=THE AMBASSADOR’S GLOVE.= By ROBERT MACHRAY

Mr. Robert Machray’s plots are conceived with an ingenuity that
baffles the most practised reader. ‘The Ambassador’s Glove’ is a
story of a formidable domestic conspiracy in which the Foreign
Office, the Secret Service, and a peculiar society called The
Brotherhood, are involved in a battle royal. The weapons employed
are abduction, assassination, and blackmail. It is a story that
cannot fail to go into many editions.

=LADY SYLVIA.= By LUCAS CLEEVE

The chief characteristics of ‘Lady Sylvia’ are passion and
intelligence. It is a story of the eternal conflict between love and
duty, and is rendered the more powerful because it is written with
the consummate mastery which is now associated with the name of
Lucas Cleeve.

=THE WATERS OF OBLIVION.= By ADELINE SERGEANT

Miss Adeline Sergeant is a writer who has endeared herself to
countless thousands of novel-readers. Her books are always human,
and she believes in happy endings, but the way is set with
temptations and storms and difficulties before the haven is finally
reached. In her new story, ‘The Waters of Oblivion,’ Miss Sergeant
displays all her old qualities, and it must create for her a host of
new friends.

=AN INDEPENDENT MAIDEN.= By ADELINE SERGEANT

In Miss Sergeant’s new story will be found all those essentials
which have made her name a household word in the realms of fiction,
and readers of the present work will be delighted to make the
acquaintance of so charming and sympathetic a heroine as Dulcie.

=THE BOOK OF ANGELUS DRAYTON.= By MRS. FRED REYNOLDS

‘The Book of Angelus Drayton’ is not a novel set to the ordinary
tune. There is a plot, indeed, and one that no one can read without
sympathetic interest; there is comedy and tragedy in it. But the
chief note of the book is its charm—its charm of subject, its charm
of treatment, and its charm of style. It is a story of the country,
and to all who love the sights and sounds of the country it will
appeal with irresistible strength. It leads the reader through the
changing seasons of the year, and of them all it has something
significant to say in the manner of a poet. It is not only a book to
be read: it is a book to be bought and read and re-read.

=RONALD LINDSAY.= By MAY WYNNE, Author of ‘For Faith and Navarre’

This is an historical romance of the period of the Scotch
Covenanters, and the background is filled with the fascinating
though sinister figure of Graham of Olaverhouse. The book will
delight all who have a feeling for the picturesqueness of bygone
days.

=LINKS OF LOVE.= By DACRE HINDLE

Two adventurous young men on pleasure bent succeed in convoying two
charming girls, with their unsuspecting chaperon, to the hotel where
the heroes of this fascinating romance of the Riviera are to stay.
Realism is happily blended with a delightful romance which promises
to be one of the most amusing of the season.

=MERELY A NEGRESS.= By STUART YOUNG

Mr. Stuart Young’s ‘Merely a Negress’ is new and original insomuch
that it deals with the problem of the marriage of an Englishman and
a Negress. The author treats his subject tactfully, and dwells upon
the incompatibility, as well as upon the emotional sympathy of the
senses. There is candour in the book, and yet restraint. As a new
experiment in fiction, Mr. Stuart Young’s book deserves to be
received with careful attention.

=THE TEMPTATION OF ANTHONY.= By ALICE M. DIEHL

The name of Alice M. Diehl is a guarantee for vividly-coloured and
present-day society presentments, veined with romance and exciting
incident. ‘The Temptation of Anthony’ will certainly take high rank
among the lively and delightful novels by this well-known writer.
Her portrait of Eve (Lady Waring) is a masterpiece in true and
delicate female delineation. The story of Eve’s trial and sufferings
should appeal to every reader.

=LITTLE WIFE HESTER.= By L. T. MEADE

L. T. Meade’s new story, ‘Little Wife Hester,’ is concerned with the
practices of Dr. Greenhill, a fashionable London physician, who
effects marvellous cures by means of hypnotism. Her method is too
well known to require description or eulogy. The story is written
with great fluency, and ‘Little Wife Hester’ will add another to
Mrs. Meade’s many laurels.

=THE NIGHT OF RECKONING.= By FRANK BARRETT

‘The Night of Reckoning’ is a story of Doris, a young girl who,
being left alone in the world, becomes the sport of relatives, who
to rob her of her heritage do not shrink from the committal of the
blackest crimes. But Doris has good as well as bad fairies to watch
over her. All who like a rousing novel full of sensation and
presented with an air of authenticity will greatly enjoy Mr. Frank
Barrett’s new book. It places him at the head of the few writers of
good dramatic fiction.

