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[PG] Parental Guidance Suggested
BIRDS OF PREY ***
Produced by J. Ingram, G. Smith, T. Riikonen, and PG Distributed Proofreaders
BIRDS OF PREY
BY
M.E. BRADDON
[Illustration: "Be good enough to take me straight to her," said the Captain, "I am her father."]
CONTENTS:
Book the First.
FATAL FRIENDSHIP.
I. THE HOUSE IN BLOOMSBURY II. PHILIP SHELDON READS THE "LANCET" III. MR. AND MRS. HALLIDAY IV. A PERPLEXING ILLNESS V. THE LETTER FROM THE "ALLIANCE" OFFICE VI. MR. BURKHAM'S UNCERTAINTIES
Book the Second.
THE TWO MACAIRES.
I. A GOLDEN TEMPLE II. THE EASY DESCENT III. "HEART BARE, HEART HUNGRY, VERY POOR"
Book the Third.
HEAPING UP RICHES.
I. A FORTUNATE MARRIAGE II. CHARLOTTE III. GEORGE SHELDON'S PROSPECTS IV. DIANA FINDS A NEW HOME V. AT THE LAWN VI. THE COMPACT OF GRAY'S INN VII. AUNT SARAH VIII. CHARLOTTE PROPHESIES RAIN IX. MR. SHELDON ON THE WATCH
Book the Fourth.
VALENTINE HAWKEHURST'S RECORD.
I. THE OLDEST INHABITANT II. MATTHEW HAYGARTH'S RESTING-PLACE III. MR. GOODGE'S WISDOM
Book the Fifth.
RELICS OF THE DEAD.
I. BETRAYED BY A BLOTTING-PAD II. VALENTINE INVOKES THE PHANTOMS OF THE PAST III. HUNTING THE JUDSONS IV. GLIMPSES OF A BYGONE LIFE
Book the Sixth.
THE HEIRESS OF THE HAYGARTHS.
I. DISAPPOINTMENT II. VALENTINE'S RECORD CONTINUED III. ARCADIA IV. IN PARADISE V. TOO FAIR TO LAST VI. FOUND IN THE BIBLE
Book the Seventh.
CHARLOTTE'S ENGAGEMENT.
I. "IN YOUR PATIENCE YE ARE STRONG" II. MRS. SHELDON ACCEPTS HER DESTINY III. MR. HAWKEHURST AND MR. GEORGE SHELDON COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING IV. MR. SHELDON IS PROPITIOUS V. MR. SHELDON IS BENEVOLENT VI. RIDING THE HIGH HORSE VII. MR. SHELDON IS PRUDENT VIII. CHRISTMAS PEACE
BIRDS OF PREY
BOOK THE FIRST.
FATAL FRIENDSHIP.
CHAPTER I.
THE HOUSE IN BLOOMSBURY.
"What about?" There are some houses whereof the outward aspect is sealed with the seal of respectability--houses which inspire confidence in the minds of the most sceptical of butchers and bakers--houses at whose area-gates the tradesman delivers his goods undoubtingly, and from whose spotless door-steps the vagabond children of the neighbourhood recoil as from a shrine too sacred for their gambols.
Such a house made its presence obvious, some years ago, in one of the smaller streets of that west-central region which lies between Holborn and St. Pancras Church. It is perhaps the nature of ultra-respectability to be disagreeably conspicuous. The unsullied brightness of No. 14 Fitzgeorge-street was a standing reproach to every other house in the dingy thorough-fare. That one spot of cleanliness made the surrounding dirt cruelly palpable. The muslin curtains in the parlour windows of No. 15 would not have appeared of such a smoky yellow if the curtains of No. 14 had not been of such a pharisaical whiteness. Mrs. Magson, at No. 13, was a humble letter of lodgings, always more or less in arrear with the demands of quarter-day; and it seemed a hard thing that her door-steps, whereon were expended much labour and hearthstone--not to mention house-flannel, which was in itself no unimportant item in the annual expenses--should be always thrown in the shade by the surpassing purity of the steps before No. 14.
Not satisfied with being the very pink and pattern of respectability, the objectionable house even aspired to a kind of prettiness. It was as bright, and pleasant, and rural of aspect as any house within earshot of the roar and rattle of Holborn can be. There were flowers in the windows; gaudy scarlet geraniums, which seemed to enjoy an immunity from all the ills to which geraniums are subject, so impossible was it to discover a faded leaf amongst their greenness, or the presence of blight amidst their wealth of blossom. There were birdcages within the shadow of the muslin curtains, and the colouring of the newly-pointed brickwork was agreeably relieved by the vivid green of Venetian blinds. The freshly-varnished street-door bore a brass-plate, on which to look was to be dazzled; and the effect produced by this combination of white door-step, scarlet geranium, green blind, and brass-plate was obtrusively brilliant.
Those who had been so privileged as to behold the interior of the house in Fitzgeorge-street brought away with them a sense of admiration that was the next thing to envy. The pink and pattern of propriety within, as it was the pink and pattern of propriety without, it excited in every breast alike a wondering awe, as of a habitation tenanted by some mysterious being, infinitely superior to the common order
Produced by J. Ingram, G. Smith, T. Riikonen, and PG Distributed Proofreaders
BIRDS OF PREY
BY
M.E. BRADDON
[Illustration: "Be good enough to take me straight to her," said the Captain, "I am her father."]
