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                     EACH VOLUME SOLD SEPARATELY.

                     COLLECTION OF BRITISH AUTHORS

                          TAUCHNITZ EDITION.

                              VOL. 3970.

                THE HOUSE OF DEFENCE. BY E. F. BENSON.

                       IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I.

                     LEIPZIG: BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ.

          PARIS: LIBRAIRIE CH. GAULON & FILS, 39, RUE MADAME.

PARIS: THE GALIGNANI LIBRARY, 224, RUE DE RIVOLI, AND AT NICE, 8, AVENUE
                               MASSENA.

    _The Copyright of this Collection is purchased for Continental
Circulation only, and the volumes may therefore not be introduced into
                    Great Britain or her Colonies._

               (_See also pp. 3-6 of Large Catalogue._)


                      Latest Volumes.--June 1907.


     =The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight.= By the author of "Elizabeth and
     her German Garden." 1 vol.--3880.

     The tale of a German Princess who runs away to England to live the
     simple life accompanied by her aged teacher. The story is a
     delightful mixture of smiles and tears.


     =The Adventures of Elizabeth in Ruegen.= By the author of "Elizabeth
     and her German Garden." 1 vol.--3881.

     An account of a holiday spent in one of the pleasantest of German
     island resorts, so plentifully sprinkled with humorous incident as
     to make the book fascinating even to those unable to travel there
     except in imagination.


     =A Dazzling Reprobate.= By W. R. H. TROWBRIDGE. 1 v.--3882.

     A very original study of high life and society in England, in which
     it is shown how hard regeneration is made for a fallen member.


     =The Way of the Spirit.= By H. RIDER HAGGARD. 2 vols.--3883/84.

     A psychological romance and at the same time a tale of modern
     Egypt, in which a daughter of the ancient kings plays an important
     and novel _role_.


     "=If Youth but knew!=" By AGNES and EGERTON CASTLE. 1 vol.--3885.

     An idyl of Westphalia in the days of Jerome Bonaparte's pinchbeck
     court and reign. A delicate and pretty love-story.


     =Mr. John Strood.= By PERCY WHITE. 1 vol.--3886.

     A story, written somewhat on the lines of "Mr. Bailey-Martin," of
     the career of a public man. The snobbishness of the quondam friend
     who is here supposed to write the biography is cunningly revealed
     throughout.


     =The Artful Miss Dill.= By F. FRANKFORT MOORE. 1 vol.--3887.

     A modern English romance, the opening scene of which, however, is
     laid in Caracas, and is of a most stirring nature.


     =Genius Loci=, and =The Enchanted Woods.= By VERNON LEE. 1 vol.--3888.

     A collection of essays and articles on towns and villages in
     France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, in which the authoress
     paints her impressions of their romanticism or interest.


     =The House of Mirth.= By EDITH WHARTON. 2 vols.--3889/90.

     An American society novel in which the hollow life of a certain
     moneyed clique of New York is admirably described.


=Ring in the New.= By RICHARD WHITEING. 1 vol.--3891.

This book might almost be described as socialistic. It is a description
of the difficulty experienced at the present day by man or woman of
earning their daily bread.


     =Beyond the Rocks.= By ELINOR GLYN. 1 vol.--3892.

     A love-story, treating of modern English life, by the favourite and
     well-known authoress of "The Visits of Elizabeth."


     =Fenwick's Career.= By MRS. HUMPHRY WARD. 2 vols.--3893/94.

     Mrs. Ward's new book describes the life of an artist in England,
     the vicissitudes through which he passes, and his ultimate
     reconciliation with the wife who had abandoned him.




                              COLLECTION

                                  OF

                            BRITISH AUTHORS

                          TAUCHNITZ EDITION.

                              VOL. 3970.

                THE HOUSE OF DEFENCE. BY E. F. BENSON.

                            IN TWO VOLUMES.

                                VOL. I.


        TAUCHNITZ EDITION.

       By the same Author,

  DODO                       1 vol.
  THE RUBICON                1 vol.
  SCARLET AND HYSSOP         1 vol.
  THE BOOK OF MONTHS         1 vol.
  THE RELENTLESS CITY        1 vol.
  MAMMON & CO.               2 vols.
  THE CHALLONERS             1 vol.
  AN ACT IN A BACKWATER      1 vol.
  THE IMAGE IN THE SAND      2 vols.
  THE ANGEL OF PAIN          2 vols.
  PAUL                       2 vols.




                                  THE
                           HOUSE OF DEFENCE

                                  BY
                             E. F. BENSON

     AUTHOR OF "DODO," "THE CHALLONERS," "THE IMAGE IN THE SAND,"
                   "THE ANGEL OF PAIN," "PAUL," ETC.

                          _COPYRIGHT EDITION_

                            IN TWO VOLUMES
                                VOL. I

                                LEIPZIG
                          BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ
                                 1907.




                              DEDICATION

                                  TO

                               C. E. M.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

It is with your permission that I dedicate this book to you, and with
your permission and by your desire that I explain the circumstances of
its dedication. You were cured, as both you and I know, of a disease
that medical science had pronounced incurable by a certain Christian
Science healer, who used neither knife nor drugs upon you.

I, a layman in medical affairs, think, as you know, that your disease
was nervous in origin, and you will readily admit that the wise and
skilful man who figures here as Sir James thought the same. But it was
already organic when you went to him, and, after consultation with
others, he pronounced it incurable. At the same time