bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chapter III
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

The greatest man in Raveloe was Squire Cass, who lived in the large red house with the handsome flight of stone steps in front and the high stables behind it, nearly opposite the church. He was only one among several landed parishioners, but he...
Chapter VIII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

When Godfrey Cass returned from Mrs Osgood’s party at midnight, he was not much surprised to learn that Dunsey had not come home. Perhaps he had not sold Wildfire, and was waiting for another chance—perhaps, on that foggy afternoon, he had preferred housing himself...
Chapter II
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

hen Miss Sharp had performed the heroical act mentioned in the last chapter, and had seen the Dixonary flying over the pavement of the little garden, fall at length at the feet of the astonished Miss Jemima, the young lady’s countenance, which had...
Chapter VII
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

mong the most respected of the names beginning in C, which the Court-Guide contained, in the year 18—, was that of Crawley, Sir Pitt, Baronet, Great Gaunt Street, and Queen’s Crawley, Hants. This honourable name had figured constantly also in the Parliamentary list...
Chapter XVI
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

ow they were married is not of the slightest consequence to anybody. What is to hinder a captain who is a major, and a young lady who is of age, from purchasing a licence, and uniting themselves at any church in this town...
Chapter XIX
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

e have seen how Mrs. Firkin, the lady’s-maid, as soon as any event of importance to the Crawley family came to her knowledge, felt bound to communicate it to Mrs. Bute Crawley, at the Rectory; and have before mentioned how particularly kind and...
Chapter XXVIII
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

heregiment with its officers was to be transported in ships provided by His Majesty’s government for the occasion: and in two days after the festive assembly at Mrs. O’Dowd’s apartments, in the midst of cheering from all the East India ships in the...
Chapter XXXVI
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

suppose there is no man in this Vanity Fair of ours so little observant as not to think sometimes about the worldly affairs of his acquaintances, or so extremely charitable as not to wonder how his neighbour Jones, or his neighbour Smith, can...
Chapter XLIX
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

When the ladies of Gaunt House were at breakfast that morning Lord Steyne (who took his chocolate in private, and seldom disturbed the females of his household, or saw them except upon public days, or when they crossed each other in the hall,...
Chapter LII
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

*

When Lord Steyne was benevolently disposed, he did nothing by halves, and his kindness towards the Crawley family did the greatest honour to his benevolent discrimination. His lordship extended his goodwill to little Rawdon: he pointed out to the boy’s parents the necessity...
Chapter LVIII
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

Our major had rendered himself so popular on board the Ramchunder, that when he and Mr. Sedley descended into the welcome shore-boat which was to take them from the ship, the whole crew, men and officers, the great Captain Bragg himself...
Chapter LXIII
Authors: Thackeray William Makepeace
Published: December 2020

Such polite behaviour as that of Lord Tapeworm did not fail to have the most favourable effect upon Mr. Sedley’s mind, and the very next morning, at breakfast, he pronounced his opinion that Pumpernickel was the pleasantest little place of any which he...
Chapter 1
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

One morning, Hélène was busy tidying her little bookcase, where for the last few days she had left the books in disarray, when Jeanne came in, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

‘Maman,’ she cried, ‘a soldier! A soldier!’

‘A soldier? What do...
Chapter VI The Practical Friend
Authors: Gissing George
Published: December 2020

When her husband had set forth, Amy seated herself in the study and took up a new library volume* as if to read. But she had no real intention of doing so; it was always disagreeable to her to sit in the...
Chapter IX Invita Minerva
Authors: Gissing George
Published: December 2020

After all, there came a day when Edwin Reardon found himself regularly at work once more, ticking off his stipulated quantum of manuscript each four-and-twenty hours. He wrote a very small hand; sixty written slips of the kind of paper he habitually used would...
Chapter XII Work Without Hope
Authors: Gissing George
Published: December 2020

The prudent course was so obvious that he marvelled at Amy’s failing to suggest it. For people in their circumstances to be paying a rent of fifty pounds when a home could be found for half the money was recklessness; there would be no...
Chapter XXXV Fever And Rest
Authors: Gissing George
Published: December 2020

Milvain’s skilful efforts notwithstanding, ‘Mr Bailey, Grocer,’ had no success. By two publishers the book had been declined; the firm which brought it out offered the author half profits and fifteen pounds on account, greatly to Harold Biffen’s satisfaction. But reviewers in general were...
John Barrington Cowles
Authors: Doyle Arthur Conan
Published: December 2020

It might seem rash of me to say that I ascribe the death of my poor friend, John Barrington Cowles, to any preternatural agency. I am aware that in the present state of public feeling a chain of evidence would require to be...
A Pastoral Horror
Authors: Doyle Arthur Conan
Published: December 2020

