The Project Gutenberg EBook of Merely Mary Ann, by Israel Zangwill

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Title: Merely Mary Ann

Author: Israel Zangwill

Release Date: December 10, 2006 [EBook #20078]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MERELY MARY ANN ***

Produced by Al Haines

MERELY MARY ANN

BY

ISRAEL ZANGWILL

AUTHOR OF "CHILDREN OF THE GHETTO," "THE MASTER," ETC.

POPULAR EDITION

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN

MCMXIII

First Impression, September, 1904

New Impressions, September, 1904 (twice).

POPULAR SHILLING CLOTH EDITION, 1913.

The wrapper design is reproduced, by special
permission, from a painting by Mr. Louis Loeb
of Miss Eleanor Robson, the original "Mary Ann."

MERELY MARY ANN

I

Sometimes Lancelot's bell rang up Mrs. Leadbatter herself, but far more
often merely Mary Ann.

The first time Lancelot saw Mary Ann she was cleaning the steps. He
avoided treading upon her, being kind to animals. For the moment she was
merely a quadruped, whose head was never lifted to the stars. Her faded
print dress showed like the quivering hide of some crouching animal.
There were strange irregular splashes of pink in the hide, standing out
in bright contrast with the neutral background. These were scraps of the
original material neatly patched in.

The cold, damp steps gave Lancelot a shudder, for the air was raw. He
passed by the prostrate figure as quickly as he could, and hastened to
throw himself into the easy-chair before the red fire.

There was a lamp-post before the door, so he knew the house from its
neighbours. Baker's Terrace as a whole was a defeated aspiration after
gentility. The more auspicious houses were marked by white stones, the
steps being scrubbed and hearthstoned almost daily; the gloomier
doorsteps were black, except on Sundays. Thus variety was achieved by
houses otherwise as monotonous and prosaic as a batch of fourpenny
loaves. This was not the reason why the little South London side-street
was called Baker's Terrace, though it might well seem so; for Baker was
the name of the builder, a worthy gentleman whose years and