MRS. ARTHUR. BY MRS. OLIPHANT, AUTHOR OF “The Chronicles of Carlingford,” &c. &c. “Fie, fie! unknit that threat’ning, unkind brow, And dart not scornful glances from those eyes. * * * * * A woman mov’d is like a fountain troubled.” TAMING OF THE SHREW. “He breathed a sigh, and toasted Nancy!” DIBDIN. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1877. _All rights reserved._ MRS. ARTHUR. CHAPTER I. “Is Mr. Curtis here?” said a voice at the door. The door was so near the sitting-room that every demand made there was easily heard, and even answered from within; and, indeed, Mrs. Bates was in the habit of calling out an answer when it happened to be beyond the powers of the daughter or small servant who opened. But this question was one about which there was no difficulty. It was followed by a hearty laugh from the assembled family. “I should think he was--rather!” said Charley Bates, the son; and “Ask Nancy,” said Matilda, the eldest daughter.