Far above the level of the Lake of Constance, nestling in a little corner of the Tyrolese Alps, lies the quiet town of Feldkirch. It is remarkable for nothing save for the presence of a large and well-conducted Jesuit school* and...
The Brazilian Cat
Authors: Doyle Arthur Conan
Published: December 2020

I
t is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great expectations, aristocratic connections, but no actual money in his pocket, and no profession by which he may earn any. The fact was that my father, a good, sanguine, easy-going man,...
Playing with Fire
Authors: Doyle Arthur Conan
Published: December 2020

I
cannot pretend to say what occurred on the 14th of April last at No. 17, Badderly Gardens. Put down in black and white, my surmise might seem too crude, too grotesque, for serious consideration. And yet that something did occur, and that it...
Chapter VII
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

The morning was becoming extremely hot. With the coming of the first fine weather, the sun made this vast, rocky amphitheatre into a flaming furnace. Abbé Mouret, judging by the height of the sun in the sky, realized he barely had time to get...
Chapter IX
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Now the gig was again running along the lane beside the seemingly interminable wall of the Paradou. Abbé Mouret was silent, gazing up at the massive branches that stretched out over the wall, like the arms of hidden giants. Noises came from the park,...
Chapter XIV
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Lit by only one lamp, burning amid the greenery on the altar of the Virgin, the church was filled at each end with big, floating shadows. The pulpit cast a great patch of dark shadow up to the rafters of the ceiling. The confessional...
Chapter I
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Across the two wide windows, carefully drawn calico curtains filtered the white light of early dawn into the room. It was a very big room with a high ceiling, furnished with antique Louis XV furniture of painted white wood, and decorated with red flowers...
Chapter XVI
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

When Albine and Serge awoke from their trance of bliss, they smiled at each other. They were returning from a land of light. They were coming down from a great height. Then they pressed each other’s hands in gratitude. There was a mutual recognition,...
Chapter I
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

After the Pater, Abbé Mouret bowed in front of the altar, and moved to the Epistle side. Then he came down and made a sign of the cross over big Fortuné and Rosalie, kneeling side by side at the edge of the...
Sir William Mountague
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

an unfinished performance* is humbly dedicated to Charles John Austen Esqre,* by his most obedient humble Servant

Sir William Mountague was the son of Sir Henry Mountague, who was the son of Sir John Mountague, a descendant of Sir...
The Three Sisters
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

To Edward Austen Esqre*

The following unfinished Novel

is respectfully inscribed

by

His obedient Hum.ble Serv.t

Letter 1st

Miss Stanhope to Mrs——

My dear Fanny

I am the happiest creature in the World, for I have just received...
The Dream
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Is it wrong to love whatever is beautiful and rich? I love it precisely because it is beautiful, because it is rich - because, I think, it brings joy to my heart.’ On Christmas day, in the flurry of a snow storm, the Huberts discover a ragged nine year old girl sheltering under the neighbouring cathedral porch. Childless and pious, the couple take in and raise Angelique as their own. The girl is intensely passionate, and given to rage and disobedience as well as love and religious fervour. Inspired by The Golden Legend, Angelique creates a dream world all of her own, peopled with spirits. As part of her dream vision, she becomes convinced she will marry a rich and handsome young prince. Her wish seemingly comes true when she falls in love with a lord's son… The sixteenth novel in the Rougon-Macquart series, The Dream marks a departure by Zola from the conventions of realism. Here, Zola explores the persistence of mysticism, but also blends elements of fairy tale with the naturalist techniques for which he had become known. This edition contains a wide-ranging introduction placing Zola's changing concerns in the context of his wider work, and illuminates key themes in the novel, such as architecture, heraldry, and the lives of the saints.
Chapter 3
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

That year, on Whit Monday, the Huberts took Angélique on a picnic to the ruins of Hautecœur Castle,* which stand above the Ligneul two leagues downstream from Beaumont. And after a day spent running about and laughing in the open air, the...
Chapter 12
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

That night Angélique was unable to sleep. Her eyelids smarted as she lay there, wide awake and desperately frail. The Huberts had gone to bed, and it was about to strike midnight, so she decided to get up, despite the great exertion involved, fearing...
10
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

One morning, as she did every quarter, Martine got Pascal to give her a receipt for fifteen hundred francs so she could go and draw what she called ‘their funds’, at Grandguillot the notary’s. The doctor seemed surprised the due date had come round...
12
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

The very next day Pascal shut himself away in the bowels of the big empty house. He did not emerge again, completely stopped the rare house calls he had still been making, and lived there, doors and windows shut, in absolute solitude and silence....
13
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

It was only after lunch, at around one, that Clotilde received Pascal’s telegram. She had actually been shunned that particular day by her brother Maxime, who had generally been making her feel the brunt of his invalid’s whims and rages with growing harshness. All...
Anna Karenina
Authors: Tolstoy Leo
Published: December 2020

