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Veiled Women

Chapter 45: TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
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About This Book

The narrative follows a series of interlinked domestic episodes in Cairo, centring on interactions between local households and an English governess. It depicts social customs, gendered seclusion and the complexities of marriage, dowry and honour through scenes of family negotiation, legal intervention and private observation. Characters range from household heads and servants to veiled women whose constrained lives shape daily routines, while moments of humour and tension expose cultural misunderstandings. The work moves episodically across many chapters to explore power, intimacy and the social rules that govern female behaviour.

MR. EVELEIGH NASH’S LIST OF NEW BOOKS

THINGS I CAN TELL

By Lord Rossmore

Illustrated    Price 10/6 net

Lord Rossmore’s recollections should contribute to the gaiety of the nation, for it would be difficult to find, within the covers of a book, a collection of stories so racy and so rich in humour.

Lord Rossmore was a friend of King Edward, and he has several good stories to tell about the late monarch.

Among the many well-known people who figure prominently in the book are the Duke and Duchess of Connaught; the late Duchess of Teck; Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester; Lord Marcus Beresford; the late Lord Dufferin; Lord and Lady Zetland; Lord Lonsdale; the late Viscount Masserene and Ferrard; Lord and Lady Londonderry; the late Lady Cadogan; Mrs. Cornwallis West; “Bay” Middleton; “Chicken” Hartopp; and the late Lord Clonmell.

“Things I Can Tell” abounds in amusing anecdotes, and there are few people in Society who will not be tempted to read it—if only in self-defence—for, in dining out this autumn, there is one question which is sure to be asked, and that is, “Have you read the Rossmore Recollections?”

FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE

By Princess Louise of Prussia

Illustrated   Price 16/- net

An important and interesting autobiography, containing many recollections of royal persons. The Princess was a niece of Frederick the Great and has several anecdotes to tell of him. Many secrets of his Court, and of the Courts of his two successors, are for the first time made public in this fascinating volume. There are also stories of Napoleon, Talleyrand, Madame de Staël, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, and most of the European notabilities of the period. The author lived in stirring times, amid wars and rumours of wars, and she gives a lively and graphic account of them—also the inner history of the Peace of Tilsit.

KING EDWARD IN HIS TRUE COLOURS

By Edward Legge

Author of “The Empress Eugenie, 1870-1910,” etc.

Illustrated   Price 16/- net

No matter how great the reputation, there comes a time when the memory of a magnetic personality becomes a target for the dispassionate historian, and the Memoir in the recently published volume of the Dictionary of National Biography indicates that this time has arrived even with regard to King Edward. In view of the great prominence given to this Memoir, no small interest will attach to the new biography by Mr. Edward Legge—well-known as a forcible and candid writer.

Mr. Legge, who shows an exceptionally intimate acquaintance with the personality of King Edward, narrates the notable events in his career with the utmost frankness.

He shows him as diplomat and statesman, as “The Friend of Kings” and “At His Best” (to quote from his chapter headings), and, in a section entitled “A Great Figure,” treats of him from many points of view, including the anecdotal and amusing.

On unchallengable evidence, Mr. Legge is able to refute certain portions of the National Biography Memoir, and he also deals with the personal relations between King Edward and the German Emperor; though this, among other parts of his book, is likely to provoke some controversy.

Mr. Legge concludes a striking and well-balanced volume with a special section on Queen Alexandra.

A KEEPER OF ROYAL SECRETS

Being the Private and Political Life of Madame de Genlis

By Jean Harmand

Illustrated   Price 16/- net

The career of Madame de Genlis is one of the baffling enigmas of history. For the greater part of her life she played an important role in the social and political life of France.

By virtue of her intimate association with Philip Egalité, Duc d’Orleans, and her high position as the Governor of Louis Phillipe and the other Orleans children, the influence she wielded practically amounted to royal power.

She cast her spell over a wide circle, winning admiration even from her enemies, and yet her life has been the subject of a storm of scandalous reports and speculations.

What was her exact relationship to the Duke? was she the mother of the famous “Pamela” whom Lord Edward Fitzgerald married? what was her share in the astounding affair of “Maria Stella”? what part did she play in the Revolution?—these are some of the mysteries surrounding her on which M. Harmand, with the help of many unpublished letters and documents, throws much new light.

