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A Lady of Quality

by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924)

  • Free to read
  • 6 hours to read
  • 24 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"A Lady of Quality" by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a novel written during the late 19th century. This fiction work delves into the life of a young lady named Clorinda, born into a tumultuous familial environment marked by her father's loud and boisterous behavior and her mother’s tragic demise following childbirth. The story explores Clorinda's unusual upbringing and the struggle between her spirits and societal expectations as she emerges into womanhood. The opening of the novel introduces us to the chaotic world of Wildairs Hall, where we meet Sir Jeoffry, a disgruntled father, ready to embark on a hunting escapade, seemingly indifferent to the troubles of his household, including the birth of another daughter. Meanwhile, Lady Daphne, his wife, lies weak and neglected after giving birth to Clorinda, ultimately succumbing to her despair. As the narrative unfolds, we see glimpses of Clorinda's fiery temperament and fierce spirit take shape amidst a backdrop of disreputable family conditions, promising a journey of growth, resilience, and the quest for identity in a world that offers her little tenderness.

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  • Nobility

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Chapter I — The twenty-fourth day of November 1690

On a wintry morning at the close of 1690, the sun shining faint and red through a light fog, there was a great noise of baying dogs, loud voices, and trampling of horses in the courtyard at Wildairs Hall; Sir Jeoffry being about to go forth a-hunting, and being a man with a choleric temper and big, loud voice, and given to oaths and noise even when in good-humour, his riding forth with his friends at any time was attended with boisterous commotion. This morning it was more so than usual, for he had guests with him who had come to his house the day before, and had supped late and drunk deeply, whereby the day found them, some with headaches, some with a nausea at their stomachs, and some only in an evil humour which made them curse at their horses when they were restless, and break into loud surly laughs when a coarse joke was made. There were many such jokes, Sir Jeoffry and his boon companions being renowned throughout the county for the freedom of their conversation as for the scandal of their pastimes, and this day 'twas well indeed, as their loud- voiced, oath-besprinkled jests rang out on the cold air, that there were no ladies about to ride forth with them.

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Contents

  1. Chapter I — The twenty-fourth day of November 1690
  2. Chapter II — In which Sir Jeoffry encounters his offspring
  3. Chapter III — Wherein Sir Jeoffry's boon companions drink a toast
  4. Chapter IV — Lord Twemlow's chaplain visits his patron's kinsman, and: Mistress Clorinda shines on her birthday night
  5. Chapter V — "Not I," said she. "There thou mayst trust me. I would not: be found out."
  6. Chapter VI — Relating how Mistress Anne discovered a miniature
  7. Chapter VII — 'Twas the face of Sir John Oxon the moon shone upon
  8. Chapter VIII — Two meet in the deserted rose garden, and the old Earl of: Dunstanwolde is made a happy man
  9. Chapter IX — "I give to him the thing he craves with all his soul — myself"
  10. Chapter X — "Yes — I have marked him"
  11. Chapter XI — Wherein a noble life comes to an end
  12. Chapter XII — Which treats of the obsequies of my Lord of Dunstanwolde, of: his lady's widowhood, and of her return to town
  13. Chapter XIII — Wherein a deadly war begins
  14. Chapter XIV — Containing the history of the breaking of the horse Devil: and relates the returning of his Grace of Osmonde from France
  15. Chapter XV — In which Sir John Oxon finds again a trophy he had lost
  16. Chapter XVI — Dealing with that which was done in the Panelled Parlour
  17. Chapter XVII — Wherein his Grace of Osmonde's courier arrives from France
  18. Chapter XVIII — My Lady Dunstanwolde sits late alone and writes
  19. Chapter XIX — A piteous story is told, and the old cellars walled in
  20. Chapter XX — A noble marriage
  21. Chapter XXI — An heir is born
  22. Chapter XXII — Mother Anne
  23. Chapter XXIII — "In One who will do justice, and demands that it shall be: done to each thing He has made, by each who bears His image"
  24. Chapter XXIV — The doves sate upon the window-ledge and lowly cooed and: cooed

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About this edition

This free edition of A Lady of Quality by Frances Hodgson Burnett comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #1550, released 1998-12-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Novels, British Literature.

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