The History of Sir Richard Calmady: A Romance

Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect spellings, contractions and discrepancies have been retained. THE HISTORY OF SIR RICHARD CALMADY A Romance By Lucas Malet NEW YORK Dodd, Mead & Company 1901 Copyright , 1901 By Dodd, Mead & Company THE CAXTON PRESS NEW YORK. CONTENTS THE CLOWN CHAP. PAGE I. Acquainting the Reader with a Fair Domain and the Maker Thereof 1 II. Giving the Very Earliest Information Obtainable of the Hero of this Book 7 III. Touching Matters Clerical and Controversial 19 IV. Raising Problems which it is the Purpose of this History to Resolve 25 V. In which Julius March Beholds the Vision of the New Life 34 VI. Accident or Destiny, According to Your Humour 44 VII. Mrs. William Ormiston Sacrifices a Wine-glass to Fate 57 VIII. Enter a Child of Promise 69 IX. In which Katherine Calmady Looks on Her Son 76 X. The Birds of the Air Take Their Breakfast 84 THE BREAKING OF DREAMS I. Recording some Aspects of a Small Pilgrim's Progress 93 II. In which Our Hero Improves His Acquaintance with Many Things—Himself Included 104 III. Concerning that which, Thank God, Happens Almost Every Day 117 IV. Which Smells very Vilely of the Stable 128 V. In which Dickie is Introduced to a Little Dancer with Blush-roses in Her Hat 140 VI. Dealing with a Physician of the Body and a Physician of the Soul 149 VII. An Attempt to Make the Best of It 159 VIII. Telling, Incidentally, of a Broken-down Postboy and a Country Fair 169 LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI I. In which Our Hero's World Grows Sensibly Wider 181 II. Telling How Dickie's Soul was Somewhat Sick, and How He Met Fair Women on the Confines of a Wood 186 III. In which Richard Confirms One Judgment and Reverses Another 195 IV. Julius March Bears Testimony 203 V. Telling How Queen Mary's Crystal Ball Came to Fall on the Gallery Floor 215 VI. In which Dickie Tries to Ride Away from His Own Shadow, with Such Success as Might Have Been Anticipated 231 VII. Wherein the Reader is Courteously Invited to Improve His Acquaintance with Certain Persons of Quality 240 VIII. Richard Puts His Hand to a Plough from which There is no Turning Back 252 IX. Which Touches Incidentally on Matters of Finance 264 X. Mr. Ludovic Quayle Among the Prophets 280 XI. Containing…