The whole truth will probably never be known, but M. Harmand in his elaborate biography gives us an immensely fascinating and vivid story and unearths many new details regarding her curious and romantic life.

MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

By Madame Judith

(of the Comédie Française)

Illustrated   Price 10/6 net

Madame Judith’s memories extend over a deeply interesting period of French history, commencing with the Revolution that ushered in the Second Empire, and ending with the foundation of the Republic after the Franco-Prussian War.

Famous actors and actresses, poets, novelists and dramatists, members of the Imperial family, statesmen, and minor actors in the drama of life flit across the canvas, their personalities being vividly realised by some significant anecdotes or pregnant sentences.

Kind-hearted, clear-headed and brilliantly gifted, Madame Judith led an active and fascinating life, and it is to her credit that while she does not hesitate to tell of the weaknesses of others she is equally ready to acknowledge her own.

MONARCHS AND MEN

By Maxmilian Harden

Author of “Word Portraits”

Illustrated   Price 15/- net

Herr Maxmilian Harden is Germany’s most forcible writer. The outspoken criticisms on men and matters which he writes as editor of the famous “Zukunft” are read and discussed far beyond the borders of his native land, and have more than once brought him into conflict with the authorities.

In “Monarchs and Men” he gives us some brilliant biographical essays on seven great European figures, most notable among which is our King, Edward VII.

While it is often impossible to agree with Herr Harden’s conclusions, one cannot ignore them, and no one who is abreast of modern thought will deny the high value of his virile essays.

Contents:—King Edward VII—King Albert of Saxony—Pope Leo XIII—The Emperor of Austria—The Tsar of Russia—M. Briand, Ex-Prime Minister of France—Lueger—Tolstoi and Rockefeller.

THE STORY OF THE BORGIAS

By John Fyvie

Author of “Tragedy Queens of the Georgian Era,” etc.

Illustrated   Price 15/- net

The striking personalities of the Borgia have afforded a fascinating problem alike for historian, for psychologist, and for novelist. A lurid legend grew up about their lives, and for three centuries their name was a byword for the vilest infamy. But in our own day a number of writers have attempted to rehabilitate the characters of the Borgia by that process of juggling with historical evidence popularly termed “whitewashing.”

In the present volume, Mr. Fyvie attempts to present the true history of this extraordinary family after a careful sifting of all fresh evidence. No monograph on any single one of the family can ever be satisfactory. The lives and careers of Rodrigo, Cesare, and Lucrezia Borgia are so interwoven that their portraits must all appear in the same picture. They played their parts on an elevated stage, surrounded by all the material, intellectual, and artistic splendour of the Italian Renaissance, and with the magnificent background of the Holy Roman Church. They were magnetic personalities; and their story is as intensely interesting and as profoundly tragic as anything in the whole range of fiction.

ENGLAND’S WEAK POINTS

By a German Resident—Mariano Hergellet

   Price 3/6 net

This little book is the outcome of close observation during the social and business life of a German, fifteen years resident in London.

Its conclusions are not flattering, its statements are extremely frank, and it is naturally being read with avidity throughout the Fatherland.

After a tribute to our many qualities, which are quite unknown to or unappreciated by his countrymen, the author postulates fifteen rules of life to which, he says, the average Briton adheres, and he proceeds to describe the results of these habits.

The book concludes with an examination of the probability of war between England and Germany (which the author considers inevitable), and an endeavour to forecast the future of the two countries.

IN ABOR JUNGLES

Being an account of the Abor Expedition, the Mishmi Mission, and the Miri Mission

By Angus Hamilton

Author of “Korea,” “Afghanistan,” etc.

With numerous Illustrations and a Map   Price 18/- net

In this volume, the famous war correspondent of the Central News describes our latest “Jungle War,” i.e., the punitive operations against the Abors. Mr. Hamilton tells the thrilling narrative of the operations in a picturesque and graphic manner, and has seized the first opportunity which has occurred in the history of the North-Eastern frontier to depict the life of the wild tribes inhabiting that region.

He also describes the characteristics of the country, and deals fully with the many political questions centreing round this mysterious corner of India.

