The Black Moth: A Romance of the XVIIIth Century
By Heyer, Georgette
Classic work by Heyer, Georgette.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE Clad in his customary black and silver, with raven hair unpowdered and elaborately dressed, diamonds on his fingers and in his cravat, Hugh Tracy Clare Belmanoir, Duke of...
AT THE CHEQUERS INN, FALLOWFIELD Chadber was the name of the host, florid of countenance, portly of person, and of manner pompous and urbane. Solely within the walls of the Cheque...
MY LORD AT THE WHITE HART "Sir Anthony Ferndale" sat before the dressing-table in his room at the White Hart, idly polishing his nails. A gorgeous silk dressing gown lay over the ...
INTRODUCING THE HON. RICHARD CARSTARES Wyncham! A stately old house with mullioned windows, standing high on its stone terraces, half-covered by creepers; a house surrounded by la...
INTRODUCING THE LADY LAVINIA CARSTARES Richard went slowly back to his chair. After a moment he sat down, staring blankly out of the window, his hands loosely clasped on the desk ...
HIS GRACE OF ANDOVER Lady Lavinia dressed herself with even more than her usual care next afternoon, and well-nigh drove her maid distracted by her flashes of temper and impatient...
BATH: 29 QUEEN SQUARE The autumn and the winter passed smoothly, and April found the Carstares installed at Bath, whither Lady Lavinia had teased her husband into going, despite h...
INTRODUCING SUNDRY NEW CHARACTERS Not twenty minutes' walk from Lady Lavinia's house in Queen Square resided a certain Madam Thompson--a widow--who had lived in Bath for nearly fi...
THE BITER BIT With John Carstares the winter had passed quite uneventfully. He continued his highway robbery, but he made two bad blunders--not from the point of view of a thief, ...
LADY O'HARA INTERVENES Lady O'Hara found that her big, indolent husband was unusually silent next morning at breakfast. She had not been married long enough to consent to being pr...
LADY O'HARA RETIRES For a long minute silence reigned, all three actors in the little comedy listening to the heavy footsteps retreating down the passage, Carstares with one arm s...
MY LORD TURNS RESCUER AND COMES NIGH ENDING HIS LIFE Late that afternoon Carstares left Thurze House on one of his friend's horses. He waved a very regretful farewell to O'Hara an...
MY LORD DICTATES A LETTER AND RECEIVES A VISITOR My lord came sighing back to life. He opened his eyes wearily, and turned his head. A faint feeling of surprise stole over him. He...
MY LORD MAKES HIS BOW After Jim's arrival my lord recovered quickly, each day making great progress, much to the doctor's satisfaction, who never tired of telling Mr. Beauleigh an...
MISTRESS DIANA IS UNMAIDENLY The idyllic summer days passed quickly by, and every time that my lord spoke of leaving, the outcry was so indignant and so firm that he hastily subsi...
O'HARA'S MIND IS MADE UP Jim Salter folded one of my lord's waistcoats, and placed it carefully in an open valise; then he picked up a coat, and spread it on the bed preparatory t...
MR. BETTISON PROPOSES Mr. Bettison could make nothing of Diana of late. Her demeanour, at first so charming and so cheerful, had become listless, and even chilling. She seemed har...
LADY O'HARA WINS HER POINT Lady O'Hara looked across at her sleeping husband with no little severity in her glance. He was stretched in a chair beneath a giant oak, and she was bu...
ENTER CAPTAIN HAROLD LOVELACE At the end of August, after having spent a moderately quiet summer in the country, Lady Lavinia was again seized with a longing for town and its attr...
THE REAPPEARANCE OF HIS GRACE OF ANDOVER It seemed to Richard in the days that followed, that Captain Lovelace was never out of his house. If he went to his wife's boudoir, there ...
HIS GRACE OF ANDOVER TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME When the Duke of Andover dined next day at Grosvenor Square, he contrived, by subtle means, to make his sister feel inexplicably ill ...
MRS. FANSHAWE LIGHTS A FIRE AND O'HARA FANS THE FLAME Richard Carstares very soon availed himself of Mrs. Fanshawe's permission to call upon her, and duly put in an appearance at ...
DEVELOPMENTS After the encounter with O'Hara, whatever peace of mind Richard had had, left him. He knew not a moment's quiet; all day, and sometimes all night, his brain worried r...
LADY LAVINIA GOES TO THE PLAY Richard was away from home all next day, and his wife had plenty of time in which to meditate upon her situation. She had quite come to the conclusio...
RICHARD PLAYS THE MAN Lady Lavinia's frame of mind when she awoke next morning was hardly befitting one who contemplated an elopement. A weight seemed to rest on her chest, hopele...
HIS GRACE OF ANDOVER CAPTURES THE QUEEN Diana stood in the old oak porch, riding-whip in hand, and the folds of her voluminous gown over her arm. Miss Betty stood beside her, surv...
MY LORD RIDES TO FRUSTRATE HIS GRACE My lord yawned most prodigiously and let fall the _Spectator._ His eyes roved towards the clock, and noted with disgust that the hands pointed...
MY LORD ENTERS BY THE WINDOW His Grace of Andover made a sign to the footmen, and with a sinking heart Diana watched them leave the room, discreetly closing the door behind them. ...
IN WHICH WHAT THREATENED TO BE TRAGEDY TURNS TO COMEDY With a smothered cry Diana flew across the room to where my lord lay in a pitiful little heap, but before her was Richard. H...
LADY O'HARA IS TRIUMPHANT After spending a restless night, starting at every sound, and hearing the hours strike slowly away, Lady O'Hara arose not a whit refreshed and considerab...