Chapter II: Preface

It has happened of late that several of my books have been more or less criticised for improbabilities attached either to a character, or some event selected from the rest of the book as too extravagant for belief or for the harmonies of true art. Now, singular enough, in every instance, the events or characters selected for these criticisms have been facts in themselves, or portraits drawn from persons well known to myself and others. If such criticism should fall on the character of Madame De Marke, I may perhaps be permitted to state that this woman has lived within the last fifteen years, and was well known in a certain neighborhood in the city of New York for her wealth, her eccentricity, and her avaricious habits. Her person, her manner of life, and her extreme parsimony, are in no respect overdrawn. The room in which she lived and died is described exactly as she inhabited it in 1849. Of course, the events of the story which runs through this volume are not absolute facts, but the character of the woman, improbable as it may seem, is the _vraisemblance_ of a real individual.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE
I.— A WARD IN BELLEVUE 25
II.— MARY MARGARET DILLON 31
III.— THE HOSPITAL NURSE 35
IV.— MADAME DE MARKE 39
V.— THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE 44
VI.— THE DIAMOND EAR-RINGS 48
VII.— THE TWO INFANTS 54
VIII.— THE VIAL OF WHITE MEDICINE 57
IX.— EARLY IN THE MORNING 62
X.— THE VELVET PRAYER-BOOK AND ITS CONTENTS 66
XI.— JANE KELLY FINDS AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 73
XII.— THE CONFERENCE IN MRS. JUDSON’S CHAMBER 78
XIII.— MRS. JUDSON DISTRIBUTES THE FUNDS 82
XIV.— THE SAINT AND THE SINNER 91
XV.— PREPARING FOR THE FUNERAL 98
XVI.— PARTING WITH THE CHILD 105
XVII.— WHERE COULD SHE GO? 110
XVIII.— TURNED OUT-OF-DOORS 118
XIX.— MEMORIES AND RESOLUTIONS 122
XX.— ALL ALONE 126
XXI.— DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND 130
XXII.— THE ODD EAR-RING 133
XXIII.— A FRIEND IN NEED 138
XXIV.— MARY MARGARET DILLON’S SHANTY 142
XXV.— SEEKING FOR HELP 150
XXVI.— THE PROFESSED PHILANTHROPIST 155
XXVII.— A CHARITABLE CROSS-EXAMINATION 161
XXVIII.— JANE KELLY ON HER TRIAL 167
XXIX.— SHELTERED AT LAST 171
XXX.— MADAME DE MARKE AND HER PET 175
XXXI.— THE YOUNG MAN’S RETURN 179
XXXII.— SEARCHING FOR HIS WIFE 184
XXXIII.— TURNING SHADOWS INTO SUNBEAMS 187
XXXIV.— ELSIE, THE LUNATIC 190
XXXV.— SHOWING HOW A GOOD WOMAN CAN DIE 193
XXXVI.— THE OLD MANSION-HOUSE 201
XXXVII.— THE CLOSED LIBRARY 207
XXXVIII.— THE FAMILY BREAKFAST 214
XXXIX.— THE TWO PORTRAITS 218
XL.— THE BIRD-CAGE 222
XLI.— NURSES FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE POOR 227
XLII.— THE ADOPTED SON 234
XLIII.— SITTING BY THE DOOR 240
XLIV.— THE ITALIAN VILLA 246
XLV.— THE STRANGE LADY AND HER CHILD 250
XLVI.— THE MANIAC AND THE CHILD 255
XLVII.— THREE HEARTS GO OUT TO LITTLE EDDIE 259
XLVIII.— THE IMAGE IN THE GLASS 262
XLIX.— ENEMIES MEETING 266
L.— A VISITOR TO BREAKFAST 271
LI.— OUT IN THE STORM 276
LII.— OUT IN THE STORM 280
LIII.— COMING HOME FROM CALIFORNIA 283
LIV.— LOUIS DE MARKE’S CONFESSION 289
LV.— THE NIGHT OF MISS JUDSON’S WEDDING 293
LVI.— THE BROTHERS TALK OVER THEIR FATHER’S DEATH 297
LVII.— THE SECRET MARRIAGE.—LOUIS GOES ON WITH HIS STORY 304
LVIII.— LOUISA’S LETTERS 307
LIX.— AT BELLEVUE HOSPITAL 311
LX.— THE FEMALE MISER IN HER DEN 317
LXI.— MADAME’S GOLDEN CRUCIFIX 323
LXII.— BEGGING FOR FOOD 327
LXIII.— THE IRON-BOUND BOX 332
LXIV.— THE BROTHERS CONSULT AGAIN 334
LXV.— THE WASHERWOMAN’S INTRUSION 338
LXVI.— A DOMESTIC STORM 344
LXVII.— THE WOUNDED BIRD 349
LXVIII.— DOUBTS AND FEARS 353
LXIX.— MADAME DE MARKE’S DEATH-BED 359
LXX.— LITTLE EDDIE’S GRIEF 365
LXXI.— QUESTIONS AND CONFESSIONS 371
LXXII.— ELSIE’S MARRIED LIFE 376
LXXIII.— ELSIE RETURNS HOME 381
LXXIV.— ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WEDDING 386
LXXV.— THE INTERRUPTED CEREMONY 393
LXXVI.— RIGHTED AT LAST 397
LXXVII.— ABOUT THE LITTLE BOY 403

THE

CURSE OF GOLD.