The Living Link: A Novel
CONTENTS
On a pleasant evening in the month of May, 1840, a group of young ladies might have been seen on the portico of Plympton Terrace, a fashionable boarding-school near Derwentwater. They all moved about with those effusive demonstrations so characteristic of young girls; but on this occasion there was a general hush among them, which evidently arose from some unusual cause. As they walked up and down arm in arm, or with arms entwined, or with clasped hands, as young girls will, they talked in low earnest tones over some one engrossing subject, or occasionally gathered in little knots to debate some point, in which, while each offered a differing opinion, all were oppressed by one common sadness.
While they were thus engaged there arose in the distance the sound of a rapidly galloping horse. At once all the murmur of conversation died out, and the company stood in silence awaiting the new-comer. They did not have to wait long. Out from a place where the avenue wound amidst groves and thickets a young girl mounted on a spirited bay came at full speed toward the portico. Arriving there, she stopped abruptly; then leaping lightly down, she flung the reins over the horse's neck, who forthwith galloped away to his stall.
The rider who thus dismounted was young girl of about eighteen, and of very striking appearance. Her complexion was dark, her hair black, with its rich voluminous folds gathered in great glossy plaits behind. Her eyes were of a deep hazel color, radiant, and full of energetic life. In those eyes there was a certain earnestness of expression, however, deepening down into something that seemed like melancholy, which showed that even in her young life she had experienced sorrow. Her figure was slender and graceful, being well displayed by her close-fitting riding-habit, while a plumed hat completed her equipment, and served to heighten the effect of her beauty.
At her approach a sudden silence had fallen over the company, and they all stood motionless, looking at her as she dismounted.
James De Mille
THE LIVING LINK.
A Novel
CHAPTER I. — A TERRIBLE SECRET.
“JOHN WIGGINS.
CHAPTER II. — THE CONTENTS OF THE MANUSCRIPT.
“DALTON SHOT ME BEC—”
CHAPTER III. — THE MOMENTOUS RESOLVE.
CHAPTER IV. — THE WELCOME HOME.
CHAPTER V. — THE STRANGE INMATES OF DALTON HALL.
“DALTON HALL.
“EDITH.”
CHAPTER VI. — WALLED IN.
CHAPTER VII. — A PARLEY WITH THE JAILERS.
CHAPTER VIII. — MISS PLYMPTON BAFFLED.
CHAPTER IX. — SIR LIONEL DUDLEIGH.
CHAPTER X. — LEON
CHAPTER XI. — LUCY.
CHAPTER XII. — A SOLEMN APPEAL.
CHAPTER XIII. — A WONDERFUL ACTOR.
“PAMELA PLYMPTON.
CHAPTER XIV. — TWO CALLERS.
CHAPTER XV. — A PANIC AMONG THE JAILERS.
CHAPTER XVI. — ANOTHER VISIT
CHAPTER XVII. — A STROKE FOR LIBERTY.
CHAPTER XVIII. — A STRANGE CONFESSION.
CHAPTER XIX. — A NEW-COMER.
CHAPTER XX. — FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH
CHAPTER XXI. — A WARNING.
CHAPTER XXII. — LITTLE DUDLEIGH.
CHAPTER XXIII. — THE MAN OF LAW.
CHAPTER XXIV. — NEW OBLIGATIONS.
CHAPTER XXV. — THE SOURCES OF THE NILE.
CHAPTER XXVI. — A THREATENING LETTER.
CHAPTER XXVII. — THE PROPOSAL.
Eight weeks passed.
CHAPTER XXVIII. — A MARRIAGE IN THE DARK.
CHAPTER XXIX. — THE WIFE OF LEON DUDLEIGH.
CHAPTER XXX. — JAILER AND CAPTIVE.
CHAPTER XXXI. — THE IRREPRESSIBLE STRUGGLE.
CHAPTER XXXII. — A FIGHT IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP
CHAPTER XXXIII. — THE HUSBAND'S LAST APPEAL.
CHAPTER XXXIV. — THE FUGITIVE AND THE PURSUER.
CHAPTER XXXV. — THE EMPTY ROOMS.
CHAPTER XXXVI. — THE VICAR OF DALTON.
CHAPTER XXXVII. — THE HOUSE OF REFUGE
CHAPTER XXXVIII. — THE OLD WELL.
CHAPTER XXXIX. — THE CORONER'S INQUEST.
CHAPTER XL. — A STRANGE CONFESSION
CHAPTER XLI. — A REVELATION.
CHAPTER XLII. — THE TRIAL.
CHAPTER XLIII. — SIR LIONEL AND HIS “KEEPER”
CHAPTER XLIV. — LADY DUDLEIGH'S DECISION.
CHAPTER XLV. — LADY DUDLEIGH IS SHOWN TO HER ROOM.
CHAPTER XLVI. — THE BEDSIDE OF DALTON.
CHAPTER XLVII. — A BETTER UNDERSTANDING.
CHAPTER XLVIII. — CAPTAIN CRUIKSHANK.
CHAPTER XLIX. — EDITH'S NEW FRIEND.
CHAPTER L. — A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE.
CHAPTER LI. — IMPORTANT NEWS.
CHAPTER LII. — THE STORY OF FREDERICK DALTON.
CHAPTER LIII. — THE BROTHERS.
CHAPTER LIV. — THE SONS AND THEIR FATHER.
“Where is my mother?”
CHAPTER LV. — CONCLUSION.
THE END.