THE REIGNING BELLE.
A SOCIETY NOVEL.
BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.
AUTHOR OF “MABEL’S MISTAKE; OR, THE LOST JEWELS,” “THE WIFE’S SECRET;
OR, GILLIAN,” “LORD HOPE’S CHOICE; OR, MORE SECRETS THAN ONE,” “BERTHA’S
ENGAGEMENT,” “BELLEHOOD AND BONDAGE; OR, BOUGHT WITH A PRICE,” “FASHION
AND FAMINE,” “PALACES AND PRISONS; OR, THE PRISONER OF THE BASTILE,”
“NORSTON’S REST,” “RUBY GRAY’S STRATEGY; OR, MARRIED BY MISTAKE,” “THE
OLD COUNTESS,” “THE HEIRESS; OR, THE GYPSY’S LEGACY,” “THE SOLDIER’S
ORPHANS,” “A NOBLE WOMAN; OR, A GULF BETWEEN THEM,” “MARY DERWENT,”
“DOUBLY FALSE; OR, ALIKE AND NOT ALIKE,” “THE GOLD BRICK,” “CURSE OF
GOLD,” “MARRIED IN HASTE,” “REJECTED WIFE,” “WIVES AND WIDOWS; OR, THE
BROKEN LIFE,” “SILENT STRUGGLES,” “THE OLD HOMESTEAD,” ETC.
“THE REIGNING BELLE,” by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, is a romantic and
thrilling novel of fashionable society, full of intensely dramatic
scenes and overflowing with absorbing interest. The action goes
straight ahead. So skilfully is the plot framed and handled that the
veil of mystery surrounding Eva Laurence, the beautiful shop-girl,
Mrs. Lambert, the society belle, and Herman Ross, the artist, cannot
be penetrated until the author sees fit to throw it aside. Eva is a
charming heroine, and the hero, Ivon Lambert, is a fine specimen of
American manhood. The love episodes are delightfully depicted. There
is much enjoyable humor in the novel, relieving the numerous exciting
incidents. The scene in the Lambert conservatory between Mrs. Lambert
and Ross, Mrs. Lambert’s jealous espionage of Ross at Mrs. Carter’s
party, the episode in the court-room and the exposure of Miss Spicer
are particularly stirring, but the whole romance is unusually powerful
and effective. Everybody should read “THE REIGNING BELLE” and enjoy a
rich treat. Mrs. Stephens’ novels are among the best and most popular
published, are admired by young and old alike, should be read by all,
and will be found for sale by all Booksellers.
PHILADELPHIA:
T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS;
306 CHESTNUT STREET.
COPYRIGHT:—1885.
T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS.
MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS’ WORKS.
EACH IS COMPLETE IN ONE LARGE DUODECIMO VOLUME.
_BELLEHOOD AND BONDAGE; or, Bought with a Price._
_LORD HOPE’S CHOICE; or, More Secrets Than One._
_THE OLD COUNTESS. Sequel to “Lord Hope’s Choice.”_
_BERTHA’S ENGAGEMENT._
_NORSTON’S REST._
_PALACES AND PRISONS; or, The Prisoner of the Bastile._
_RUBY GRAY’S STRATEGY; or, Married by Mistake._
_A NOBLE WOMAN; or, A Gulf Between Them._
_WIVES AND WIDOWS; or, The Broken Life._
_FASHION AND FAMINE._
_THE CURSE OF GOLD; or, The Bound Girl and Wife’s Trials._
_MABEL’S MISTAKE; or, The Lost Jewels._
_SILENT STRUGGLES. A Tale of Witchcraft._
_THE WIFE’S SECRET; or, Gillian._
_THE HEIRESS; or, The Gypsy’s Legacy._
_THE OLD HOMESTEAD; or, The Pet of the Poor House._
_THE REJECTED WIFE; or, The Ruling Passion._
_DOUBLY FALSE; or, Alike and Not Alike._
_THE REIGNING BELLE._
_MARRIED IN HASTE._
_THE SOLDIER’S ORPHANS._
_MARY DERWENT._
_THE GOLD BRICK._
Above Books are Bound in Morocco Cloth, Gilt. Price $1.50 Each.
☞ _Mrs. Stephens’ works are for sale by all Booksellers, or copies of
any one, or more of them, will be sent to any one, postage prepaid, or
free of freight, on remitting the price of the ones wanted to the
publishers,_
_T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,
306 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa._
“THE REIGNING BELLE” is one of the most powerful, original and exciting
society novels ever published. Though Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, its famous
and gifted author, has written many superb romances, she has surpassed
herself in this. The scene is laid in New York, and fashionable society
is liberally drawn upon, while lowly life also comes in for its share of
treatment. The plot is thrilling, intricate and managed with consummate
art, the reader being kept in complete ignorance of what the end is to
be until it comes. In the web of impenetrable mystery a lost child, Eva
Laurence, Herman Ross and Mrs. Lambert are involved, and upon them and
their hidden relation to each other the thrilling romance hinges. Eva is
a handsome shop-girl, who is adopted by the wife of a shoddy
millionaire, Ross an artist with a past full of shadows, and Mrs.
