THE NEST OF THE SPARROWHAWK _A ROMANCE OF THE XVIIth CENTURY_ BY THE BARONESS ORCZY _November, 1909_ CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER I. THE HOUSE OF A KENTISH SQUIRE II. ON A JULY AFTERNOON III. THE EXILE IV. GRINDING POVERTY V. THE LEGAL ASPECT VI. UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ELMS VII. THE STRANGER WITHIN THE GATES VIII. PRINCE AMÉDÉ D'ORLÉANS IX. SECRET SERVICE X. AVOWED ENMITY XI. SURRENDER XII. A WOMAN'S HEART XIII. AN IDEA PART II XIV. THE HOUSE IN LONDON XV. A GAME OF PRIMERO XVI. A CONFLICT XVII. RUS IN URBE XVIII. THE TRAP XIX. DISGRACE XX. MY LORD PROTECTOR'S PATROL PART III XXI. IN THE MEANWHILE XXII. BREAKING THE NEWS XXIII. THE ABSENT FRIEND XXIV. NOVEMBER THE 2D XXV. AN INTERLUDE XXVI. THE OUTCAST XXVII. LADY SUE'S FORTUNE XXVIII. HUSBAND AND WIFE XXIX. GOOD-BYE XXX. ALL BECAUSE OF THE TINDER-BOX XXXI. THE ASSIGNATION XXXII. THE PATH NEAR THE CLIFFS PART IV XXXIII. THE DAY AFTER XXXIV. AFTERWARDS XXXV. THE SMITH'S FORGE XXXVI. THE GIRL-WIFE XXXVII. THE OLD WOMAN XXXVIII. THE VOICE OF THE DEAD XXXIX. THE HOME-COMING OF ADAM LAMBERT XL. EDITHA'S RETURN XLI. THEIR NAME XLII. THE RETURN XLIII. THE SANDS OF EPPLE XLIV. THE EPILOGUE PART I The Nest of the Sparrowhawk CHAPTER I THE HOUSE OF A KENTISH SQUIRE Master Hymn-of-Praise Busy folded his hands before him ere he spoke: "Nay! but I tell thee, woman, that the Lord hath no love for such frivolities! and alack! but 'tis a sign of the times that an English Squire should favor such evil ways." "Evil ways? The Lord love you, Master Hymn-of-Praise, and pray do you call half an hour at the skittle alley 'evil ways'?" "Aye, evil it is to indulge our sinful bodies in such recreation as doth not tend to the glorification of the Lord and the sanctification of our immortal souls." He who sermonized thus unctuously and with eyes fixed with stern disapproval on the buxom wench before him, was a man who had passed the meridian of life not altogether--it may be surmised--without having indulged in some recreations which had not always the sanctification of his own immortal soul for their primary object. The bulk of his figure testified that he was not averse to good cheer, and there was a certain hidden twinkle underlying the severe expression of his eyes as they rested on the pretty face and round figure of Mistress Charity that did not necessarily tend to the glorification of the Lord. Apparently, however, the admonitions of Master Hymn-of-Praise made but a scanty impression on the young girl's mind, for she regarded him with a mixture of amusement and contempt as she shrugged her plump shoulders and said with sudden irrelevance: "Have you had your dinner yet, Master Busy?"