Transcriber's Notes: 1. Page scan source: https://books.google.com/books?id=rSgNAAAAYAAJ (Harvard University) THE DUCHESS OF ROSEMARY LANE. THE DUCHESS OF ROSEMARY LANE. A Novel. BY B. L. FARJEON, AUTHOR OF "GREAT PORTER SQUARE," "DEVLIN THE BARBER," "GRIF," "THE SACRED NUGGET," &c., &c. _SECOND EDITION_. LONDON: F. V. WHITE & CO., 31, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1893. PRINTED BY KELLY AND CO. LIMITED, GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, AND MIDDLE MILL, KINGSTON-ON-THAMES. CONTENTS. The Prologue. Part The First.--Spring Part The Second.--Summer Part The Third.--Autumn Part The Fourth.--Winter ---------- Part The First.--The Child Part The Second.--The Woman THE DUCHESS OF ROSEMARY LANE, THE DUCHESS OF ROSEMARY LANE. The Prologue. "We see The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose; And on old Hymen's chin and icy crown An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds Is, as in mockery, set." PART THE FIRST. SPRING. It is a lovely morning in April. The last drops of a radiant shower have fallen, and Nature is smiling through her tears, as might a happy maiden in the sparkling face of her lover, who, suddenly and unexpectedly, has brought her joyful tidings. The titlark and the whitethroat, and other feathered visitors of spring, are flying hither and thither in glad delight, singing their blithest songs, and carrying rays of sunlight on their wings to illumine the summer nests which they are building. Joyously busy are these graceful citizens of the woods, and proud of their work; they chirp, and twitter, and exchange glad greetings, as they fly hither and thither, and when they rest from their labour of love on the sprays of the common beech, they seem to be sitting in bell-shaped thrones of emerald, while the dew upon the flowers of the silver birch glitters like drops of molten gold in the eye of the sun.