‘Love… it means too much to me, far more than you can understand.’ At its simplest, Anna Karenina is a love story. It is a portrait of a beautiful and intelligent woman whose passionate love for a handsome officer sweeps aside all other ties - to her marriage and to the network of relationships and moral values that bind the society around her. The love affair of Anna and Vronsky is played out alongside the developing romance of Kitty and Levin, and in the character of Levin, closely based on Tolstoy himself, the search for happiness takes on a deeper philosophical significance. One of the greatest novels ever written, Anna Karenina combines penetrating psychological insight with an encyclopedic depiction of Russian life in the 1870s. The novel takes us from high society St Petersburg to the threshing fields on Levin's estate, with unforgettable scenes at a Moscow ballroom, the skating rink, a race course, a railway station. It creates an intricate labyrinth of connections that is profoundly satisfying, and deeply moving. Rosamund Bartlett's translation conveys Tolstoy's precision of meaning and emotional accuracy in an English version that is highly readable and stylistically faithful. Like her acclaimed biography of Tolstoy, it is vivid, nuanced, and compelling.
Chapter 9
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

The days began to flow by once more in the house in Bonneville. A very cold winter was followed by a wet spring, and the rain-lashed sea looked like a muddy lake; then the delayed summer had extended into mid-autumn, with days of leaden...
Chapter VII General View of the Remainder of My Life
Authors: Stuart Mill John
Published: December 2020

From this time, what is worth relating of my life will come into a very small compass; for I have no further mental changes to tell of, but only, as I hope, a continued mental progress; which does not admit of a consecutive history,...
Sybil
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

Sybil, or The Two Nations is one of the finest novels to depict the social problems of class-ridden Victorian England. The book's publication in 1845 created a sensation, for its immediacy and readability brought the plight of the working classes sharply to the attention of the reading public. The ‘two nations’ of the alternative title are the rich and poor, so disparate in their opportunities and living conditions, and so hostile to each other. that they seem almost to belong to different countries. The gulf between them is given a poignant focus by the central romantic plot concerning the love of Charles Egremont, a member of the landlord class, for Sybil, the poor daughter of a militant Chartist leader.
Advertisement
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

The general reader whose attention has not been specially drawn to the subject which these volumes aim to illustrate, the Condition of the People, might suspect that the Writer had been tempted to some exaggeration in the scenes which he has drawn and the...
Chapter I
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

‘I’ll take the odds against Caravan.’

‘In poneys?’*

‘Done.’

And Lord Milford, a young noble, entered in his book the bet which he had just made with Mr. Latour, a grey-headed member of the Jockey Club.*

It was the eve of the Derby...
Chapter VII
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

In a commercial country like England, every half century developes some new and vast source of public wealth, which brings into national notice a new and powerful class. A couple of centuries ago, a Turkey merchant was the great creator of wealth; the West...
Chapter III
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

It was a wet morning; there had been a heavy rain since dawn, which impelled by a gusty south-wester came driving on a crowd of women and girls who were assembled before the door of a still unclosed shop. Some protected themselves...
Chapter XII
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

‘It is all right,’ said Mr. Tadpole. ‘They are out. Lord Melbourne has been with the Queen and recommended her Majesty to send for the Duke, and the Duke has recommended her Majesty to send for Sir Robert.’

‘Are you sure?’ said Mr. Taper....
Chapter II
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

Egremont had recognized Sybil as she entered the garden. He was himself crossing the park to attend a committee of the House of Commons which had sat for the first time that morning. The meeting had been formal and brief; the committee soon adjourned,...
Chapter IV
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

‘I don’t think I can stand this much longer,’ said Mr. Mountchesney, the son-in-law of Lord de Mowbray, to his wife, as he stood before the empty fire-place with his back to the mantel-piece and his hands thrust into the pockets of his...
Chapter VII
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

During the strike in Lancashire the people had never plundered, except a few provision shops, chiefly rifled by boys, and their acts of violence had been confined to those with whom they were engaged in what on the whole might be described as fair...
Chapter XIII
Authors: Disraeli Benjamin
Published: December 2020

It was the Spring of last year,* and Lady Bardolf was making a morning visit to Lady St. Julians.

‘I heard they were to be at Lady Palmerston’s* last night,’ said Lady St. Julians.