=ROSAMOND GRANT.= By MRS. LOVETT CAMERON

‘Rosamond Grant’ Is the story of a woman’s life—of her illusions,
emotions, hopes, regrets and mistakes. It is a theme admirably
suited to Mrs. Lovett Cameron’s method. Her characters are human to
a degree, and the charm lies in their refreshing originality and
their bright and entertaining vivacity. The story will make many new
friends for this delightful and sympathetic writer.

=THE SECRET PASSAGE.= By FERGUS HUME

Since Mr. Fergus Hume became famous as the writer of the ‘Mystery of
a Hansom Cab,’ he has steadily progressed in public favour, and is
now regarded as a veritable master of strategy in fiction. The
reader who takes up one of his books may depend upon finding an
enthralling story and a plot of baffling ingenuity. In his new work
Mr. Fergus Hume’s unusual gifts are displayed in their maturity.
‘The Secret Passage’ is, perhaps, the author’s best book.

=CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG LADY.= By RICHARD MARSH, Author of ‘The Beetle,’ etc.

Mr. Richard Marsh belongs to the younger generation of writers of
fiction, and he can hold his own with the most brilliant of them.
His qualities are originality of invention, a command over the weird
and mysterious, a clear, straightforward narrative, and a bizarre
humour, all the more telling because it flashes at unexpected
moments across the page. In his new book, ‘The Confessions of a
Young Lady,’ Mr. Richard Marsh’s remarkable powers are strikingly
_en evidence_. It shows him at his best in the plenitude of his
varied moods. The book will add much to the author’s popularity.

=THE FATE OF FELIX.= By MRS. COULSON KERNAHAN

The general reader loves a mystery. Mrs. Coulson Kernahan is
evidently well aware of the fact, and caters for her public
accordingly. In ‘Devastation’ she took the reader into her
confidence in the beginning; in ‘The Fate of Felix’ she keeps her
secret to the end. This book has a most amazing plot, and has a
love-story running through it of a very unusual description.

=LOVE AND TWENTY.= By JOHN STRANGE WINTER

The qualities that created for John Strange Winter her immense
popularity are pre-eminently conspicuous in ‘Love and Twenty.’ The
book shows that the author can wield the pen with all her old
mastery. There is the same richness of invention, the same
simplicity of manner, the same warmth of colouring, and the same
tender pathos. No woman writer indeed can contest John Strange
Winter’s supremacy in her own dominion.

=HIS REVERENCE THE RECTOR.= By SARAH TYTLER

Miss Sarah Tytler’s new book deals with the personalities of an
old-world type of county family, and incidentally discusses some
semi-political questions and the problems of village life. Yet there
is no lack of story, which is carefully constructed, written with
the author’s accustomed polish, and may be recommended as among the
best of the works of fiction penned by this thoughtful writer.

=LORD EVERSLEIGH’S SINS.= By VIOLET TWEEDALE

The love affairs of a modern peer best describes Violet Tweedale’s
new book. It is a wonderfully strong story, is written with great
cogence, and displays a grasp of character and a power of expression
immensely in advance of anything the author has previously effected.
In this novel the author has ‘found’ herself.

=THE INFORMER.= By FRED WHISHAW

Mr. Fred Whishaw here presents a convincing picture of an honest
Russian official who, opposed to the apostles of violence and
bloodshed in his unhappy country, finds himself in a position which
grows hateful to him. So realistic are many of the incidents in this
Romance of the Discontented, that the reader will probably come to
the conclusion, perhaps a correct one, that Mr. Fred Whishaw has
drawn upon actual facts rather than upon his unassisted imagination.

=THE FACE IN THE FLASHLIGHT.= By FLORENCE WARDEN

Miss Florence Warden’s new novel comprises a powerful study of the
evils of gambling. The villain of the piece—a portrait drawn with
great subtlety and skill—murders a dissipated youth to whom he acts
as tutor, and attempts the life of his wife In order to gratify his
passion for gambling. The story would be noteworthy if only for the
presentation of ‘Mattie,’ who witnesses the crime, and yet is
powerless to prevent the marriage of her friend with the murderer.
The book is original and forceful, and the lover of fiction who
omits its perusal will ‘only have himself to blame.’

=THE WAR OF THE SEXES.= By F. E. YOUNG, Author of ‘The Triumph of Jill,’ ‘A Dangerous Quest,’ etc.

