Transcriber's notes: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed. New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. THE CHILDREN OF STANTON-CORBET; OR, _Tales of English Children_ FROM THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY TO THAT OF QUEEN ANNE. [Illustration: _Lady Lucy's Secret—Frontispiece._ Aunt Bernard stood transfixed with amazement and anger.] _The Children of Stanton-Corbet Series._ _[Year 1704]_ —————————————————— LADY LUCY'S SECRET; OR, THE GOLD THIMBLE. _By the Author of_ "NELLY, OR THE BEST INHERITANCE," "OPPOSITE NEIGHBOURS," "IRISH AMY," ETC. _[Lucy Ellen Guernsey]_ —————————————————— PHILADELPHIA: AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION NO. 1122 CHESTNUT STREET. —————————————————— _NEW YORK: Nos. 7 & 8 BIBLE HOUSE._ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by the _AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,_ in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. LADY LUCY'S SECRET; OR, _The Gold Thimble._ ——————— CHAPTER I. I WONDER whether, if you had seen Lady Lucy sitting at her work that warm August morning, you would have thought her a person to be envied. She certainly looked very pretty, and not at all unhappy, as she sat in her straight-backed chair, carrying her long-waisted, snugly-laced little figure very upright, her shoulders down, and her chin drawn in,—bridled, as the phrase went. In those days—for this was at the beginning of the eighteenth century—great attention was paid to the carriage of young ladies,—more than appears to be thought necessary at the present time, to judge by the attitudes into which I often see little girls throw themselves, even in company. They were taught to sit and stand very upright, to carry their arms carefully, to turn out their toes and hold up their heads. No stooping was permitted over books or work; and while Lady Lucy was living with her aunt Bernard, she used to have a bunch of knitting-needles stuck into her bodice, to keep her from "poking" over her work.