‘No,’ said Lady Bardolf shaking her head, ‘they make...
Chapter I
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner, as to engage the general...
Chapter II
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

Mrs. John Dashwood now installed herself mistress of Norland; and her mother and sisters-in-law were degraded to the condition of visitors. As such, however, they were treated by her with quiet civility; and by her husband with as much kindness as he...
Chapter VI
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

The first part of their journey was performed in too melancholy a disposition to be otherwise than tedious and unpleasant. But as they drew towards the end of it, their interest in the appearance of a country which they were to inhabit overcame their...
Chapter XI
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

Little had Mrs. Dashwood or her daughters imagined, when they first came into Devonshire, that so many engagements would arise to occupy their time as shortly presented themselves, or that they should have such frequent invitations and such constant visitors as to leave them...
Chapter XIV
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

The sudden termination of Colonel Brandon’s visit at the park, with his steadiness in concealing its cause, filled the mind and raised the wonder of Mrs. Jennings for two or three days; she was a great wonderer, as every one must be who takes...
Chapter IX
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

From a night of more sleep than she had expected, Marianne awoke the next morning to the same consciousness of misery in which she had closed her eyes.

Elinor encouraged her as much as possible to talk of what she felt; and before breakfast was...
Chapter XIII
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

Elinor’s curiosity to see Mrs. Ferrars was satisfied.—She had found in her every thing that could tend to make a farther connection between the families, undesirable.—She had seen enough of her pride, her meanness, and her determined prejudice against herself, to comprehend all the...
Chapter XI
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

Mrs. Dashwood did not hear unmoved the vindication of her former favourite. She rejoiced in his being cleared from some part of his imputed guilt;—she was sorry for him;—she wished him happy. But the feelings of the past could not be recalled.—Nothing...
Chapter One
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

A mile from Mulhouse, near the Rhine, in the middle of the fertile plain, the camp had been set up. In the fading light of this August evening,* beneath a troubled sky laden with heavy clouds, the tents were pitched in rows, and...
Chapter Four
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

On 23 August, a Tuesday, at six o’clock in the morning, camp was struck, and the hundred thousand men of the Châlons army moved off, soon flowing in an immense stream, like a river of men spreading out momentarily into a lake, then resuming its...
The Commencement of the Great Orley Farm Case
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

It is not true that a rose by any other name will smell as sweet. Were it true, I should call this story ‘The Great Orley Farm Case’. But who would ask for the ninth number* of a serial work burthened with...
The Perils of Youth
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Going to Leicestershire was quite out of the question for young Orme at this period of his life, but going to London unfortunately was not so. He had become acquainted at Oxford with a gentleman of great skill in his peculiar line of life,...
Mrs Mason’s Hot Luncheon
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Though Mr Dockwrath was somewhat elated by this invitation to lunch, he was also somewhat abashed by it. He had been far from expecting that Mr Mason of Groby Park would do him any such honour, and was made aware by it of the...
Mr Furnival’s Chambers
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Mr Furnival’s chambers were on the first floor in a very dingy edifice in Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn. This square was always dingy, even when it was comparatively open and served as the approach from Chancery Lane to the Lord Chancellor’s Court; but now...
Guilty, or Not Guilty
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Unfortunately for Mr Furnival, the intruder was Mrs Furnival — whether he pleased or whether he did not please. There she was in his law chamber, present in the flesh, a sight pleasing neither to her husband nor to her husband’s client. She had knocked at...
Dinner at the Cleeve
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Lady Mason on her return from London found a note from Mrs Orme asking both her and her son to dine at The Cleeve on the following day. As it had been already settled between her and Sir Peregrine that Lucius should dine there...
Mr Dockwrath in Bedford Row
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Mr Dockwrath, as he left Leeds and proceeded to join the bosom of his family, was not discontented with what he had done. It might not improbably have been the case that Mr Mason would altogether refuse to see him, and having seen him,...
Von Bauhr
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

It will be remembered that Mr Crabwitz was sent across from Lincoln’s Inn to Bedford Row to ascertain the present address of old Mr Round. ‘Mr Round is at Birmingham,’ he said, coming back. ‘Every one connected with the profession is at Birmingham, except —— ’...

‘The...
Christmas at Noningsby
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

The house at Noningsby on Christmas-day was quite full, and yet it was by no means a small house. Mrs Arbuthnot, the judge’s married daughter, was there, with her three children; and Mr Furnival was there, having got over those domestic difficulties in which...
Breaking Covert
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

‘There’s a double ditch and bank that will do as well,’ Miss Tristram had said when she was informed that there was no gate out of the wood at the side on which the fox had broken. The gentleman who had tendered the...
What Bridget Bolster Had to Say
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

It has been said in the earlier pages of this story that there was no prettier scenery to be found within thirty miles of London than that by which the little town of Hamworth was surrounded. This was so truly the case that Hamworth...
What the Young Men Thought About It
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Lucius Mason at this time was living at home at Orley Farm, not by any means in a happy frame of mind. It will be perhaps remembered that he had at one time had an interview with Mr Furnival in that lawyer’s chambers, which...
John Kenneby Goes to Hamworth
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