It is safe to predict for Miss Young’s new story a phenomenal
success, for it contains those qualities of the unexpected which
straightway stamp a book. The story portrays the condition or
affairs some thousands of years hence, when the male species, with a
solitary exception, has become extinct. The authoress keeps her
imagination within bounds, and the chief note of the book is its
great good-humour. A delightful vein of satire winds its way through
its pages, and the general effect can only be the unrestrained
amusement which is wrought by high-class comedy.

=COUNT REMINY.= By JEAN MIDDLEMASS

The name of Miss Jean Middlemass is a household word in the region
of novel-readers. Her stories are conceived with great fertility of
resource, and executed with the dexterity of the practised pen. Her
new novel, ‘Count Reminy,’ is, perhaps, the brightest of her many
works of fiction. It relates the story of a girl engaged to a man
who cares only for her fortune; how she meets and falls in love with
another man, and how her fiancé is mysteriously murdered. In the
result, after sundry complications, all is well, and the book is
bound to please the many readers of this popular favourite.

=THE PROVINCIALS.= By LADY HELEN FORBES, Author of ‘His Eminence,’ ‘The Outcast Emperor,’ etc.

Lady Helen Forbes gives us in her new book a story of society,
though not of ‘smart’ society. ‘The Provincials’ are a wealthy
county family whose wealth entitles them to be leaders of society,
but they prefer the life of the country. The authoress is well at
home among her characters, and her vivacity and sense of humour
invest the plot with real interest. Some vivid pictures of hunting
help the reader along. ‘The Provincials’ may be deemed a landmark in
Lady Helen Forbes’ career as a novelist, and shows that her work
will have to be reckoned with.

=A BOND OF SYMPATHY.= By COLONEL ANDREW HAGGARD

Lieut.-Col. Andrew Haggard may be said to possess one, at least, of
the gifts of his distinguished brother, the author of ‘She’—the art
of telling a story. In his new book he proves, also, that he has a
happy knack of invention and a good eye for dramatic situations.
There is an abundance of stirring adventure, and there is an
atmosphere that will inevitably appeal to the sporting reader;
indeed, the book is written by a true sportsman. It is full of high
spirits, and will be greatly appreciated by those who like breezy,
good-natured and healthy fiction.

=STRAINED ALLEGIANCE.= By R. H. FORSTER, Author of ‘The Last Foray,’ ‘In Steel and Leather,’ etc.

This is a story of the rebellion of 1715—of the struggle between the
Jacobites and the Hanoverians, which culminated in the Battle of
Preston. The hero is entrapped into an apparent support of the
Jacobite cause, notwithstanding that his sympathies are with the
Hanoverians, and his attempts to escape from his captors serve as
the background for many exciting scenes and romantic incidents, and
for a charming love idyll.

=OLIVE KINSELLA.= By CURTIS YORKE, Author of ‘Delphine,’ ‘The Girl in Grey’

The name of Curtis Yorke is one to conjure with among all lovers of
good fiction, for she possesses the higher gifts of the
novelist—imagination, distinction, humour. She can play upon the
emotions, from grave to gay, from lively to severe, with the
consummate touch of a master. Her new book must fulfil the
anticipations of her best admirers, for ‘Olive Kinsella’ is a fine
story, finely conceived, and finely told.

=BENBONUNA.= By ROBERT BRUCE

In ‘Benbonuna’ we have a tale written in the easy, forceful, simple
style that must appeal to lovers of adventure. The wild, strenuous,
daring life of the Australian Bush is described with the fidelity of
portraiture. Those who know nothing of this strange, silent land,
where many of the laws of nature seem to be reversed, will find much
to enlighten, as well as much to entertain them. The book is
essentially for readers with strong minds and broad sympathies.

=FROM THE CLUTCH OF THE SEA.= By J. E. MUDDOCK

A book by this well-known and favourite author is always sure of a
public, and it may safely be predicted that ‘From the Clutch of the
Sea’ will be eagerly sought after. The opening, which describes a
wreck on the Devonshire coast, is written with such a graphic pen
that the terrible and thrilling scene is brought vividly before the
mind’s eye. The characters are pulsing human beings, and the story
is indeed worthy the reputation of the veteran author.

=THE CAVERN OF LAMENTS.= By CATHERINE E. MALLANDAINE. Illustrated

‘The Cavern of Laments,’ derives its title from a weird cavern in
Sark, and the main incidents of the story revolve round that
picturesque island and its old-world people. The scenery it
traverses, and the people whose lives and loves it depicts, have
this merit—that they are fresh and unhackneyed. Indeed, the note or
the book is its strength and originality. The crux of the story is
the marriage of Cecile and Breakspeare, brought about by a
dishonourable act, and its sequel. The writing is powerful
throughout, and the publisher believes that every reader will be
grateful for the opportunity of perusing a novel possessing unusual
qualities.

