Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/infidelstoryofgr00brad THE INFIDEL A Story of the Great Revival by M. E. BRADDON Author of "Lady Audley's Secret," "Vixen," "London Pride," etc._ London Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd. 1900 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. GRUB-STREET SCRIBBLERS CHAPTER II. MISS LESTER, OF THE PATENT THEATRES CHAPTER III. AT MRS. MANDALAY'S ROOMS CHAPTER IV. A MORNING CALL CHAPTER V. A SERIOUS FAMILY CHAPTER VI. A WOMAN WHO COULD SAY NO CHAPTER VII. PRIDE CONQUERS LOVE CHAPTER VIII. THE LOVE THAT FOLLOWS THE DEAD CHAPTER IX. THE SANDS RUN DOWN CHAPTER X. A DUTY VISIT CHAPTER XI. ANTONIA'S INITIATION CHAPTER XII. "SO RUN THAT YE MAY OBTAIN" CHAPTER XIII. IN ST. JAMES'S SQUARE CHAPTER XIV. "ONE THREAD IN LIFE WORTH SPINNING" CHAPTER XV. "MY LADY AND MY LOVE" CHAPTER XVI. DEATH AND VICTORY CHAPTER XVII. SWORD AND BIBLE CHAPTER XVIII. "AS A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED" CHAPTER XIX. "CHOOSE OF TWO LOVERS" CHAPTER XX. "AND CLEAVE UNTO THE BEST" EPILOGUE. CHAPTER I. GRUB-STREET SCRIBBLERS. Father and daughter worked together at the trade of letters in the days when George the Second was king and Grub Street was a reality. For them literature was indeed a trade, since William Thornton wrote only what the booksellers wanted, and adjusted the supply to the demand. No sudden inspirations, no freaks of a vagabond fancy ever distracted him from the question of bread and cheese; so many sides of letter-paper to produce so many pounds. He wrote everything. He contributed verse as well as prose to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and had been the winner of one of those prizes which the liberal Mr. Cave offered for the best poem sent to him. Nothing came amiss to his facile pen. In politics he was strong--on either side. He could write for or against any measure, and had condemned and applauded the same politicians in fiery articles above different aliases, anticipating by the vehemence of his phrases the coming guineas. He wrote history or natural history for the instruction of youth, not so well as Goldsmith, but with a glib directness that served. He wrote philosophy for the sick-bed of old age, and romance to feed the dreams of lovers. He stole from the French, the Spaniards, the Italians, and turned Latin epigrams into English jests. He burnt incense before any altar, and had written much that was base and unworthy when the fancy of the town set that way, and a ribald pen was at a premium. He had written for the theatres with fair success, and his manuscript sermons at a crown apiece found a ready market.