Produced by David Clarke, Annie McGuire and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) ******************************************************* Transcriber's Note: The author was inconsistent in the use of single quotes in contracted words. All have been retained as in the original. ******************************************************* THE TINTED VENUS A Farcical Romance BY F. ANSTEY AUTHOR OF "THE GIANT'S ROBE," "VICE VERSA," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY BERNARD PARTRIDGE NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER AND BROTHERS 1898 "To you, Free and ingenious spirits, he doth now In me, present his service, with his vow He hath done his best; and, though he cannot glory In his invention (this work being a story Of reverend antiquity), he doth hope In the proportion of it, and the scope, You may observe some pieces drawn like one Of a steadfast hand; and with the whiter stone To be marked in your fair censures. More than this I am forbid to promise." MASSINGER. CONTENTS. PAGE I. IN PURSUIT OF PLEASURE 3 II. PLEASURE IN PURSUIT 27 III. A DISTINGUISHED STRANGER 43 IV. FROM BAD TO WORSE 55 V. AN EXPERIMENT 77 VI. TWO ARE COMPANY 93 VII. A FURTHER PREDICAMENT 109 VIII. BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP SEA 127 IX. AT LAST! 151 X. DAMOCLES DINES OUT 169 XI. DENOUNCED 189 XII. AN APPEAL 207 XIII. THE LAST STRAW 227 XIV. THE THIRTEENTH TRUMP 241 XV. THE ODD TRICK 263 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE "THERE," HE SAID TRIUMPHANTLY, "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MADE FOR HER!" 25 "ANSWER ME," HE SAID ROUGHLY; "IS THIS SOME LARK OF YOURS?" 32 "DID YOU WANT TO SEE ME ON--ON BUSINESS, MUM?" 47 "WHAT WOULD BE DONE TO HIM?" ASKED THE HAIRDRESSER, WITH A QUITE UNPLEASANT INTERNAL SENSATION 67