land ruddy in the ruddy dawn, watched over by the morning star, a land fair with the promise of flowery meadows, of whiteblossoming trees; he seems once more, as in a dream, to breathe the scent of dewy hawthorn in the glen, to see the small folded daisies in the grass, to hear the chorus of awakening birds, to taste the nameless rapture of the summer dawn. Alas! the shore recedes, the morning-star sinks down, winds and waves pipe and moan around. A tardy sun will presently gleam again, kindly breezes will yet waft the wanderer on his way, but the gracious promise that crowned the glory of that morning-land is gone for ever. So he, who writes these words, sees once more, as in a clear vision, the blossoming years, the far gleaming spaces, the storms and darkness of his youth. I HAVE a little daughter Fanny, a trim little maiden of seven years old, with light curling hair and blue eyes and shining black shoes, in which she goes trotting round her father's studio looking at the pictures he is painting, and giving her opinion on them very freely and more honestly, perhaps, than some of his critics. Fanny does not, indeed, profess to care much about pictures, and owns at times with great frankness that she thinks them all very dull; but she has her favourites among them nevertheless, and is not a little affronted when coming again, as sometimes happens, to look at one of these, she finds it has been sent away, never to return. In her disappointment, she will turn then to a half-finished portrait which, as it always stands in the same place, it pleases the child to call her own. "This is my picture," she will say, standing to contemplate it with her hands. clasped behind her back, "my beautiful Princess Ersilia. What was her other MY LITTLE LADY. 66 BY THE AUTHOR OF ERSILIA." THE TIMES. "There is a great deal of fascination about this book. The au thor writes in a clear unaffected style. She has a decided gift for depicting character; while the descriptions of scenery scattered up and down the book convey a distinct pictorial impression to the reader. The scenes in Florence are singularly rich in local colouring and picturesque details. All this part of the narrative is very interestingly told. It reads like the experiences of actual life.” 66 6 MORNING POST. 'My Little Lady,' is at once one of the most remarkable and the most interesting tales which has been for some time submitted to the public. In every quality of conception, construction, and working out of a tale, there is conspicuous fitness and ample capability." DAILY NEWS. "We We are pleased to be able to class the authoress of 'My Little Lady' among the successful novelists of the day. The creation of a new and charming personage is too rarely achieved not to excite approbation." STANDARD. "A novel of more than ordinary merit with which our readers should not fail to make themselves acquainted. It is the work of a cultivated and clever woman. She has given us in it a charming and original study of a girl's character." PALL MALL GAZETTE. "This book is full of life and colour. The characters are well phrased and consistent throughout. The scenes on which the incidents are severally laid portray the experiences of a mind well stored to begin with, and quick to receive impressions of grace and beauty. Finally, there is not a line in it that might not be read aloud in the family circle.” ATHEN EUM. "It is an agreeable task to record a book which can be read with genuine pleasure. The aim of the story is high, and its moral excellent; and the 'Little Lady' is thoroughly worthy of her name." SATURDAY REVIEW. "This story presents a number of vivid and very charming pictures. Indeed, the whole book is charming. It is interesting in both character and story, and thoroughly good of its kind." HURST & BLACKETT, Publishers, 13, Great Marlborough Street. |
