Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) PECCAVI BY E. W. HORNUNG AUTHOR OF "THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN," "MY LORD DUKE," "YOUNG BLOOD," ETC. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK 1901 COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS All rights reserved THE CAXTON PRESS NEW YORK. CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Dust to Dust 1 II. The Chief Mourner 11 III. A Confession 18 IV. Midsummer Night 29 V. The Man Alone 45 VI. Fire 51 VII. The Sinner's Prayer 66 VIII. The Lord of the Manor 77 IX. A Duel Begins 89 X. The Letter of the Law 100 XI. Labour of Hercules 115 XII. A Fresh Discovery 125 XIII. Devices of a Castaway 131 XIV. The Last Resort 137 XV. His Own Lawyer 150 XVI. End of the Duel 162 XVII. Three Weeks and a Night 186 XVIII. The Night's Work 193 XIX. The First Winter 209 XX. The Way of Peace 230 XXI. At the Flint House 249 XXII. A Little Child 262 XXIII. Design and Accident 275 XXIV. Glamour and Rue 291 XXV. Signs of Change 306 XXVI. A Very Few Words 316 XXVII. An Escape 323 XXVIII. The Turning Tide 335 XXIX. A Haven of Hearts 348 XXX. The Woman's Hour 362 XXXI. Advent Eve 378 XXXII. The Second Time 390 XXXIII. Sanctuary 397 PECCAVI I DUST TO DUST Long Stow church lay hidden for the summer amid a million leaves. It had neither tower nor steeple to show above the trees; nor was the scaffolding between nave and chancel an earnest of one or the other to come. It was a simple little church, of no antiquity and few exterior pretensions, and the alterations it was undergoing were of a very practical character. A sandstone upstart in a countryside of flint, it stood aloof from the road, on a green knoll now yellow with buttercups, and shaded all day long by horse-chestnuts and elms. The church formed the eastern extremity of the village of Long Stow.