CONTENTS:
Book the First.
FATAL FRIENDSHIP.
I. THE HOUSE IN BLOOMSBURY II. PHILIP SHELDON READS THE "LANCET" III. MR. AND MRS. HALLIDAY IV. A PERPLEXING ILLNESS V. THE LETTER FROM THE "ALLIANCE" OFFICE VI. MR. BURKHAM'S UNCERTAINTIES
Book the Second.
THE TWO MACAIRES.
I. A GOLDEN TEMPLE II. THE EASY DESCENT III. "HEART BARE, HEART HUNGRY, VERY POOR"
Book the Third.
HEAPING UP RICHES.
I. A FORTUNATE MARRIAGE II. CHARLOTTE III. GEORGE SHELDON'S PROSPECTS IV. DIANA FINDS A NEW HOME V. AT THE LAWN VI. THE COMPACT OF GRAY'S INN VII. AUNT SARAH VIII. CHARLOTTE PROPHESIES RAIN IX. MR. SHELDON ON THE WATCH
Book the Fourth.
VALENTINE HAWKEHURST'S RECORD.
I. THE OLDEST INHABITANT II. MATTHEW HAYGARTH'S RESTING-PLACE III. MR. GOODGE'S WISDOM
Book the Fifth.
RELICS OF THE DEAD.
I. BETRAYED BY A BLOTTING-PAD II. VALENTINE INVOKES THE PHANTOMS OF THE PAST III. HUNTING THE JUDSONS IV. GLIMPSES OF A BYGONE LIFE
Book the Sixth.
THE HEIRESS OF THE HAYGARTHS.
I. DISAPPOINTMENT II. VALENTINE'S RECORD CONTINUED III. ARCADIA IV. IN PARADISE V. TOO FAIR TO LAST VI. FOUND IN THE BIBLE
Book the Seventh.
CHARLOTTE'S ENGAGEMENT.
I. "IN YOUR PATIENCE YE ARE STRONG" II. MRS. SHELDON ACCEPTS HER DESTINY III. MR. HAWKEHURST AND MR. GEORGE SHELDON COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING IV. MR. SHELDON IS PROPITIOUS V. MR. SHELDON IS BENEVOLENT VI. RIDING THE HIGH HORSE VII. MR. SHELDON IS PRUDENT VIII. CHRISTMAS PEACE
BIRDS OF PREY
BOOK THE FIRST.
FATAL FRIENDSHIP.
CHAPTER I.
THE HOUSE IN BLOOMSBURY.
"What about?" There are some houses whereof the outward aspect is sealed with the seal of respectability--houses which inspire confidence in the minds of the most sceptical of butchers and bakers--houses at whose area-gates the tradesman delivers his goods undoubtingly, and from whose spotless door-steps the vagabond children of the neighbourhood recoil as from a shrine too sacred for their gambols.
Such a house made its presence obvious, some years ago, in one of the smaller streets of that west-central region which lies between Holborn and St. Pancras Church. It is perhaps the nature of ultra-respectability to be disagreeably conspicuous. The unsullied brightness of No. 14 Fitzgeorge-street was a standing reproach to every other house in the dingy thorough-fare. That one spot of cleanliness made the surrounding dirt cruelly palpable. The muslin curtains in the parlour windows of No. 15 would not have appeared of such a smoky yellow if the curtains of No. 14 had not been of such a pharisaical whiteness. Mrs. Magson, at No. 13, was a humble letter of lodgings, always more or less in arrear with the demands of quarter-day; and it seemed a hard thing that her door-steps, whereon were expended much labour and hearthstone--not to mention house-flannel, which was in itself no unimportant item in the annual expenses--should be always thrown in the shade by the surpassing purity of the steps before No. 14.
Not satisfied with being the very pink and pattern of respectability, the objectionable house even aspired to a kind of prettiness. It was as bright, and pleasant, and rural of aspect as any house within earshot of the roar and rattle of Holborn can be. There were flowers in the windows; gaudy scarlet geraniums, which seemed to enjoy an immunity from all the ills to which geraniums are subject, so impossible was it to discover a faded leaf amongst their greenness, or the presence of blight amidst their wealth of blossom. There were birdcages within the shadow of the muslin curtains, and the colouring of the newly-pointed brickwork was agreeably relieved by the vivid green of Venetian blinds. The freshly-varnished street-door bore a brass-plate, on which to look was to be dazzled; and the effect produced by this combination of white door-step, scarlet geranium, green blind, and brass-plate was obtrusively brilliant.
Those who had been so privileged as to behold the interior of the house in Fitzgeorge-street brought away with them a sense of admiration that was the next thing to envy. The pink and pattern of propriety within, as it was the pink and pattern of propriety without, it excited in every breast alike a wondering awe, as of a habitation tenanted by some mysterious being, infinitely superior to the common order
[PG] Parental Guidance Suggested
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