When John Kenneby dined with his sister and brother-in-law on Christmas-day he agreed, at the joint advice of the whole party there assembled, that he would go down and see Mr Dockwrath at Hamworth, in accordance with the invitation received from that...
The Gem of the Four Families
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

And now we will go back to Noningsby. On that evening Graham ate his pheasant with a relish although so many cares sat heavy on his mind, and declared, to Mrs Baker’s great satisfaction, that the cook had managed to preserve the bread sauce...
The Evening Before the Trial
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

The eve of the trial had now come, and still there had been no confidence between the mother and the son. No words of kindness had been spoken with reference to that terrible event which was so near at hand. Lucius had in his...
The First Day of the Trial
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

And now the judge was there on the bench, the barristers and the attorneys were collected, the prisoner* was seated in their presence, and the trial was begun. As is usual in cases of much public moment, when a person of mark is...
Showing How John Kenneby and Bridget Bolster Bore Themselves in Court
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

On the next morning they were all in their places at ten o’clock, and the crowd had been gathered outside the doors of the court from a much earlier hour. As the trial progressed the interest in it increased, and as people began to...
Young Lochinvar
Authors: Trollope Anthony
Published: December 2020

Judge Staveley, whose court had not been kept sitting to a late hour by any such eloquence as that of Mr Furnival, had gone home before the business of the other court had closed. Augustus, who was his father’s marshal, remained for...
Chapter VII
Authors: Brontë Charlotte
Published: December 2020

My first quarter at Lowood seemed an age; and not the golden age either: it comprised an irksome struggle with difficulties in habituating myself to new rules and unwonted tasks. The fear of failure in these points harassed me worse than the physical hardships...
Chapter VIII
Authors: Brontë Charlotte
Published: December 2020

Ere the half-hour ended, five o’clock struck; school was dismissed, and all were gone into the refectory to tea. I now ventured to descend: it was deep dusk: I retired into a corner and sat down on the floor. The spell by which I...
Chapter X
Authors: Brontë Charlotte
Published: December 2020

The daylight came. I rose at dawn. I busied myself for an hour or two with arranging my things in my chamber, drawers and wardrobe, in the order wherein I should wish to leave them during a brief absence. Meantime, I heard St. John...
Chapter 1
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

At nine o’clock, the Théâtre des Variétés* was still almost empty. A few stray people in the dress circle and stalls, ensconced in deep crimson plush velvet, waited in the dim half-glow of the lamps. The dark curtain, in shadow, was like...
Chapter 6
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Comte Muffat, accompanied by his wife and daughter, had arrived the night before at Les Fondettes, where Madame Hugon, who was there alone with her son Georges, had invited them to stay the week. The house, built towards the end of the seventeenth century,...
Chapter 9
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

At the Variétés they were rehearsing La Petite Duchesse. They had just finished with Act One and were about to begin on Act Two. At the front of the stage in a couple of old armchairs Fauchery and Bordenave were having a...
Chapter 13
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Towards the end of September Comte Muffat, who was due at Nana’s for dinner that evening, arrived at dusk to tell her about a sudden summons he had received from the Tuileries. The lamps had not yet been lit, but there was loud laughter...
Chapter 14
Authors: Zola Émile
Published: December 2020

Suddenly Nana disappeared from view: she went under again, she fled, she took off to strange places. Before she left she had endured a stressful sale of the mansion, throwing out everything, including the furniture, jewels, fine clothes, and linen. Figures were bandied about,...
Chapter III
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

If it had really occurred to...
Chapter IV
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

‘Sir
James seems determined to do everything you wish,’ said Celia, as they were driving...
Chapter X
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Young Ladislaw did not pay that visit to which Mr Brooke had invited him, and only six days afterwards...
Chapter XXXVIII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Sir
James
Chettam could not look with any satisfaction on Mr Brooke’s new courses; but it was easier to object than to hinder. Sir James...
Chapter XLIV
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

When Dorothea, walking round the laurel-planted plots of the New Hospital with Lydgate, had learned from him that there were no signs of change in Mr Casaubon’s...
Chapter LII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

On that June evening when Mr Farebrother knew that he was to have the Lowick living, there was joy in the old-fashioned parlour, and even the portraits of the great lawyers seemed...
Chapter LIII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

It is but a shallow haste which concludeth insincerity from what outsiders call inconsistency—putting a dead mechanism of ‘ifs’ and ‘therefores’ for the living myriad of hidden suckers whereby the belief and the conduct are wrought into mutual sustainment.

