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A Lady of Quality | Frances Hodgson Burnett | |
"In One who will do justice, and demands that it shall be done to each thing He has made, by each who bears His image" |
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Her Grace, entering the house, went with her woman straight to her chamber, and shortly emerged therefrom, stripped of her rich apparel, and clad in a gown of strong blue linen, her hair wound close, her white hands bare of any ornament, save the band of gold which was her wedding-ring. A serving-woman might have been clad so; but the plainness of her garb but made her height, and strength, so reveal themselves, that the mere sight of her woke somewhat that was like to awe in the eyes of the servants who beheld her as she passed. She needed not to be led, but straightway followed the awful sounds, until she reached the chamber behind whose door they were shut. Upon the huge disordered bed, Sir Jeoffry writhed, and tried to tear himself, his great sinewy and hairy body almost stark. Two of the stable men were striving to hold him. The duchess went to his bedside and stood there, laying her strong white hand upon his shuddering shoulder. "Father," she said, in a voice so clear, and with such a ring of steady command, as, the men said later, might have reached a dead man's ear. "Father, 'tis Clo!" Sir Jeoffry writhed his head round and glared at her, with starting eyes and foaming mouth. "Who says 'tis Clo?" he shouted. "'Tis a lie! She was ever a bigger devil than any other, though she was but a handsome wench. Jack himself could not manage her. She beat him, and would beat him now. 'Tis a lie!" |
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A Lady of Quality Frances Hodgson Burnett |
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