The author's name on the original title page was "Mrs. Hugh Bell". Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other inconsistencies. Typographical errors in punctuation (misplaced quotes and the like) have been fixed. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious error by the publisher is noted below: page 125: "Rendal" corrected to "Rendel" "Of course," he said, after listening to what Rendal[Rendel] had to say page 303: "toward's" corrected to "towards" Wentworth, with some inward wonder, pointing toward's[towards] Lady Adela's corner.