Mr
Bulstrode, when he was...
Chapter LXVII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Happily Lydgate had ended by losing...
Chapter LXXIV
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

In Middlemarch a wife could not long remain ignorant that the town held a bad opinion of her husband. No feminine intimate might carry her friendship so far as...
Chapter LXXVIII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Rosamond and Will stood motionless—they did not know how long—he looking towards the spot where Dorothea had stood, and she looking towards him with doubt. It seemed an...
Chapter LXXXII
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Exiles notoriously feed much on hopes,* and are unlikely to stay in banishment unless they are obliged. When Will Ladislaw exiled himself from Middlemarch he had placed no stronger obstacle...
At Random
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

For a while the voyage of the Abraham Lincoln continued without any particular incident. Nevertheless, something did occur which served to demonstrate both Land’s remarkable prowess and the confidence one could have in him.

On 30 June,* off the Falklands, the frigate communicated...
Vanikoro
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

This terrible sight inaugurated a series of maritime disasters that the Nautilus was to encounter on its route. From the time it started moving through more-frequented seas, we often sighted sunken hulls, completely rotten and hanging in the water, or, deeper, cannons,...
A Few Days on Land
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

Setting foot on land again made quite an impression on me. Ned Land tested the ground with his foot as if to take possession of it. All the same, it was only two months that we had been what Captain Nemo called ‘the passengers...
The Indian Ocean
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

Here begins the second part of this voyage under the seas.* The first one ended with that moving scene in the coral cemetery, which left such a deep impression on me. So was Captain Nemo’s life spent completely in the bosom of...
The Greek Islands
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

The following day, 12 February, the Nautilus surfaced at daybreak. I rushed on to the platform. Three miles to the south the vague silhouette of Pelusium was outlined. A river had carried us from one sea to another. But this tunnel, although...
The Sargasso Sea
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

The direction of the Nautilus had not changed, so any hope of returning to European waters had to be put aside for the moment. Captain Nemo maintained a southerly course. Where was he taking us? I dared not think.

That day, the Nautilus...
Baleen and Sperm Whales
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

During the night of 13 to 14 March, the Nautilus continued on its route southwards. I thought that once at Cape Horn it would set sail for the west, in order to head for the seas of the Pacific and thus complete...
The South Pole
Authors: Verne Jules
Published: December 2020

I rushed on to the platform. Yes, the open sea! Just a few scattered ice-floes and floating icebergs. In the distance, a large sea; in the air, a world of birds; and myriads of fish in the water, which varied from deep blue...
The Story
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

The Loss of the Diamond (1848)

The events related by
Gabriel
Betteredge,* house-steward in the service of Julia, Lady Verinder*

Chapter I

In the first part of Robinson Crusoe, at page one hundred and twenty-nine,* you will...
II
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

One of the wildest of these stories related to a Yellow Diamond*—a famous gem in the native annals of India.

The earliest known traditions describe the stone as having been set in the forehead of the four-handed Indian god who typifies the Moon....
III
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

So, as told in our camp, ran the fanciful story of the Moonstone. It made no serious impression on any of us except my cousin—whose love of the marvellous induced him to believe it. On the night before the assault on Seringapatam, he was absurdly...
Chapter VII
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

While I was in this bewildered frame of mind, sorely needing a little quiet time by myself to put me right again, my daughter Penelope got in my way ( just as her late mother used to get in my way on the stairs), and...
Chapter XVI
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

We found my lady with no light in the room but the reading-lamp. The shade was screwed down so as to overshadow her face. Instead of looking up at us in her usual straightforward way, she sat close at the table, and kept her...
Chapter XVII
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

Nothing happened in the night; and (I am happy to add) no attempt at communication between Miss Rachel and Rosanna rewarded the vigilance of Sergeant Cuff.

I had expected the Sergeant to set off for Frizinghall the first thing in the morning. He waited about,...
Chapter XVIII
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

Going down to the front door, I met the Sergeant on the steps.

It went against the grain with me, after what had passed between us, to show him that I felt any sort of interest in his proceedings. In spite of myself, however, I...
Chapter XX
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

Those in front had spread the news before us. We found the servants in a state of panic. As we passed my lady’s door, it was thrown open violently from the inner side. My mistress came out among us (with Mr Franklin following, and...
Chapter VIII
Authors: Collins Wilkie
Published: December 2020

Late that evening, I was surprised at my lodgings by a visit from Mr Bruff.

There was a noticeable change in the lawyer’s manner. It had lost its usual confidence and spirit. He shook hands with me, for the first time in his life, in...
‘A Change Came O’er the Spirit of my Dream.’
Authors: Douglass Frederick
Published: December 2020

How the author learned to read—my mistress—her slaveholding duties—their deplorable effects upon her originally noble nature—the conflict in her mind—her final opposition to my learning to read—too late—she had given me the ‘inch,’ I was resolved to take the ‘ell’—how I pursued my education—my tutors—how...
The Vicissitudes of Slave Life.
Authors: Douglass Frederick
Published: December 2020

Death of old master’s son Richard, speedily followed by that of old master—valuation and division of all the property, including the slaves—my presence required at Hillsborough to be appraised and allotted to a new owner—my sad prospects and grief—parting—the utter powerlessness of the slaves to...
Chapter III
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

While leading the way upstairs, she recommended that I should hide the candle, and not make a noise, for her master had an odd notion about the chamber she would put me in, and never let anybody lodge there willingly.