Lambert a society belle. Humor is furnished in abundance and stirring
episodes come thick and fast. Eva has a devoted admirer in Ivon Lambert,
and the love scenes between the pair are natural and delicious. “THE
REIGNING BELLE” is certain to find hosts of readers, and it possesses
every requisite to delight and fascinate them all. Mrs. Stephens, as a
writer, ranks among the best of all American authors, and her novels
should be read by every lover of absorbing fiction, for they are among
the best and most popular published, and will be found for sale by all
Booksellers everywhere, or copies of any or all of them will be sent to
any one, to any place, post-paid, on receipt of price by the publishers.
CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I.— THE SHOPPING PARTY 25
II.— THE GIRL OF THE TIMES 28
III.— A HUMBLE HOME 32
IV.— LITTLE JIMMY GOES AFTER WORK 38
V.— A FEAST AFTER A FAMINE 42
VI.— IN THE MORNING 47
VII.— SUNSHINE 51
VIII.— TRYING THINGS ON 55
IX.— THE LAMBERT MANSION 59
X.— DAWNING PROSPERITY 64
XI.— GOSSIP IN THE BASEMENT 69
XII.— JAMES MAKES AN ACQUAINTANCE 74
XIII.— THE GENTLE INVALID 80
XIV.— THE POLICEMAN’S DEATH 84
XV.— ARTIST SYMPATHY 89
XVI.— MRS. CARTER MAKES A VISIT 92
XVII.— THE FIRST BANK NOTES 97
XVIII.— OLD FRIENDS 101
XIX.— MR. BATTLES IS DISGUSTED 105
XX.— OVER THEIR TEA 108
XXI.— A SLIGHT ALTERCATION 111
XXII.— THE FIRST FRUITS OF GENIUS 115
XXIII.— THE HIDDEN PACKAGE 119
XXIV.— WHICH RIVER 123
XXV.— THE PAWNBROKER 131
XXVI.— THE PAWNBROKER’S OFFICE 135
XXVII.— MRS. CARTER STANDS BY HER OLD FRIENDS 137
XXVIII.— YOUNG LAMBERT SPEAKS OUT 142
XXIX.— MISS SPICER 145
XXX.— OLD MEMORIES AND PRESENT STRUGGLES 149
XXXI.— BITTER JEALOUSY 152
XXXII.— DRESSING FOR THE PARTY 156
XXXIII.— ABOUT THE ROSES AND VIOLETS 159
XXXIV.— MRS. CARTER BECOMES FASHIONABLE 164
XXXV.— A STRANGE PROPOSAL 168
XXXVI.— THE WAY SHE MANAGED HIM 171
XXXVII.— A GLIMPSE OF FAIRY LAND 175
XXXVIII.— FIGHTING ANGUISH 178
XXXIX.— MR. AND MRS. SMITH 181
XL.— OLD LOVERS 184
XLI.— IVON AND EVA 187
XLII.— A WOMAN TRANSFIGURED 190
XLIII.— HERSELF AGAIN 194
XLIV.— CLOSING THE SHUTTERS 198
XLV.— WATCHING FROM THE PAVEMENT 202
XLVI.— AFTER THE PARTY 206
XLVII.— HOW MISS SPICER AND ELLEN POST FRATERNIZE 210
XLVIII.— FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS 213
XLIX.— MR. MAHONE 217
L.— A BARGAIN AT LAST 221
LI.— A BOY IN PRISON 224
LII.— THE SECOND ARREST 228
LIII.— THE WOMAN IN THE LAUNDRY 230
LIV.— PREPARING FOR THE WEDDING 234
LV.— EVA’S TEMPTATION 238
LVI.— MRS. SMITH BRINGS PAINFUL NEWS 242
LVII.— IN HASTE FOR THE WEDDING 246
LVIII.— MOTHER AND SON 253
LIX.— THE EXAMINATION COMPLETED 259
LX.— AN UNEXPECTED WITNESS 264
LXI.— WAITING FOR NEWS 271
LXII.— THE MORTGAGE 276
LXIII.— THE PRICE OF A BRACELET 280
LXIV.— THE ADOPTION 283
LXV.— IN THE PARK 286
LXVI.— THE INDIA SHAWL 292
LXVII.— THE PAWNBROKER GETS HIS PRICE 296
LXVIII.— MISS SPICER RECEIVES HER DISMISSAL 299
LXIX.— THE TRUTH 304
LXX.— OUR CHILD 308
LXXI.— A DOUBLE WEDDING 313
THE REIGNING BELLE.
