Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by Google Books Transcriber's Notes: 1. Page scan source: Google Books https://books.google.com/books?id=B05FAQAAMAAJ Novels, Volume 23 (University of Minnesota) COURT NETHERLEIGH. COURT NETHERLEIGH. A Novel. BY MRS. HENRY WOOD, AUTHOR OF "EAST LYNNE," "THE CHANNINGS," "JOHNNY LUDLOW," ETC. Eighteenth Thousand. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. 1889. (_All rights reserved_.) CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Miss Margery. II. The Shot. III. Left To Robert. IV. At Chenevix House. V. Lady Adela. VI. All Down-hill. VII. Desperation. VIII. Perversity. IX. Joseph Horn's Testimony. X. A Costly Mania. XI. With Madame Damereau. XII. A Lecture. XIII. Folly. XIV. Lady Adela. XV. The Day of Reckoning. XVI. The Diamond Bracelet. XVII. Driven into Exile. XVIII. An Unpleasant Rumour. XIX. Flirtation. XX. A Present of Coffee. XXI. Given into Custody. XXII. "That it may be well with us in after-life." XXIII. Tracing the Notes. XXIV. A Disagreeable Expedition. XXV. Sir Turtle Kite. XXVI. Infatuation. XXVII. Separation. XXVIII. On the Way from Blackheath. XXIX. A Dreary Life. XXX. Last Words. XXXI. In the Old Château. XXXII. Adela Startled. XXXIII. Despair. XXXIV. On Lady Livingstone's Arm. XXXV. Light at Last. XXXVI. Visitors at Moat Grange. XXXVII. An Alarm. XXXVIII. Robert Dalrymple. XXXIX. Lady Adela. XL. At Court Netherleigh. XLI. Conclusion. COURT NETHERLEIGH. CHAPTER I. MISS MARGERY. In the midst of the Berkshire scenery, so fair and wealthy, this pleasant little place, Netherleigh, nestled in a sylvan hollow. It was only a small, unpretending hamlet at its best, and its rustic inhabitants were hard-working and simple. On a wide extent of country, surrounded on all sides as far as the eye could reach, with its forests, its hills and valleys, its sparkling streams, sat many a noble mansion of ancient or modern architecture, and of more or less note in the county. Farm homesteads might be seen, surrounded by their outbuildings, their barns and substantial hayricks. Labourers' cottages were dotted about; and the men themselves toiled at their several occupations.