E-text prepared by Al Haines Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 17938-h.htm or 17938-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/3/17938/17938-h/17938-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/3/17938/17938-h.zip) CONTRARY MARY by TEMPLE BAILEY Author of Glory of Youth Illustrations by Charles S. Corson [Frontispiece: She flashed a quick glance at him.] New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers Copyright 1914 by The Penn Publishing Company First printing, December, 1914 Second printing, February, 1915 Third printing, March, 1915 Fourth printing, March, 1915 Fifth printing, April, 1915 Sixth printing, July, 1915 Seventh printing, November, 1915 To My Sister Contents CHAPTER I In Which Silken Ladies Ascend One Stairway, and a Lonely Wayfarer Ascends Another and Comes Face to Face with Old Friends. CHAPTER II In Which Rose-Leaves and Old Slippers Speed a Happy Pair; and in Which Sweet and Twenty Speaks a New and Modern Language, and Gives a Reason for Renting a Gentleman's Library. CHAPTER III In Which a Lonely Wayfarer Becomes Monarch of All He Surveys; and in Which One Who Might Have Been Presented as the Hero of this Tale is Forced, Through No Fault of His Own, to Take His Chances with the Rest. CHAPTER IV In Which a Little Bronze Boy Grins in the Dark; and in Which Mary Forgets that There is Any One Else in the House. CHAPTER V In Which Roger Remembers a Face and Delilah Remembers a Voice; and in Which a Poem and a Pussy Cat Play an Important Part. CHAPTER VI In Which Mary Brings Christmas to the Tower Rooms, and in Which Roger Declines a Privilege for Which Porter Pleads. CHAPTER VII In Which Aunt Frances Speaks of Matrimony as a Fixed Institution and is Met by Flaming Arguments; and in Which a Strange Voice Sings Upon the Stairs. CHAPTER VIII In Which Little-Lovely Leila Sees a Picture in an Unexpected Place; and in Which Perfect Faith Speaks Triumphantly Over the Telephone. CHAPTER IX In Which Roger Sallies Forth in the Service of a Damsel in Distress; and in Which He Meets Dragons Along the Way. CHAPTER X In Which a Scarlet Flower Blooms in the Garden; and in Which a Light Flares Later in the Tower. CHAPTER XI In Which Roger Writes a Letter; and in Which a Rose Blooms Upon the Pages of a Book. CHAPTER XII In Which Mary and Roger Have Their Hour; and in Which a Tea-Drinking Ends in What Might Have Been a Tragedy. CHAPTER XIII In Which the Whole World is at Sixes and Sevens; and in Which Life is Looked Upon as a Great Adventure. CHAPTER XIV In Which Mary Writes from the Tower Rooms; and in Which Roger Answers from Among the Pines. CHAPTER XV In Which Barry and Leila Go Over the Hills and Far Away; and in Which a March Moon Becomes a Honeymoon. CHAPTER XVI