UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.
| THE FILIBUSTERS | Cutcliffe Hyne |
| THE ROYAL END | Henry Harland |
| MOLLIE'S PRINCE | Rosa N. Carey |
| BY RIGHT OF SWORD | A. W. Marchmont |
| THE MAYORESS'S WOOING | Mrs. Baillie Saunders |
| THE THIEF OF VIRTUE | Eden Phillpotts |
| A LONELY LITTLE LADY | Dolf Wyllarde |
| THE STUMBLING BLOCK | Justus Miles Forman |
| TWO IMPOSTORS AND TINKER | Dorothea Conyers |
| PARK LANE | Percy White |
HUTCHINSON & CO.'S
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"I could hear her stifled sobs as she lay on the floor."—p. 318.
BEYOND
THESE VOICES
By
M. E. BRADDON
London
HUTCHINSON & CO.
Paternoster Row
"BEYOND THESE VOICES"
CHAPTER I
Lady Felicia Disbrowe was supposed to condescendwhen she married Captain Cunningham of the first Life—since,although his people lived on their own land, andwere handsomely recorded in Burke, there was no recordof them before the Conquest, nor even on the muster-rollof those who fought and died for the Angevin Kings.Captain Cunningham was handsome and fashionable,but not rich; and when he had the bad luck to get himselfkilled in an Egyptian campaign, he left his widow withan only daughter seven years old, her pension, and a settlementthat brought her about six hundred a year, halfof which came from the Disbrowes, while the other halfwas the rental of three or four small farms in Somersetshire.It will be seen therefore that for a person whoconsidered herself essentially grande dame, and to whomall degrading economies must be impossible, Lady Felicia'sposition was not enviable.
As the seven-year-old orphan grew in grace and beautyto sweet seventeen, Lady Felicia began to consider herdaughter her chief asset. So lovely a creature must commandthe admiration of the richest bachelors in themarriage-market. She would have her choice of opulentlovers. There would be no cruel necessity for forcing amarriage with vulgar wealth or drivelling age. She wouldhave her adorers among the best, the fortunate, the well-bred,the young and handsome. Nor was Lady Feliciamistaken in her forecast. When Cara came out underthe auspices of her aunt, Lady Okehampton, she made asuccess