I asked the reason.

She...
Chapter VII
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange five weeks, till Christmas. By that time her ankle was thoroughly cured, and her manners much improved. The mistress visited her often, in the interval, and commenced her plan of reform by trying to raise her self-respect with fine...
Chapter X
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

A charming introduction to a hermit’s life! Four weeks’ torture, tossing and sickness! Oh, these bleak winds and bitter, northern skies, and impassable roads, and dilatory country surgeons! And, oh, this dearth of the human physiognomy, and, worse than all, the terrible intimation of...
Chapter XI
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

Sometimes, while meditating on these things in solitude, I’ve got up in a sudden terror, and put on my bonnet to go see how all was at the farm; I’ve persuaded my conscience that it was a duty to warn him how people talked...
Chapter IV
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

The twelve years, continued Mrs. Dean, following that dismal period, were the happiest of my life: my greatest troubles, in their passage, rose from our little lady’s trifling illnesses, which she had to experience in common with all children, rich and poor.

For the rest,...
Chapter VII
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

We had sad work with little Cathy that day: she rose in high glee, eager to join her cousin; and such passionate tears and lamentations followed the news of his departure, that Edgar himself was obliged to sooth her, by affirming he should come...
Chapter VIII
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

Summer drew to an end, and early Autumn—it was past Michaelmas, but the harvest was late that year, and a few of our fields were still uncleared.

Mr. Linton and his daughter would frequently walk out among the reapers: at the carrying of the last...
Chapter X
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

At the close of three weeks, I was able to quit my chamber, and move about the house. And on the first occasion of my sitting up in the evening, I asked Catherine to read to me, because my eyes were weak. We were...
Chapter XIII
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

Seven days glided away, every one marking its course by the henceforth rapid alteration of Edgar Linton’s state. The havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated by the inroads of hours.

Catherine, we would fain have deluded yet, but her own quick spirit...
Chapter XV
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

The evening after the funeral, my young lady and I were seated in the library; now musing mournfully, one of us despairingly, on our loss, now venturing conjectures as to the gloomy future.

We had just agreed the best destiny which could await Catherine, would...
Chapter XVI
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

I have paid a visit to the Heights, but I have not seen her since she left; Joseph held the door in his hand, when I called to ask after her, and wouldn’t let me pass. He said Mrs. Linton was “thrang,”*...
Chapter XVIII
Authors: Brontë Emily
Published: December 2020

1802.—This September, I was invited to devastate the moors of a friend,* in the North; and, on my journey to his abode, I unexpectedly came within fifteen miles of Gimmerton. The hostler, at a roadside public-house, was holding a pail of water to...
Chapter I.
Authors: Shelley Mary
Published: December 2020

I am by birth a Genevese; and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics;* and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation. He was respected...
Chapter 8
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

The two Ladies continued walking together till rejoined by the others, who as they issued from the Library were followed by a young Whitby running off with five volumes under his arm to Sir Edward’s Gig—and Sir Edward approaching Charlotte, said ‘You may perceive...
Chapter 9
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

One day, soon after Charlotte’s arrival at Sanditon, she had the pleasure of seeing just as she ascended from the Sands to the Terrace, a Gentleman’s Carriage with Post Horses* standing at the door of the Hotel, as very lately arrived, and...
Chapter 10
Authors: Austen Jane
Published: December 2020

It was not a week, since Miss Diana Parker had been told by her feelings, that the Sea Air would probably in her present state, be the death of her, and now she was at Sanditon, intending to make some Stay, and without appearing...
Chapter II: Concerning the Colour of Men’s Hair
Authors: Hope Anthony
Published: December 2020

It was a maxim of my Uncle William’s that no man should pass through Paris without spending four-and-twenty hours there. My uncle spoke out of a ripe experience of the world, and I honoured his advice by putting up for a day and a...
Chapter XII: I Receive a Visitor and Bait a Hook
Authors: Hope Anthony
Published: December 2020

About five miles from Zenda—on the opposite side from that on which the Castle is situated, there lies a large tract of wood. It is rising ground, and in the centre of the demesne,* on the top of the hill, stands a...
Chapter XIV: A Night Outside the Castle
Authors: Hope Anthony
Published: December 2020

It would have surprised the good people of Ruritania to know of the foregoing talk; for, according to the official reports, I had suffered a grievous and dangerous hurt from an accidental spear-thrust, received in the course of my sport. I caused the bulletins...
Chapter XX: The Prisoner and the King
Authors: Hope Anthony
Published: December 2020