=LORD OF HIMSELF.= By MRS. AYLMER GOWING

The moneyless heir to a peerage wins the Newdigate Prize at Oxford,
and also, as he believes, a beautiful and dangerous woman who has
saved his life. Betrayed by her, he fights his way, like a man,
against all odds, a delightful young princess of ideal type being
his good angel. A strong vein of humour carries the reader through
an intricate plot, while vivid pictures of Oxford life lend colour
to a stirring story.

=MADEMOISELLE NELLIE.= By LUCAS CLEEVE

There are few novelists whose works deserve more respectful
consideration than those of Lucas Cleeve. She has written stories of
a high order, but she has never surpassed in interest or in power
her new book ‘Mademoiselle Nellie.’ It is a story of English and
French life, and offers a careful study of the differing
characteristics of the two peoples. The book abounds in felicitous
phrases, in dramatic moments, and in deft touches of pathos.

=IN SPITE OF THE CZAR.= By GUY BOOTHBY, Author of ‘Dr. Nikola,’ etc. With 8 Illustrations. 5s.

In this fine tissue of romance and realism we have a wide range both
in scenery and in incident. The invention of ‘Velvet Coat’ as a
distinctive sobriquet is an original idea, and whether in an English
country mansion, on the St. Petersburg pavements, or at Irkutsk, or
in any other of the scenes so well painted, we are carried on from
page to page with breathless expectation. All sorts and conditions
of men, and of women, too, cross the stage of this fresh drama, and
it is full of exactly what delights the jaded reader—after turning
from third-rate romance—namely, the unexpected.

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_TWO SHILLING NOVELS. Picture Boards, Crown 8vo._

=DEAD CERTAINTIES= NATHANIEL GUBBINS
=ALL THE WINNERS= NATHANIEL GUBBINS

_ONE SHILLING NOVELS. Pictorial Paper Covers_

=THE MYSTERY OF FOUR WAYS= FLORENCE WARDEN, Author of ‘The House on
the Marsh’

_GENERAL LITERATURE_

=MATILDA, COUNTESS OF TUSCANY= MRS. MARY E. HUDDY. Demy 8vo., with
Illustrations, =12s.= net.

In these picturesque pages we have, in a manner, the processional
march of the early Norman soldier settlers in the land of the Olive,
and we have also the extraordinary career set forth in that heroic
daughter of the Roman Church, Matilda, the great Countess of
Tuscany, who devoted her whole life and vast fortune to sustaining
against all comers the temporal rights of Holy Mother Church. Pope
Gregory the Seventh, Godfrey, the Hunchback Duke, and Henry IV., the
ambitious German Emperor, and many other famous characters, move
across these vivid pages in their habits and as they really lived.
No life of the Great Countess, Matilda of Tuscany, has yet appeared
in this country.

=SIR WALTER RALEGH= (A Drama) ROBERT SOUTH, Author of ‘The Divine
Aretino,’ Crown 8vo., Cloth Gilt, 3s.
6d. net.
=HER OWN ENEMY= (A Play) HARRIET L. CHILDE-PEMBERTON Crown 8vo.,
Cloth Gilt, 2s. 6d. net.

_JOHN LONG’S LIBRARY OF MODERN CLASSICS_

A series of great works of fiction by modern authors. Not pocket editions, but large, handsome, and fully-illustrated volumes for the bookshelf, printed in large type on the best paper. Biographical Introductions and Photogravure Portraits. Size, 8 in. by 5½ in.; thickness, 1¼ in. Prices: Cloth Gilt, =2s.= net each; Leather, Gold Blocked and Silk Marker, 3s. net each.

_Volumes Now Ready._

=THE THREE CLERKS= (480 pp.) ANTHONY TROLLOPE
=THE CLOISTER AND THE HEARTH= (672 pp.) CHARLES READS
=THE WOMAN IN WHITE= (576 pp.) WILKIE COLLINS
=ADAM BEDE= (480 pp.) GEORGE ELIOT
=THE HISTORY OF HENRY ESMOND= (432 pp.) W. M. THACKERAY
=WESTWARD HO!= (600 pp.) CHARLES KINGSLEY

In Preparation—=TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS.= _Other Volumes to follow._

