Addie's Husband; or, Through clouds to sunshine

"'Soldier, sailor, tinker, tailor, policeman, plowboy, gentleman--' Adelaide Lefroy, lift your lovely head, my dear; you're to marry a gentleman." Miss Adelaide, who is absorbed i...

"Three hundred years, isn't it, Addie, since the Lefroys first settled at Nutsgrove?" "Three hundred years," repeats Addie automatically. "Since the year of the Massacre of St. Ba...

"I say, Pauline, is that Miss Rossitor going in at No. 3? It's just like what I remember of her dear old-maidish figure. I know she was expected home this month." "Poor old Rossit...

"Addie, where are you going?" "Only up to the grove for a good long morning's study, auntie; don't wait for dinner for me if I'm not back at three. I have some bread and apple in ...

A quarter of an hour later Mr. Armstrong re-enters the room, and stands with still impenetrable face before his guest. "You--you have given me good measure," she says, rather hyst...

"What will they say? What will they do?" thinks Addie, with shuddering presentiment as she is being driven along the high-road to Nutsford. "And how can I tell them about it? Oh, t...

"How does your ankle feel this morning?" "Better--much better, thank you. In a day or two it will be quite strong again." Miss Lefroy is seated in a moldy old summer-house at a c...

It is just a week before the wedding-morning. Aunt Jo and Pauline are discussing the bill of fare for the breakfast; Addie is lying on a sofa by the open window, languidly reading ...

The honeymoon is a fortnight old. Mrs. Armstrong, in a pale silk of grayish blue, with ruffles of creamy lace at throat and wrists, and sparkling diamonds in her pretty pink ears,...

With bursting brain, stunned with unanalyzed pain and bewilderment, as yet but half comprehending the wild words he has unwittingly heard, Armstrong strides blindly onward, trying ...

So Mrs. Armstrong's honeymoon is cut short. Four days later she is again driving up the well-worn avenue of Nutsgrove. It is a lovely afternoon, and, as Addie peers out of the win...

Mr. Armstrong does not return home until after office-hours on Monday. His wife, hearing him in the hall, hurries out to meet him as he is about to enter the room, and stands with ...

Certainly Miss Pauline Lefroy is right. Life at Nutsgrove under the new _régime_, so far as creature-comforts go, is a vast improvement on the old. Its contrast was at first too gr...

"Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong and Miss Lefroy. Lady Portrann at home Tuesday, the 16th of January, 10 P.M. Dancing." "Addie, that means a ball, doesn't it? How delightful! You're going,...

"There, Bob--there was my bill of fare for the night"--throwing a glossy pink card across the table--"two lords, three baronets--at least, eldest sons of baronets--a colonel, a cou...

On the following day Lady Crawford calls to congratulate Mrs. Armstrong and her sister on the success of their first appearance. She is the prime busy-body, scandal-monger, matrimo...

"And so you like her, Bob?" "Rather, Polly; she's an A 1 specimen, and no mistake! I suspect I should soon be her slave if I saw too much of her," says Mr. Lefroy, smoothing his b...

The snow has gone from the ground, the frost from the air, blustering March is paving the way for tearful April. Miss Pauline Lefroy, luxuriously basking in an easy-chair by the fi...

"I am going away," repeats Armstrong to his wife, "at once, on business. I must leave in ten minutes. I am going up to town first, then on to Dublin and Cork." "How long will you ...

"No, no, Mrs. Armstrong--impossible. We can't let you in. Manager's orders can't be questioned. No admittance except on business. And you have none, Addie; so be off!" It is the l...

"Wonderful--charming! A polished actress!" "Would make her fortune on the London boards, by Jove!" "Talk of Mrs. Langtry--she's a stick to Miss Lefroy!" "As to looks, who would com...

Armstrong is detained at his office until late this evening. Feeling inclined for exercise after his long sedentary day, he gets out of the trap near the place where he found Addie...

When Armstrong enters the drawing-room, half an hour later, there is small evidence of any volcanic element in the cheerful family group that meets his glance. Pauline is lying in...

"Get up, Miss Pauline, get up quick!" "What is the matter, Sally?" cries Pauline, rubbing her eyes. "How funny you look! Has anything happened?" "Hush! Yes; your sister--Miss Add...

The next morning, when, ill with crying, Pauline opens her swollen eyes, she finds a letter from Robert lying on the table by her bedside. Its contents bring on a fresh outburst of...

The summer goes by drowsily. Before the brambles are tinted a purplish red, before the leaves of the spotted sycamore and tawny beech strew the crisp carpet of the grove, the name,...

Everard does not go abroad. He hears the cheers of the tenantry assembled to greet the bride and bridegroom as they sweep past his gate to the park, and scarcely winces. He hunts a...

For three months Mr. Everard puzzles over the flattering yet almost incredible revelation of Miss Cicely's attachment to him, during which time he leaves no stone unturned, no devi...

Two years more go by. The Lefroys, though enjoying both health and prosperity, are no longer banded together in family union as in days of yore. Lady Saunderson, whose social engag...

Mr. Armstrong telegraphs to Mrs. Turner, who is still in occupation at Nutsgrove, and the old place is dusted, swept, aired, and garnished. One soft April day Addie comes home agai...