The Project Gutenberg EBook of Portia, by Duchess

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Title: Portia
or By Passions Rocked

Author: Duchess

Release Date: March 30, 2010 [EBook #31825]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PORTIA ***

Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Emmy and the
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PORTIA;

OR

BY PASSIONS ROCKED

BY

THE DUCHESS

Author of "PHYLLIS," "AIRY, FAIRY LILLIAN," ETC

NEW YORK AND CHICAGO
BUTLER BROTHERS

TROW'S
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY,
NEW YORK.

PORTIA;

Or, "By Passions Rocked."

CHAPTER I.

"A child of our grandmother Eve, a female; or, for
thy more sweet understanding, a woman."--LOVE'S
LABORS LOST.

THE gates are thrown wide open, and the carriage rolls smoothly down the
long dark avenue, beneath the waving branches of the tall elms and the
copper beeches, through which the dying sun is flinging its parting
rays.

The horses, sniffing the air of home, fling up their heads and make
still greater haste, until presently, rounding the curve, they draw up
before the hall door.

It stands open, and on the high, stone steps that lead to it, a very
pretty girl looks down upon the carriage from under her palm, with a
face eager and expectant. When she has barely glanced at it, she says,
"Ah!" in a tone of deep satisfaction, and running down the steps and
over the gravel, turns the handle of the carriage door and looks
anxiously at its occupant.

"You have come," she says, cheerily. "I was _so_ afraid something might
have prevented you."

The person she addresses--a girl about two years older than herself,
says:

"Yes, I have come," in a tone slow and sweet, almost to languor.

"_So_ glad," says the pretty girl, with a smile that must be one of her
sweetest charms, it is so full of life and gaiety; "come out of this
dreadful old sarcophagus and upstairs with me; I have your tea in your
own room for you."

Miss Vibart, stepping out of the brougham, follows her hostess into the
ho