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Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915

"Phantom Fortune, a Novel"

'
'We had plenty of roughing on the shores of the St. Lawrence,' answered
Hammond. 'Summer idleness in a drawing-room is an agreeable variety.'
It is not to be supposed that John Hammond's state of mind could long
remain unperceived by the keen eyes of the dowager. She saw the gradual
dawning of his love, she saw the glow of its meridian. She was pleased
to behold this proof of Lesbia's power over the heart of man. So would
she conquer the man foredoomed to be her husband when the coming time
should bring them together. But agreeable as the fact of this first
conquest might be, as an evidence of Lesbia's supremacy among women, the
situation was not without its peril; and Lady Maulevrier felt that she
could no longer defer the duty of warning her granddaughter. She had
wished, if possible, to treat the thing lightly to the very last, so
that Lesbia should never know there had been danger. She had told her, a
few days ago, that those drives, and walks with the two young men were
undignified, even although guarded by the Fraeulein's substantial
presence.


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