Produced by Al Haines. *MISS ESPERANCE AND MR WYCHERLY* BY L. ALLEN HARKER AUTHOR OF "A ROMANCE OF THE NURSERY," "CONCERNING PAUL AND FIAMMETTA," "HIS FIRST LEAVE," ETC. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1908 COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS Published September, 1908 *BOOKS BY L. ALLEN HARKER* PUBLISHED BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS Miss Esperance and Mr. Wycherly His First Leave Concerning Paul and Fiammetta A Romance of the Nursery *CONTENTS* CHAPTER I. Which Introduces Them II. The Coming of the Children III. The Education of Mr. Wycherly IV. The Secretiveness of Mause V. Robina VI. The Awakening of Mr. Wycherly VII. Elsa Drives the Nail Home VIII. Edmund Rechristens Mr. Wycherly IX. Cupid Abroad X. The Sabbath XI. Loaves and Fishes XII. The Village XIII. A Meeting XIV. A Parting XV. The Bethune Temperament XVI. The Coming of the Colonel XVII. Mr. Wycherly Goes Into Society XVIII. Montagu and His Aunt XIX. The Fond Adventure XX. A Question of Theology XXI. In which Mr. Wycherly Hangs Up His College Arms XXII. Vale "_Love is an excellent thing, a great good indeed, which alone maketh light all that is burthensome and equally bears all that is unequal. For it carrieth a burthen without being burthened and maketh all that which is bitter sweet and savoury._" *MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY* *CHAPTER I* *WHICH INTRODUCES THEM* And the kingdom of heaven is of the child-like, of those who are easy to please, who love and who give pleasure.—R.L.S. Just as a Royal Princess is known only by her Christian name, so "Miss Esperance" was known to her many friends by hers. It would have seemed an impertinence to add anything more: there was only one Miss Esperance, and even quite commonplace people, deficient in imagination and generally prosaic in their estimate of their acquaintance, acknowledged, perhaps unconsciously, that in Miss Esperance was to be found in marked degree "that hardy and high serenity," distinguishing quality of the truly great.