LondonWard, Lock and Bowden, LimitedWarwick House, Salisbury Square, E.C.New York and Melbourne1894
[All rights reserved]
To
MY BROTHER,
CHARLES KINGSLEY,
I DEDICATE THIS TALE,IN TOKEN OF A LOVE WHICH ONLY GROWS STRONGERAS WE BOTH GET OLDER.
PREFACE.
The language used in telling the following story is not (as I hope thereader will soon perceive) the Author's, but Mr. William Marston's.
The Author's intention was, while telling the story, to develop, in theperson of an imaginary narrator, the character of a thoroughlygood-hearted and tolerably clever man, who has his fingers (as he wouldsay himself) in every one's pie, and who, for the life of him, cannotkeep his own counsel--that is to say, the only person who, by anypossibility, could have collected the mass of family gossip which makesup this tale.
Had the Author told it in his own person, it would have been told withless familiarity, and, as he thinks, you would not have laughed quite sooften.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER IAN ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY OF RAVENSHOE 1
CHAPTER II.SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE FOREGOING 10
CHAPTER III.IN WHICH OUR HERO'S TROUBLES BEGIN 14
CHAPTER IV.FATHER MACKWORTH 20
CHAPTER V.RANFORD 23
CHAPTER VI.THE "WARREN HASTINGS" 34
CHAPTER VII.IN WHICH CHARLES AND LORD WELTER DISTINGUISHTHEMSELVES AT THE UNIVERSITY 44
CHAPTER VIII.JOHN MARSTON 50
CHAPTER IX.ADELAIDE 57
CHAPTER X.LADY ASCOT'S LITTLE NAP 63
CHAPTER XI.GIVES US AN INSIGHT INTO CHARLES'S DOMESTIC RELATIONS,AND SHOWS HOW THE GREAT CONSPIRATORSOLILOQUISED TO THE GRAND CHANDELIER 69
CHAPTER XII.CONTAINING A SONG BY CHARLES RAVENSHOE, AND ALSOFATHER TIERNAY'S OPINION ABOUT THE FAMILY 79
CHAPTER XIII.THE BLACK HARE 86
CHAPTER XIV.LORD SALTIRE'S VISIT, AND SOME OF HIS OPINIONS 92
CHAPTER XV.CHARLES'S "LIDDELL AND SCOTT" 99
CHAPTER XVI.MARSTON'S ARRIVAL 104
CHAPTER XVII.IN WHICH THERE IS ANOTHER SHIPWRECK 107
CHAPTER XVIII.MARSTON'S DISAPPOINTMENT 114
CHAPTER XIX.ELLEN'S FLIGHT 121
CHAPTER XX.RANFORD AGAIN 124
CHAPTER XXI.CLOTHO, LACHESIS, AND ATROPOS 131
CHAPTER XXII.THE LAST GLIMPSE OF OXFORD 139
CHAPTER XXIII.THE LAST GLIMPSE OF THE OLD WORLD 142
CHAPTER XXIV.THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE NEW WORLD 146
CHAPTER XXV.FATHER MACKWORTH BRINGS LORD SALTIRE TO BAY, AND WHAT CAME OF IT 152
CHAPTER XXVI.THE GRAND CRASH 160
CHAPTER XXVII.THE COUP DE GRACE 167
CHAPTER XXVIII.FLIGHT 176
CHAPTER XXIX.CHARLES'S RETREAT UPON LONDON 180
CHAPTER XXX.MR. SLOANE 185
CHAPTER XXXI.LIEUTENANT HORNBY 190
CHAPTER XXXII.SOME OF THE HUMOURS OF A LONDON MEWS. 194
CHAPTER XXXIII.A GLIMPSE OF SOME OLD FRIENDS 200
CHAPTER XXXIV.IN WHICH FRESH MISCHIEF IS BREWED 203
CHAPTER XXXV.IN WHICH AN ENTIRELY NEW, AND, AS WILL BE SEENHEREAFTER, A MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER ISINTRODUCED 211
CHAPTER XXXVI.THE DERBY 219
CHAPTER XXXVII.LORD WELTER'S MENAGE 227
CHAPTER XXXVIII.THE HOUSE FULL OF GHOSTS 235
CHAPTER XXXIX.CHARLES'S EXPLANATION WITH LORD WELTER 242
CHAPTER XL.A DINNER PARTY AMONG SOME OLD FRIENDS 246
CHAPTER XLI.CHARLES'S SECOND EXPEDITION TO ST. JOHN'S WOOD 252
CHAPTER XLII.RAVENSHOE HALL, DURING ALL THIS 261
CHAPTER XLIII.THE MEETING 270
CHAPTER XLIV.ANOTHER MEETING 275
CHAPTER XLV.HALF A MILLION 285
CHAPTER XLVI.TO LUNCH WITH LORD ASCOT 288
CHAPTER XLVII.LORD HAINAULT'S BLOTTING-BOOK 302
CHAPTER XLVIII.IN WHICH CUTHBERT BEGINS TO SEE THINGS IN A NEW LIGHT 309
CHAPTER XLIX.THE SECOND COLUMN OF "THE TIMES" OF THIS DATE, WITH OTHER MATTERS 317
CHAPTER L.SHREDS AND PATCHES 320
CHAPTER LI.IN WHICH CHARLES COMES TO LIFE AGAIN 327
CHAPTER LII.WHAT LORD SALTIRE AND FATHER MACKWORTH SAIDWHEN THEY LOOKED OUT OF THE WINDOW 335
CHAPTER LIII.CAPTAIN ARCHER TURNS UP 343
CHAPTER LIV.CHARLES MEETS HORNBY AT LAST 349
CHAPTER LV.ARCHER'S PROPOSAL 358
CHAPTER LVI.SCUTARI 369
CHAPTER LVII.WHAT CHARLES DID WITH HIS LAST EIGHTEEN SHILLINGS 374
CHAPTER LVIII.THE NORTH SIDE OF GROSVENOR SQUARE 379
CHAPTER LIX.LORD ASCOT'S CROWNING ACT OF FOLLY 391
CHAPTER LX.THE BRIDGE AT LAST 400
CHAPTER LXI.SAVED 411
CHAPTER LXII.MR. JACKSON'S BIG TROUT 415
CHAPTER LXIII.IN WHICH GUS CUTS FLORA'S DOLL'S CORNS 420
CHAPTER LXIV.THE ALLIED ARMIES ADVANCE ON RAVENSHOE 423
CHAPTER LXV.FATHER MACKWORTH PUTS THE FINISHING TOUCH ONHIS GREAT PIECE OF EMBROIDERY 427
/> CHAPTER LXVI.GUS AND FLORA ARE NAUGHTY IN CHURCH, AND THEWHOLE BUSINESS COMES TO AN END 438