The Mating of Lydia

by Mrs. Humphry Ward

E-text prepared by Andrew Templeton, Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and

the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

THE MATING OF LYDIA

by

MRS. HUMPHRY WARD

1913

TO R. J. S.

BOOK I

I

"Aye, it's a bit dampish," said Dixon, as he brought a couple more logs to replenish a fire that seemed to have no heart for burning.