Considerable interest will undoubtedly attach to the statement by an Abor Gam regarding the murder of Mr. Williamson, which is published for the first time in Mr. Hamilton’s book, and which differs in many important particulars from the official White Paper on the subject; but the Gam was well known to the members of the party, and there is every probability that his story is a correct record of the events which culminated in the massacre.

The inclusion of a wonderfully fine series of photographs, and the first published map of the country, showing the proposed large extension of our frontier line into Tibetan territory, gives additional interest and importance to what is one of the most engrossing books of its kind issued in recent years.

VEILED MYSTERIES OF EGYPT

By S. H. Leeder

Author of “The Desert Gateway,” etc.

Illustrated   Price 16/- net

Though books innumerable have been written upon Egypt, the life of the natives has scarcely ever been touched upon, the reason probably being that Mohammedanism has always thrown a veil over the inner life and thought of the Orient.

Mr. Leeder has had the unique opportunity extended to him by the head of the Islamic religion, of living for a considerable period on familiar terms with Egyptian people, not only in the cities, but in remote villages and in the desert. He is therefore able to lift the veil of mystery that surrounds Egyptian native life and to show us how the people live, what they think and talk about, what are the motives and ideals which shape their lives, and what are the practices of their mysterious religion.

Mr. Leeder has the qualities of sympathy, insight and unfailing patience, and these, together with a naturally picturesque and vivid style, have combined to produce a book which throws a flood of light on a subject of intense human interest, and opens a new and fascinating chapter of life in the East.

A series of beautiful photographs, illustrating the native life and haunts of the country, is included in the book, which no intending visitor to Egypt should fail to read.

THE CHAPELS ROYAL

By Archdeacon Sinclair

With Full-page Illustrations reproduced in Photogravure from Point Drawings by Louis Weirter, R.B.A.

Royal 8vo.   Price 21/- net

A beautiful book on a great national subject, teeming with historical interest and romance. Such Royal Chapels as those at the Tower of London, Whitehall, St. James’s, Windsor, Buckingham Palace, Marlborough House, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood, Stirling Castle, Falkland Palace, Linlithgow and Dublin Castle are described from the different points of view—historical, architectural, ecclesiastical and personal. The Archdeacon’s illuminating and engrossing text is accompanied by a series of very beautiful plates by Mr. Louis Weirter.

THE GREY GHOST BOOK

By Jessie Adelaide Middleton

   Price 6/-

Some startling instances of modern haunting are described in this book, which, while laying no claim to be a scientific investigation of psychic phenomena, aims at interesting the reader for whom the supernatural has a fascination.

One section is devoted to London Ghosts, and in particular to the unravelling of the famous mystery of Berkeley Square, and another section relates the Legends of Famous Houses.

In each case the author has submitted them for authentication to the representatives of the various families concerned. Their corrections and suggestions have, of course, greatly added to the value of the stories. Among those who have read and corrected the legends of their own houses, or have corresponded with the author regarding the book are: The Countess of Airlie, the late Marquis of Waterford, the Earl of Powis, the Countess of Selkirk, Lord Hylton, Mr. Ralph Nevill, Sir Griffith Boynton, the Earl of Durham, Sir William Jardine, Lord Leith of Fyvie, and the late Mr. Andrew Lang.

BEFORE THE DOCTOR COMES

By Dr. Andrew Wilson

   Price 2/- net

An invaluable little book by a well-known authority. The title of the book indicates the lines upon which the information runs, and the work is prefaced by a clearly put and easily understood description of the various organs of the human body and the functions they are supposed to perform.

THE CARE OF CHILDREN

By Arthur Miller, M.D., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

   Price 2/- net

A companion book to “Before the Doctor Comes.” In simple language it imparts a wealth of valuable information on how to bring up children healthily. Special attention is devoted to the important subjects of Diet and Hygiene, and the symptoms and treatment of all common ailments to which children are liable are thoroughly explained.

FORTY YEARS OF PARISIAN SOCIETY

By Arthur Meyer

With Photogravure Frontispiece   Price 10/6 net

“A pleasant salad of amusing gossip, singularly free from spite or pretention, about the world of politics, literature and diplomacy.”—Spectator.