In order to a full understanding of what had occurred in the Castle of Zenda, it is necessary to supplement my account of what I myself saw and did on that night by relating briefly what I afterwards learnt from Fritz and from Madame...
Home and Its Sorrows
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

A Green valley with a brook running through it, full almost to overflowing with the late rains; overhung by low stooping willows. Across this brook a plank is thrown, and over this plank Adam Bede is passing with his undoubting step, followed close...
The Rector
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Before twelve o’clock there had been some heavy storms of rain, and the water lay in deep gutters on the sides of the gravel-walks in the garden of Broxton Parsonage; the great Provence roses had been cruelly tossed by the wind and beaten by...
Dinah Visits Lisbeth
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

At five o’clock Lisbeth came down-stairs with a large key in her hand: it was the key of the chamber where her husband lay dead. Throughout the day, except in her occasional outbursts of wailing grief, she had been in incessant movement, performing the...
In Which The Story Pauses A Little
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

“This Rector of Broxton is little better than a pagan!” I hear one of my readers* exclaim. “How much more edifying it would have been if you had made him give Arthur some truly spiritual advice. You might have put into...
Adam on A Working Day
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Notwithstanding Mr Craig’s prophecy, the dark-blue cloud dispersed itself without having produced the threatened consequences. “The weather,” as he observed the next morning—“the weather, you see, ’s a ticklish thing, an’ a fool ’ull hit on’t sometimes when a wise man misses; that’s why...
The Betrothal
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

It was a dry Sunday, and really a pleasant day for the 2nd of November. There was no sunshine, but the clouds were high, and the wind was so still that the yellow leaves which fluttered down from the hedgerow elms must have fallen...
The Journey in Hope
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

A Long, lonely journey, with sadness in the heart; away from the familiar to the strange: that is a hard and dreary thing even to the rich, the strong, the instructed: a hard thing, even when we are called by duty, not urged...
The Quest
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

The first ten days after Hetty’s departure passed as quietly as any other days with the family at the Hall Farm, and with Adam at his daily work. They had expected Hetty to stay away a week or ten days at least, perhaps a...
The Tidings
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Adam turned his face towards Broxton and walked with his swiftest stride, looking at his watch with the fear that Mr Irwine might be gone out—hunting, perhaps. The fear and haste together produced a state of strong excitement before he reached the Rectory gate;...
The Bitter Waters Spread
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

Mr
Irwine returned from Stoniton in a post-chaise that night, and the first words Carroll said to him, as he entered the house, were, that Squire Donnithorne was dead—found dead in his bed at ten o’clock that morning—and that Mrs Irwine desired him to...
The Verdict
Authors: Eliot George
Published: December 2020

The place fitted up that day as a court of justice was a grand old hall, now destroyed by fire. The mid-day light that fell on the close pavement of human heads, was shed through a line of high pointed windows, variegated with the...
Chapter I: A Discovery
Authors: Brontë Anne
Published: December 2020

You must go back with me to the autumn of 1827.

My father, as you know, was a sort of gentleman farmer in ——shire; and I, by his express desire, succeeded him in the same quiet occupation, not very willingly, for ambition urged me to...
Chapter XII: A Tête-À-Tête anđ A Discovery
Authors: Brontë Anne
Published: December 2020

In little more than twenty minutes, the journey was accomplished. I paused at the gate to wipe my streaming forehead, and recover my breath and some degree of composure. Already the rapid walking had somewhat mitigated my excitement; and with a firm and steady...
Chapter XIII: A Return to Duty
Authors: Brontë Anne
Published: December 2020

‘My dear Gilbert, I wish you would try to be a little more amiable,’ said my mother one morning after some display of unjustifiable ill humour on my part. ‘You say there is nothing the matter with you, and nothing has...
Chapter XIV: An Assault
Authors: Brontë Anne
Published: December 2020

Next morning, I bethought me, I, too, had business at L——; so I mounted my horse and set forth on the expedition, soon after breakfast. It was a dull, drizzly day; but that was no matter: it was all the more suitable to my...
Chapter XVI: The Warnings of Experience
Authors: Brontë Anne
Published: December 2020

June 1st, 1821.—We have just returned to Staningley—that is, we returned some days ago, and I am not yet settled, and feel as if I never should be. We left town sooner than was intended, in consequence of my uncle’s indisposition—I wonder what would...
Chapter XXII: Traits of Friendship
Authors: Brontë Anne
Published: December 2020

October 5th.—My cup of sweets is not unmingled: it is dashed with a bitterness that I cannot hide from myself, disguise it as I will. I may try to persuade myself that the sweetness overpowers it; I may call it a pleasant aromatic flavour;...