FERGUS HUME,

AUTHOR OF
"THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB," "THE MAN WITH A SECRET," "MONSIEUR JUDAS," etc., etc.

The saying that no one can serve two masters has its exception in the case of a wife and mother, who is bound by her marriage vows and maternal instincts to love in equal measure her husband and children; but alas for the happiness of the family should she love one to the exclusion of the other, for from such exclusion arise many domestic heart burnings.

THIRD EDITION.

LONDON:
F. V. WHITE & CO.,
14, BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C.
1894.

PRINTED BY
KELLY AND CO. LIMITED, 182, 183 AND 184, HIGH HOLBORN. W.C.,
AND KINGSTON-ON-THAMES.

CONTENTS

[I.]Two Friends
[II.]An Incomplete Madonna
[III.]The Waning of the Honeymoon
[IV.]The Art of Conversation
[V.]An Australian Girl
[VI.]A Day's Shopping
[VII.]Lady Errington's Little Dinner
[VIII.]Eustace Examines His Mind
[IX.]"Oh, Wilt Thou be my Bride, Kathleen?"
[X.]Auf Wiedersehn
[XI.]A Maiden Lady
[XII.]Aunt Jelly's Opinion
[XIII.]Bringing Home The Bride
[XIV.]An Undesirable Acquaintance
[XV.]A Woman Scorned
[XVI.]The Events of Eighteen Months
[XVII.]Gossip
[XVIII.]From Foreign Parts
[XIX.]Aunt Jelly Discusses Family Affairs
[XX.]The Old House by the Sea
[XXI.]From The Husband's Point of View
[XXII.]From the Wife's Point of View
[XXIII.]Mrs. Veilsturm's "At Home"
[XXIV.]"On Revient Tojours à ses Premières Amours"
[XXV.]Fascination
[XXVI.]Aunt Jelly Interferes
[XXVII.]The Deity Called Fate
[XXVIII.]Husband and Wife
[XXIX.]The Question of Marriage
[XXX.]Cleopatra Victrix
[XXXI.]In the Coils of the Serpent
[XXXII.]What Made the Ball sae Fine?
[XXXIII.]Pallida Mors
[XXXIV.]The Assaults of the Evil One
[XXXV.]For my Child's Sake
[XXXVI.]The Death of the First-born
[XXXVII.]The Truth about Mrs. Veilsturm
[XXXVIII.]The Last Temptation
[XXXIX.]"And Kissed again with Tears"
[XL.]A Letter from Home