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The reigning belle

Chapter 1: The Reigning Belle. A SOCIETY NOVEL.
By Ann S. Stephens
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About This Book

Set in New York society, the novel follows Eva Laurence, a beautiful shop-girl with a concealed past, whose adoption by a wealthy wife and entanglement with an artist and a society belle generate mystery, jealousy, and legal peril. Social ambition and romantic attachment to Ivon Lambert are complicated by jealous espionage, courtroom exposures, arrests, and pawned possessions. The plot unravels hidden relationships through suspenseful episodes, humorous relief, and dramatic confrontations, resolving the mysteries of parentage and social standing in reconciliations and marriages.

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Title: The reigning belle

A society novel

Author: Ann S. Stephens

Release date: February 11, 2023 [eBook #70023]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: T.B. Peterson & Brothers, 1885

Credits: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REIGNING BELLE ***

Transcriber’s Note:

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

The Reigning Belle.
A SOCIETY NOVEL.

BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.
AUTHOR OF “MABEL’S MISTAKE; OR, THE LOST JEWELS,” “THE WIFE’S SECRET; OR, GILLIAN,” “LORD HOPE’S CHOICE; OR, MORE SECRETS THAN ONE,” “BERTHA’S ENGAGEMENT,” “BELLEHOOD AND BONDAGE; OR, BOUGHT WITH A PRICE,” “FASHION AND FAMINE,” “PALACES AND PRISONS; OR, THE PRISONER OF THE BASTILE,” “NORSTON’S REST,” “RUBY GRAY’S STRATEGY; OR, MARRIED BY MISTAKE,” “THE OLD COUNTESS,” “THE HEIRESS; OR, THE GYPSY’S LEGACY,” “THE SOLDIER’S ORPHANS,” “A NOBLE WOMAN; OR, A GULF BETWEEN THEM,” “MARY DERWENT,” “DOUBLY FALSE; OR, ALIKE AND NOT ALIKE,” “THE GOLD BRICK,” “CURSE OF GOLD,” “MARRIED IN HASTE,” “REJECTED WIFE,” “WIVES AND WIDOWS; OR, THE BROKEN LIFE,” “SILENT STRUGGLES,” “THE OLD HOMESTEAD,” ETC.

“The Reigning Belle,” by Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, is a romantic and thrilling novel of fashionable society, full of intensely dramatic scenes and overflowing with absorbing interest. The action goes straight ahead. So skilfully is the plot framed and handled that the veil of mystery surrounding Eva Laurence, the beautiful shop-girl, Mrs. Lambert, the society belle, and Herman Ross, the artist, cannot be penetrated until the author sees fit to throw it aside. Eva is a charming heroine, and the hero, Ivon Lambert, is a fine specimen of American manhood. The love episodes are delightfully depicted. There is much enjoyable humor in the novel, relieving the numerous exciting incidents. The scene in the Lambert conservatory between Mrs. Lambert and Ross, Mrs. Lambert’s jealous espionage of Ross at Mrs. Carter’s party, the episode in the court-room and the exposure of Miss Spicer are particularly stirring, but the whole romance is unusually powerful and effective. Everybody should read “The Reigning Belle” and enjoy a rich treat. Mrs. Stephens’ novels are among the best and most popular published, are admired by young and old alike, should be read by all, and will be found for sale by all Booksellers.

PHILADELPHIA:
T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS;
306 CHESTNUT STREET.
COPYRIGHT:—1885.
T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS.
MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS’ WORKS.
EACH IS COMPLETE IN ONE LARGE DUODECIMO VOLUME.
BELLEHOOD AND BONDAGE; or, Bought with a Price.
LORD HOPE’S CHOICE; or, More Secrets Than One.
THE OLD COUNTESS. Sequel to “Lord Hope’s Choice.”
BERTHA’S ENGAGEMENT.
NORSTON’S REST.
PALACES AND PRISONS; or, The Prisoner of the Bastile.
RUBY GRAY’S STRATEGY; or, Married by Mistake.
A NOBLE WOMAN; or, A Gulf Between Them.
WIVES AND WIDOWS; or, The Broken Life.
FASHION AND FAMINE.
THE CURSE OF GOLD; or, The Bound Girl and Wife’s Trials.
MABEL’S MISTAKE; or, The Lost Jewels.
SILENT STRUGGLES. A Tale of Witchcraft.
THE WIFE’S SECRET; or, Gillian.
THE HEIRESS; or, The Gypsy’s Legacy.
THE OLD HOMESTEAD; or, The Pet of the Poor House.
THE REJECTED WIFE; or, The Ruling Passion.
DOUBLY FALSE; or, Alike and Not Alike.
THE REIGNING BELLE.
MARRIED IN HASTE.
THE SOLDIER’S ORPHANS.
MARY DERWENT.
THE GOLD BRICK.
Above Books are Bound in Morocco Cloth, Gilt. Price $1.50 Each.

☞ Mrs. Stephens’ works are for sale by all Booksellers, or copies of any one, or more of them, will be sent to any one, postage prepaid, or free of freight, on remitting the price of the ones wanted to the publishers,

T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,
306 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

“The Reigning Belle” is one of the most powerful, original and exciting society novels ever published. Though Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, its famous and gifted author, has written many superb romances, she has surpassed herself in this. The scene is laid in New York, and fashionable society is liberally drawn upon, while lowly life also comes in for its share of treatment. The plot is thrilling, intricate and managed with consummate art, the reader being kept in complete ignorance of what the end is to be until it comes. In the web of impenetrable mystery a lost child, Eva Laurence, Herman Ross and Mrs. Lambert are involved, and upon them and their hidden relation to each other the thrilling romance hinges. Eva is a handsome shop-girl, who is adopted by the wife of a shoddy millionaire, Ross an artist with a past full of shadows, and Mrs. Lambert a society belle. Humor is furnished in abundance and stirring episodes come thick and fast. Eva has a devoted admirer in Ivon Lambert, and the love scenes between the pair are natural and delicious. “The Reigning Belle” is certain to find hosts of readers, and it possesses every requisite to delight and fascinate them all. Mrs. Stephens, as a writer, ranks among the best of all American authors, and her novels should be read by every lover of absorbing fiction, for they are among the best and most popular published, and will be found for sale by all Booksellers everywhere, or copies of any or all of them will be sent to any one, to any place, post-paid, on receipt of price by the publishers.