h the steamer, so I was hurried upstairs to change for
our journey.
When I came down again, in my tailor-made travelling dress with sables,
the whole company was in the hall and everybody seemed to be talking at
the same time, making a noise like water in a weir.
I was taken possession of by each in turn. Nessy MacLeod told me in an
aside what an excellent father I had. Betsy Beauty whispered that Mr.
Eastcliff was so handsome and their tastes were so similar that she
hoped I would invite him to Castle Raa as soon as I came back. Aunt
Bridget, surrounded by a group of sympathising ladies (including Lady
Margaret, who was making an obvious effort to be gracious) was wiping
her eyes and saying I had always been her favourite and she had
faithfully done her duty by me.
"Mary, my love," she said, catching my eye, "I'm just telling her
ladyship I don't know in the world what I'll do when you are gone."
My husband was there too, wearing a heavy overcoat with the collar up,
and receiving from a group of insular gentlemen their cheerful
prognostics of a bad passage.
"'Deed, but I'm fearing it will be a dirty passage, my lord."
"Chut!" said my father. "The wind's from the south-west. They'll soon
get shelter."
The first of our two cars came round and my husband's valet went off in
advance with our luggage. Then the second car arrived, and the time came
for our departure. I think I kissed everybody. Everybody seemed to be
crying--everybody except myself, for my tears were all gone by this
time.
Just as we were about to start, the storm, which must certainly have
fallen for a while, sprang up suddenly, and when Tommy the Mate (barely
recognisable in borrowed black garments) opened the door the wind came
rushing into the house with a long-drawn whirr.
I had said good-bye to the old man, and was stepping into the porch when
I remembered Father Dan. He was standing in his shabby sack coat with a
sorrowful face in a dark corner by the door, as if he had placed himself
there to
Notka biograficzna
Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE (May 14, 1853August 31, 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British author. He is best known as a novelist and playwright of the late Victorian and the Edwardian eras. In his time he was exceedingly popular and at the peak of his success his novels outsold those of his contemporaries. Many of his novels were also made into films. His novels were primarily romantic in nature, involving the love triangle, but they did also address some of the more serious political and social issues of the day.
Harold MacGrath (September 4, 1871 - October 30, 1932) was a bestselling American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Also known occasionally as Harold McGrath, he was born in Syracuse, New York. As a young man, he worked as a reporter and columnist on the Syracuse Herald newspaper until the late 1890s when he published his first novel, a romance titled Arms and the Woman. According to the New York Times, his next book, The Puppet Crown, was the No.7 bestselling book in the United States for all of 1901. From that point on, MacGrath never looked back, writing novels for the mass market about love, adventure, mystery, spies, and the like at an average rate of more than one a year. He would have three more of his books that were among the top ten bestselling books of the year. At the same time, he penned a number of short stories for major American magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, and Red Book magazine. Several of MacGraths novels were seriali
Mabel Collins (9 September 1851 - 31 March 1927) was a theosophist and author of over 46 books. She was born in St Peter Port, Guernsey.