TO WHOM
I AM INDEBTED FOR SO MANY KINDNESSES IN THE PAST,
I DEDICATE
THIS STORY.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory. By Esther Olivia Armstrong | [9] | |
| I., | and Call it Abelard | [10] |
| II.— | Heloise | [14] |
| III.— | The Day of the Funeral | [21] |
| IV.— | The Confession | [28] |
| V.— | Edith Lyle | [36] |
| VI.— | The Beginning of a New Life | [41] |
| VII.— | Eleven Years Later | [44] |
| VIII.— | Mother and Daughter | [51] |
| IX.— | Godfrey Schuyler | [56] |
| X.— | Colonel Schuyler | [68] |
| XI.— | Edith’s Diary | [76] |
| XII.— | Edith and her Mother | [81] |
| XIII.— | Mrs. Barrett’s Lodgers | [84] |
| XIV.— | Colonel Schuyler Returns | [87] |
| XV.— | Edith’s Answer | [92] |
| XVI.— | Breaking the News | [101] |
| XVII.— | The Bridal | [108] |
| XVIII.— | At Oakwood after the Bridal | [114] |
| XIX.— | The Bridal Days | [119] |
| XX.— | On the Sea | [132] |
| XXI.— | The Ladies at Schuyler Hill | [145] |
| XXII.— | The News at Schuyler Hill | [149] |
| XXIII.— | Mrs. Rogers and Gertie at Hampstead | [159] |
| XXIV.— | Mrs. Rogers Gets Work | [172] |
| XXV.— | They Come | [175] |
| XXVI.— | How they Received her | [178] |
| XXVII.— | After Dinner | [189] |
| XXVIII.— | One Day in Hampstead | [198] |
| XXIX.— | The First Sunday in Hampstead | [209] |
| XXX.— | Company at Schuyler Hill | [217] |
| XXXI.— | The Church Sociable | [222] |
| XXXII.— | Mrs. Rogers Speaks her Mind | [230] |
| XXXIII.— | The New Life at the Hill | [234] |
| XXXIV.— | Mary Rogers | [240] |
| XXXV.— | Gertie at the Hill | [246] |
| XXXVI.— | After Four Years | [256] |
| XXXVII.— | The Travellers | [261] |
| XXXVIII.— | Colonel Schuyler Interviews Godfrey | [275] |
| XXXIX.— | Colonel Schuyler Interviews Gertie | [282] |
| XL.— | Robert Macpherson Interviews Gertie | [288] |
| XLI.— | A few Details of that Summer in Hampstead | [293] |
| XLII.— | The Sail on the River | [297] |
| XLIII.— | The Course of Love does not Run Smooth | [304] |
| XLIV.— | Godfrey and Gertie | [307] |
| XLV.— | Robert Macpherson and Colonel Schuyler | [313] |
| XLVI.— | Godfrey and his Father | [315] |
| XLVII.— | Waiting | [318] |
| XLVIII.— | Giving in Marriage | [320] |
| XLIX.— | Mrs. Doctor Barrett | [323] |
| L.— | The Storm Gathering | [330] |
| LI.— | The Storm Bursts | [333] |
| LII.— | The Battle between Life and Death | [343] |
| LIII.— | Colonel Schuyler and the Secret | [348] |
| LIV.— | Husband and Wife | [356] |
| LV.— | The Search in London | [364] |
| LVI.— | Gertie | [372] |
| LVII.— | In New York | [375] |
| LVIII.— | Gertie and the Story | [384] |
| LIX.— | The Story in Hampstead | [391] |
| LX.— | Edith and Gertie | [397] |
| LXI.— | Godfrey and Gertie | [402] |
| LXII.— | The Wedding | [408] |
| LXIII.— | Mary Rogers’ Letter to Edith | [411] |
| LXIV., | and Last | [419] |
EDITH LYLE.
INTRODUCTORY.
BY ESTHER OLIVIA ARMSTRONG.
As I sit here, this bright autumnal morning, and from the window of my room look out upon the river winding its way to the sea, there falls upon my ears the merry chime of bells from the tower of the old gray church,—wedding-bells they are,—and their echoes float across the water, and up the mountain side, and then die away among the wooded cliffs beyond, where the foliage has just been touched with the October frost, and has here and there a gay trimming of scarlet and gold on its summer dress of green. There is a wedding at St. Luke’s to-day, and the bridal party is passing now, and I kiss my hand to the beautiful bride, who flashes a smile at me from those wonderful eyes of hers,—eyes so like in expression to those of the elder lady who sits beside her, and but for whom that wedding at St. Luke’s would never have been. They are gone now from my sight, and only the pealing of the bells is heard in the quiet street, and as I muse upon the strange event which has made the people of our town wild with excitement and curiosity, and of which I, perhaps, know quite as much as any one, I ask myself, “Why not write out the story, suppressing names, and dates, and localities, and give it to the world, as a proof that real life is sometimes stranger than fiction.”