The Project Gutenberg EBook of Robert Orange, by John Oliver Hobbes

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Title: Robert Orange
Being a Continuation of the History of Robert Orange

Author: John Oliver Hobbes

Release Date: February 4, 2009 [EBook #27997]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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ROBERT ORANGE

BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF ROBERT ORANGE, M.P.

AND A SEQUEL TO THE SCHOOL FOR SAINTS

By

John Oliver Hobbes

LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN

PATERNOSTER SQUARE. MDCCCC

(All rights reserved)

CHAPTER I

One afternoon during the first weeks of October, 1869, while wind, dust,
and rain were struggling each for supremacy in the streets, a small
yellow brougham, swung in the old-fashioned style on cumbersome springs
and attached to a pair of fine greys, was standing before the Earl of
Garrow's town residence in St. James's Square. The hall clock within
that mansion chimed four, the great doors were thrown open by two
footmen, and a young lady wearing a mauve silk skirt deeply flounced, a
black cloth jacket embroidered in gold, and a mauve hat trimmed with
plumes--appeared upon the threshold. She paused for a moment to admire
the shrubs arranged in boxes on each window-sill, the crimson vines that
brightened the grey walls; to criticise the fresh brown rosette under
the near horse's ear; to bestow a swift glance upon the harness, the
coachman's livery, and the groom's boots. Then she stepped into the
carriage and gave her order--

"To the Carlton Club."

The groom climbed on to his seat, and the horses, after a brilliant
display of their well-disciplined mettle, suffered themselves to be
driven, at an easy pace, toward Pall Mall.

Lady Sara-Louise-Tatiana-Valerie De Treverell, only child of the ninth
Earl of Garrow, had been, since her mother's death, the mistress of his
house and his chief companion. Essentially a woman of emotions, she was,
nevertheless, in appearance somewhat dreamy, romantic, even spiritual.
The eyes were blue, bright as a cut sapphire, and shone, as it were,