Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. THE WELLFIELDS. THE WELLFIELDS. A Novel. BY JESSIE FOTHERGILL, AUTHOR OF ‘THE FIRST VIOLIN’ AND ‘PROBATION.’ IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. [Illustration] LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. 1880. [_All Rights Reserved._] To MY FRIENDS AT LOWESWATER, IN REMEMBRANCE OF SOME PLEASANT DAYS SPENT THERE WITH THEM. [Illustration] CONTENTS OF VOL. I. PAGE PRELUDE 1 STAGE I. CHAPTER I. EMS 16 II. FRAU VON TROCKENAU’S ‘GESELLSCHAFT’ 41 III. A LANDPARTEI 72 IV. OF THE WELLFIELDS 116 V. FATHER AND SON ARRANGE ACCOUNTS 133 VI. AVICE READS A CHAPTER OF A NEW BOOK 155 VII. LIFE’S FULLEST STREAM 163 VIII. ‘CONTENT THEE WITH ONE BITTER WORD, ADIEU!’ 183 IX. ELLEN’S OPINION 195 STAGE II. I. WHAT MR. NETLEY SAID 204 II. MONK’S GATE 217 III. THE NEW MAN AND THE OLD ACRES 229 IV. NITA’S DIARY 258 V. WITH THE STREAM 265 [Illustration] THE WELLFIELDS. PRELUDE.