Melcomb Manor; a family chronicle ... With ... illustrations in gold and colors

Front matter

The Messenger. fjAPPYBIRD forth winding, Through the sunny sky, To thy far home bringing, My forlorn good-bye, Gladly,. gladly thcu dost go, Thou, the messenger of woe ! Better thus uncaring Climb thy g,usty road, Why shouldst thou be sharing . In thy bitter load I Who^could wish glad nature's glee Saddened by our misery! A LOOKED-FOR MESSENGER. Uelcomb JJanor % (^amilg (^.(xrni^ ARRANGED FROM THE PAPERS OF RICHARD BRENT, ESQ., SOMETIME OF MELCOMB BY F. SCARLETT POTTER AUTHOR OF "THE VOLSUNG TALE," ETC. WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS, IN GOLD AND COLORS Honlott : MARCUS WARD & CO., 67 & 68, CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN And ROYAL ULSTER WORKS, BELFAST CONTENTS. PAGE Prologue, ......... 7 MISTRESS ALICE MASSENGER— The Falcon and the Dove, ..... 9 Inmates and Neighbours at Melcomb, . . . .12 Rivals, . . . . . . . . 15 A Stratagem in Love, . . ... . 17 What Father Oswald saw Abroad, .... 20 What Father Oswald saw at Home, . . . .22 Tactics, . . . . . . . .25 A Parting, . . . . . . . -27 Danger, . . . . . . . .31 News from the Marches, . . . . . -35 The Hour of Need, ...... 37 Revelations, . . . . . . . -39 Sunshine, ........ 42 Interlogue I., . . . - . -44 THE GREEN HUNTSMAN— Afloat, ........ 46 A Court Gallant, . . . . . . . 51 A New Love, ....... 54 The Old Love, . . . . . . -58 The Stone Hunting Lodge, ..... 60 Parley, ........ 65 War Declared, ....... 69 A Shot with the Cross-bow, . . . -73 A Contents.

PAGE Interlogue II., ..-••■• 79 jest and earnesttwo Houses, . . . ■ • • • .82 Momus, .....--• 85 Antiquarian Matters, . . - - - • 92 The Rendezvous, . . . . • • -97 A False Scent, .....-• IQI Forsaken, ....-■■• IOS A Love Test, . . . . . - • ■ Io8 Shadows of the Night, . . . . • .111 Morning, . . . • • • • .114 Interlogue III., . . . • • - - .116 THE GHOST OF THE HAUNTED HOLLOW— The Keeper's Story, . . . . . .118 A Midnight Watch, . . . . . .122 The Mystery Unsolved, . . . . . .126 A Lovers' Meeting, ...... 130 Father and Daughter, . . . . . • I35 Renunciation, . . . . . . .140 Epilogue, ......... 147 CHROMOGRAPHS. A Looked-for Messenger (p. 37), .- . . Frontispiece. More than Kin, . . . . . . . .48 Less than Kind, ....... go A Missive in Jest, . ,. . . . . .88 A Lovers' Meeting, . . . . . i$0 The Last Hope Gone, ....... MELCOMB MANOR.