CONTENTS

BOOK ONE—THE BRIDE
CHAPTER PAGE
[I.]A Dance on Staten Island in 1890[3]
[II.]A Vincelle in His Natural Habitat[15]
[III.]Gilbert Goes A-wooing[26]
[IV.]Claudine’s Peculiar Mother[37]
[V.]Claudine Learns to Adapt Herself[49]
[VI.]The Keynote[59]
[VII.]The Hedge Which Grew So Fast[73]
[VIII.]A Year Later[88]
BOOK TWO—THE BREATH OF LIFE
[I.]After Twenty Years[97]
[II.]The Forsaken Provider[110]
[III.]The Suitor with Credentials[122]
[IV.]The Unabashed Outcast[132]
[V.]The Breath of Life[143]
[VI.]The Unlawful Picnic[155]
[VII.]Stephens Explains Himself[170]
[VIII.]The Thing is on Them[181]
[IX.]Bertie[196]
BOOK THREE—THE CUP IS OFFERED
[I.]Andrée’s Recital[211]
[II.]The Bitter Triumph[222]
[III.]Andrée’s Wedding[229]
[IV.]The Beginning[241]
[V.]The Housewarming[252]
[VI.]Discords[264]
[VII.]The Pastry-Cook’s Daughter[273]
[VIII.]Mutiny[284]
[IX.]Home Again[299]
[X.]Destiny Intervenes[311]
Epilogue[322]

BOOK ONE
THE BRIDE

THE UNLIT LAMP

CHAPTER ONE
A DANCE ON STATEN ISLAND IN 1890