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                                 HESTER

                      A STORY OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE

                                   BY

                             MRS. OLIPHANT


                  "A springy motion in her gait,
                  A rising step, did indicate
                  Of pride and joy no common rate
                          That flush'd her spirit:
                  I know not by what name beside
                  I shall it call: if 'twas not pride,
                  It was a joy to that allied
                          She did inherit.

                       *    *    *    *    *

                  She was trained in Nature's school,
                          Nature had blest her.
                  A waking eye, a prying mind,
                  A heart that stirs, is hard to bind;
                  A hawk's keen sight ye cannot blind,
                          Ye could not Hester."

                                         CHARLES LAMB.


                            IN THREE VOLUMES
                                VOL. II

                                 London
                           MACMILLAN AND CO.
                                  1883

         The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved




                                 LONDON
                       R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR,
                           BREAD STREET HILL.




                               CONTENTS


                 CHAPTER I. THE YOUNG AND THE OLD.
                 CHAPTER II. A FAMILY PARTY.
                 CHAPTER III. CONFIDENCES.
                 CHAPTER IV. ROLAND.
                 CHAPTER V. WARNING.
                 CHAPTER VI. DANCING TEAS.
                 CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST OF THEM.
                 CHAPTER VIII. A NEW COMPETITOR.
                 CHAPTER IX. A DOUBLE MIND.
                 CHAPTER X. STRAIGHTFORWARD.
                 CHAPTER XI. A CENTRE OF LIFE.
                 CHAPTER XII. WAS IT LOVE?
                 CHAPTER XIII. CHRISTMAS.
                 CHAPTER XIV. THE PARTY AT THE GRANGE.




                                HESTER.




                                HESTER.




                               CHAPTER I.
                         THE YOUNG AND