A MERE CHANCE.
A NOVEL.
BY
ADA CAMBRIDGE,
AUTHOR OF "IN TWO YEARS TIME," &c.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON,
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen,
NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1882.
Right of Translation Reserved.
CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | A Marshal Neil Rose | 1 |
| II. | Family Counsels | 30 |
| III. | Mr. Kingston's Question | 50 |
| IV. | The Answer | 85 |
| V. | So Soon! | 111 |
| VI. | A Rash Promise | 126 |
| VII. | Two Love Letters | 146 |
| VIII. | How Rachel Met "Him" | 166 |
| IX. | A Black Sheep | 191 |
| X. | Outside the Pale | 210 |
| XI. | Mr. Dalrymple has to Consult Gordon | 250 |
| XII. | "Oh, if they had!" | 288 |
A MERE CHANCE.
[1]
CHAPTER I.
A MARSHAL NEIL ROSE.
A few years ago there was ayoung débutante in Melbournewhose name was Rachel Fetherstonhaugh.She had risen upon thesocial horizon suddenly, like a new star—or,one might almost say, like acomet, so unusually bright was she, andso much talked about; and no one quiteknew where she had come from. Mrs.[2]Hardy had introduced her as her niece—everyoneknew that—but there weresceptics who, having never heard offemale relatives previously (except thethree daughters, who had married sowell), declared that she might be "anybody,"picked up merely for matchmakingpurposes—it being well understood thatMrs. Hardy had for an