‘John Long’s Library of Modern Classics is astonishingly good value for the money. I know of no pleasanter or more tasteful reprints.’—_Academy._ ‘A real triumph of modern publishing.’—_Pall Mall Gazette._ ‘A marvel of cheapness.’—_Spectator._ ‘A marvellous bargain.’—_Truth._ ‘Wonderfully cheap.’—_Globe._ ‘A triumph of publishing.’—_Bookman._ ‘Remarkable in price and format.’—_Daily Mail._ ‘Admirable in print, paper, and binding.’—_Saturday Review._

_THE HAYMARKET NOVELS_

Under this heading Mr. John Long will issue a series of Copyright Novels which, in their more expensive form, have achieved success. The volumes will be printed upon a superior antique wove paper, and will be bound in specially designed cover heavily gold blocked at back. The size of the volumes will be Crown 8vo., and the price =2s. 6d.= each. A feature of the Series will be a uniform edition of the more popular works of Mrs. LOVETT CAMERON.

The following are among the first in the Series:

=FATHER ANTHONY= (Illustrated) ROBERT BUCHANAN
=A CABINET SECRET= (Illustrated) GUY BOOTHBY
=AN OUTSIDER’S YEAR= FLORENCE WARDEN
=FUGITIVE ANNE= MRS. CAMPBELL PRAED
=THE FUTURE OF PHYLLIS= ADELINE SERGEANT
=THE SCARLET SEAL= DICK DONOVAN
=A FAIR FRAUD= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
=A DIFFICULT MATTER= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
=THE CRAZE OF CHRISTINE= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
=A PASSING FANCY= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
=BITTER FRUIT= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
=AN ILL WIND= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON
=A WOMAN’S ‘NO’= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON

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JOHN LONG’S
FAMOUS SIXPENNY COPYRIGHT NOVELS

=In Striking Picture Covers, 8¾ in. by 5¾ in.=

_The following are now Ready_:—

=THE TURNPIKE HOUSE= FERGUS HUME =THE GOLDEN WANG-HO= FERGUS HUME =THE SILENT HOUSE IN PIMLICO= FERGUS HUME =THE BISHOP’S SECRET= FERGUS HUME =THE CRIMSON CRYPTOGRAM= FERGUS HUME =A TRAITOR IN LONDON= FERGUS HUME =WOMAN—THE SPHINX= FERGUS HUME =A WOMAN’S ‘NO’= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON =A DIFFICULT MATTER= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON =THE CRAZE OF CHRISTINA= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON =A PASSING FANCY= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON =BITTER FRUIT= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON =AN ILL WIND= MRS. LOVETT CAMERON =AN OUTSIDER’S YEAR= FLORENCE WARDEN =SOMETHING IN THE CITY= FLORENCE WARDEN =THE LOVELY MRS. PEMBERTON= FLORENCE WARDEN =THE MYSTERY OF DUDLEY HORNE= FLORENCE WARDEN =THE BOHEMIAN GIRLS= FLORENCE WARDEN =KITTY’S ENGAGEMENT= FLORENCE WARDEN =OUR WIDOW= FLORENCE WARDEN =CURIOS: SOME STRANGE ADVENTURES OF TWO BACHELORS= RICHARD MARSH =MRS. MUSGRAVE AND HER HUSBAND= RICHARD MARSH =ADA VERNHAM, ACTRESS= RICHARD MARSH =THE EYE OF ISTAR= WILLIAM LE QUEUX =THE VEILED MAN= WILLIAM LE QUEUX =A MAN OF TO-DAY= HELEN MATHERS =THE SIN OF HAGAR= HELEN MATHERS =THE JUGGLER AND THE SOUL= HELEN MATHERS =FATHER ANTHONY= ROBERT BUCHANAN =THE WOOING OF MONICA= L. T. MEADE =THE SIN OF JASPER STANDISH= RITA =A CABINET SECRET= GUY BOOTHBY =THE FUTURE OF PHYLLIS= ADELINE SERGEANT =A BEAUTIFUL REBEL= ERNEST GLANVILLE =THE PROGRESS OF PAULINE KESSLER= FREDERIC CARREL =IN SUMMER SHADE= MARY E. MANN =GEORGE AND SON= EDWARD H. COOPER =THE SCARLET SEAL= DICK DONOVAN =THE THREE DAYS’ TERROR= J. S. FLETCHER

_The following will be ready shortly_:—

=THE WORLD MASTERS= GEORGE GRIFFITH =BENEATH THE VEIL= ADELINE SERGEANT =THE BURDEN OF HER YOUTH= L. T. MEADE

☞ Other Novels by the most popular Authors of the day will be added to
the Series from time to time

=JOHN LONG, 13 & 14, Norris Street, Haymarket, London=

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.