CHAPTER I.
THE SHOPPING PARTY.
Around her were such glowing colors, in masses, or floating airily
through the room, that a face less richly tinted would have seemed pale
by contrast. Behind her was a pile of India shawls, in which the rays of
a gorgeous sunset seemed to have mellowed down in one soft, glowing
heap. By her side was a morning-dress of Oriental cashmere, with vivid
palm leaves running far up the skirt, which trailed down from the wire
skeleton that supported it, and swept the floor like the plumage of a
peacock.
In fact this vast show-room was one panorama of bright, beautiful
things; and most beautiful of all was the young girl, with her rich
complexion, just verging on the brunette, and her large, blue-gray eyes,
that looked out from their sweeping lashes like shadowed waters where
the rushes grow thickly. Her hair, too, was lustrous and abundant,
neither black, auburn, nor brown, but with a gleam of each as the light
chanced to fall on it.
The face, we have so imperfectly described, was turned toward a flight
of stairs that led from the more general warerooms below, and across it
flew a shadow of pride or pain, as a party of ladies, accompanied by one
gentleman, came up the stairs, and loitered along the show-room, where
she was standing. One of the clerks went forward to meet the party, and
turning, walked by the side of the younger lady, who came on somewhat in
advance of the rest, politely attentive to business.
“Shawls, did you say?”
“Yes,” answered the young lady, smiling blandly in the face of the
clerk, whose soft amber beard stirred almost imperceptibly with an
answering smile. “I scarcely know yet what we do want; but my friend has
a perfect passion for shawls, and I dare say will add another to the
variety she has stored away in her cedar-closet, where even the moths
are forbidden to touch them. Oh Mrs. Lambert! here is something lovely!”
The elder lady came forward, and, taking out her gold-mounted eye-glass,
examined the shawl which had struck the young lady’s attention. It was,
indeed, a fabric of wonderful beauty, soft, firm, and wrought in with a
splendor of harmonious colors, which the most perfect taste alone could
appreciate. But the lady who examined this exquisite workmanship well
understood its value, and after making herself mistress of all its
perfections, quietly inquired the price.
The sum named would have bought a pretty homestead for some poor family
in the country. The lady seemed in no way surprised by the amount, but
took the shawl from its stand, while the young lady beckoned the girl,
who had withdrawn a little way off, to try it on.
This young creature came forward, not blushing under the astonished eyes
turned upon her, but rather growing pale, with a keen feeling of
humiliation, and submitted her queenly person to be enveloped in the
rich folds of the shawl. When she felt all those strange eyes upon her
the color came back to her face, while the downcast lashes swept her
glowing cheeks, and her lips began to quiver, as if a burst of tears
were struggling upward.
“Mother,” said the young gentleman, in a low voice, “the counter would
be a better place.”
“No, no!” broke in the very positive young person, whom the elder lady
addressed as Miss Spicer, who leaned forward and touched the shoulder
over which the shawl was draped with her parasol. “Nothing like a live
person to carry off a thing like this. Please move forward and let us
see how it falls upon the train. Superb, isn’t it?”
Eva Laurence lifted her eyelids with a sudden flash, and stepped back
from the insolent touch of that parasol, with a gesture at once haughty
and graceful. Then, remembering what was expected of her, she moved
across the floor, displaying the shawl in every fold as it swept from
her shoulders, down the long, black train of her dress. All other eyes
were fixed upon the garment, but young Lambert saw that her bosom
heaved, and the hands folded over the shawl trembled. He was turning
away, touched by this evidence of painful embarrassment, when Miss
Spicer darted forward, seized upon Eva’s train, and spread it out upon
the floor, exclaiming,
“There now, that’s something like. Isn’t it superb?”
“It is, indeed!” answered Mrs. Lambert, surveying the tall, well-formed
girl with her glass. “What do you think, of it Ivon?”
“What do I think, mother? Why, that the young lady will be tired to
death before you have made up your mind. Permit me——”
Here young Lambert lifted the shawl gently from Eva’s shoulders, and
laid it on the counter.
Eva drew a deep breath and moved off to a window, resentful and hurt,
she could scarcely tell why—for had she not come to that place for the
very purpose that wounded her so? Did she not receive extra compensation
because her stately figure carried off those costly garments to such
advantage? What right had she that this patrician party had invaded?
Still the girl’s cheek burned, and her shoulders felt heavy, as if a
burden more oppressive than twenty shawls bore them down.