BY THE HON. MRS. NORTON, AUTHOR OF "LOST AND SAVED," &c. &c. 'Slander is shipwreck by a dry tempest.' Herbert's' Facula Prudentum.' 'The winds of change afflict us. What to-day We tether tight, to-morrow whirls away.' Hon. Robert Lytton. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1868. The right of Translation is reserved. 250. n. 203. B ΤΟ THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD DUFFERIN AND CLANDEBOYE. MY DEAR DUFFERIN, This Book was to have been dedicated to your Mother; and it is a melancholy pleasure to me to remember that she read and warmly praised some of it, during her last illness, while the story was as yet incomplete. Death has broken that unequalled companionship. The steady affection; the indulgent appreciation; the quick sympathy; the clear judgment; the womanly tenderness; the playful, kindly wit; the social charm; all those lovely and lovable qua |