A Heart's Bitterness — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A HEART’S BITTERNESS. — q “She was a Lady Lucy Montressor, Lady Clare’s aunt?” — ‘“Yes, and as unfortunate in having too little money as her child is in having too much. There were five daughters and a son—ancient and poor—as some recent earls had indulged in gambling and horse-racing. They all © married rich—Lady Lucy, in marrying the banker, Fred- — erick Ainslie, richest of all. The present earl married the heiress of a great manufacturer , ‘© And Lady Lucy died young?” 3 ““She married at seventeen, and died at twenty-nine, © when her only child was two years old.” ““Do you know, Violet seems to me like a little princess out of a fairy tale.. Just think of the ten years, from five to fifteen, that she spent with her grandmother in the great gray, grim, ancient mansion in the Lincolnshire fens—a real ‘ Mariana in the Moated Grange! Fancy! She saw no one but the grandmother, the servants, the governess, the rector, and the lawyer. Every one of them older than the other, and she never was allowed to read poetry, except — some dreadful old stuff out of date long ago, never a novel, nor to see a young person, and when the grandmother died, it was as if Violet was let out of a great state prison, as his- toric princesses from the tower.” ‘© Tt was so, indeed. And owing to her shyness, and the domestic tastes of her aunt, Mrs. Ainslie, Violet, with only her very moderate knowledge of society, gained in part of one quiet season, is still to all intents a twelve-year-old child!” “You quite frighten me, putting it that way,” said Grace, realy tears sweeping into her bright eyes. ‘‘ Indeed the girl can hardly know her mind.” Lady Burton bent her head on her hand, a look of deep anxiety passing over her pale, high-bred face. ‘ ‘Do not grieve, dear Lady Burton,” said the spoiled - beauty at her feet, patting her cheek; ‘‘let us have no dark comic ,OO0KS-com