Sophy of Kravonia: A Novel

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Hope Anthony. Sophy of Kravonia: A Novel

INTRODUCTION

PART I

MORPINGHAM

I. ENOCH GROUCH'S DAUGHTER

II. THE COOK AND THE CATECHISM

III. BEAUTIFUL JULIA – AND MY LORD

IV. FATE'S WAY – OR LADY MEG'S

V. THE VISION OF "SOMETHING BRIGHT"

PART II

PARIS

I. PHAROS, MANTIS, AND CO

II. THE LORD OF YOUTH

III. THE NOTE – AND NO REASONS

IV. THE PICTURE AND THE STAR

PART III

KRAVONIA

I. THE NAME-DAY OF THE KING

II. AT THE GOLDEN LION

III. THE VIRGIN WITH THE LAMP

IV. THE MESSAGE OF THE NIGHT

V. A QUESTION OF MEMORY

VI "IMPOSSIBLE" OR "IMMEDIATE"?

VII. THE BARONESS GOES TO COURT

VIII. MONSEIGNEUR'S UNIFORM

IX. COUNTESS ELLENBURG PRAYS

X. THE SOUND OF A TRUMPET

XI. M. ZERKOVITCH'S BEDROOM FIRE

XII. JOYFUL OF HEART

XIII. A DELICATE DUTY

XIV. HIS MAJESTY DIES – TO-MORROW!

XV. A JOB FOR CAPTAIN HERCULES

XVI. A FRENCHMAN AND A MATTRESS

XVII. INGENIOUS COLONEL STAFNITZ

XVIII. TO THE FAITHFUL CITY

XIX. THE SILVER RING

XX. THEY HAVE COLDS IN SLAVNA

XXI. ON SATURDAY AT MIKLEVNI!

XXII. JEALOUS OF DEATH

XXIII. A WOMAN AND A GHOST

XXIV. TRUE TO HER LOVE

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Grouch! That is the name – and in the interest of euphony it is impossible not to regret the fact. Some say it should be spelled "Groutch," which would not at all mend matters, though it makes the pronunciation clear beyond doubt – the word must rhyme with "crouch" and "couch." Well might Lady Meg Duddington swear it was the ugliest name she had ever heard in her life! Sophy was not of a very different opinion, as will be shown by-and-by. She was Grouch on both sides – unmixed and unredeemed. For Enoch Grouch married his uncle's daughter Sally, and begat, as his first child, Sophy. Two other children were born to him, but they died in early infancy. Mrs. Grouch did not long survive the death of her little ones; she was herself laid in Morpingham church-yard when Sophy was no more than five years old. The child was left to the sole care of her father, a man who had married late for his class – indeed, late for any class – and was already well on in middle age. He held a very small farm, lying about half a mile behind the church. Probably he made a hard living of it, for the only servant in his household was a slip of a girl of fifteen, who had, presumably, both to cook and scrub for him and to look after the infant Sophy. Nothing is remembered of him in Morpingham. Perhaps there was nothing to remember – nothing that marked him off from thousands like him; perhaps the story of his death, which lives in the village traditions, blotted out the inconspicuous record of his laborious life.

Morpingham lies within twenty-five miles of London, but for all that it is a sequestered and primitive village. It contained, at this time at least, but three houses with pretensions to gentility – the Hall, the Rectory, and a smaller house across the village street, facing the Rectory. At the end of the street stood the Hall in its grounds. This was a handsome, red-brick house, set in a spacious garden. Along one side of the garden there ran a deep ditch, and on the other side of the ditch, between it and a large meadow, was a path which led to the church. Thus the church stood behind the Hall grounds; and again, as has been said, beyond the church was Enoch Grouch's modest farm, held of Mr. Brownlow, the owner of the Hall. The church path was the favorite resort of the villagers, and deservedly, for it was shaded and beautified by a fine double row of old elms, forming a stately avenue to the humble little house of worship.

.....

A young man rode up the approach to the Hall lodge. His mare was a beauty; he sat her well. He was perfectly dressed for the exercise. His features were clear-cut and handsome. There was as fine an air of breeding about him as about the splendid Newfoundland dog which ran behind him.

Julia looked as she was bidden. "He's handsome," she said. "Why – " she laughed low – "I believe I know who it is – I think I've seen him somewhere."

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