“Scarcely a name of interest in Paris, from the ’sixties to the present day, but receives some mention; and the celebrities with whom he has come most closely in contact are sketched in the style that announces the editor of the trenchant, lively, and observant ‘Gaulois.’”—Daily Chronicle.

MANY CELEBRITIES, AND A FEW OTHERS

By William H. Rideing

Illustrated   Price 10/6 net

“A book full of hearty enjoyment of the best intellectual company ... engages you from the very first page to the last ... the soul of picturesqueness.”—Pall Mall Gazette.

N.B.—Among the many well-known people who figure in Mr. Rideing’s book are: Gladstone, Thomas Hardy, Sir Henry Lucy (“Toby, M.P.”), Lord Wolseley, Lord Randolph Churchill, Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Sir Walter Besant.

OLD WORLD PLACES

By Allan Fea

Author of “Nooks and Corners of Old England”

Profusely Illustrated   Price 10/6 net

“He writes in an easy, gossiping style of the various old manors, churches, inns, and signs with which he meets, and gives a wealth of antiquarian detail of the witch stories, ghost stories, secret chambers and legends that cling about such places.... An interesting book.”—Birmingham Daily Post.

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF MODEL AEROPLANES:

By Francis A. Collins

Illustrated with many Photographs by the Author.

   Price 3/6 net

Certainly no new pastime has taken such hold of boys’ imagination and in so short a time enrolled such an army of enthusiasts as the making and flying of model aeroplanes. The present book, which deals fully with their construction and gives in simple language the fascinating story of the growth of aviation, should find favour with hundreds of boys as a Christmas present this year.


NEW SIX-SHILLING NOVELS

THE NEW LADY BERINGTON

By Lady Angela Forbes

Author of “The Broken Commandment” and “Penelope’s Progress.”

A story of love and intrigue. The plot concerns the struggle of Judith—the new Lady Berington—with an influence which comes between her and her husband, a rising member of the Government, and the action takes place at various country houses and in London.

Judith—fascinating, impulsive, unconventional—gets the reader’s sympathy at once, while the other characters, including the Prime Minister and the famous political hostess, Lady Mildred Stern (an old flame of Sir Philip Berington’s and Judith’s bitter enemy) are crisply and vividly drawn.

The smart, sparkling dialogue, the easy epigrams, the by-play of conflicting ambitions, and the deftly managed situations add materially to the enjoyment of a book, which should greatly increase Lady Angela Forbes’ rapidly growing popularity.

THE HUSSY

By James Lancaster

A powerful, rugged story by a new writer, depicting the life of an attractive, unbridled country girl. Susan Murfield is a finely drawn character; the brazen nature, the rebellion against the narrow existence of an obscure and somnolent village, the yearning to taste life in the glare and glitter of a great city, the artless attempt to ape the actions of subtler and more world-wise minds, the inevitable catastrophe and the return to the village home—all are shown with a realism that must impress itself on the most jaded novel-reader and keep him interested to the final scene.

THE FINE AIR OF MORNING

By J. S. Fletcher

Author of “The Paths of the Prudent,” “The Town of Crooked Ways,” etc.

Mr. Fletcher’s new novel is of the same genre as his well-known story “The Paths of the Prudent,” which was so popular a few years ago. A beautiful peasant girl of seventeen, Valency Winsome, having half-killed a brutal stepfather, sets out into the world to fend for herself. She meets and travels with an eccentric youth, Hilary Crewe, who is poet and poacher too, and who caravans about the country peddling. His poaching brings him within reach of the law, and Valency, unexpectedly left alone, drifts into the hands of a wealthy young man, Jeffery Hessle, who conceives the idea of bringing her out on the operatic stage. Her adventures with him and his friend, Hadyn Smith, a musician, her final revolt, and her eventual escape to Hilary Crewe, and the wild life of the woods and heaths, are narrated in a spirit of genuine comedy, while the story is marked with all Mr. Fletcher’s well-known gifts of strong characterisation and graphic description of life in the open country.

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY MAITLAND

By Morley Roberts

Author of “Rachael Marr,” “David Bran,” etc.

THE HOUSE OPPOSITE By “Rita”

Author of “Grim Justice,” etc., etc.

A dramatic story with a sensational dénoument.

THE UNKNOWN QUANTITY

By Charles Inge

“An unusual and powerful novel ... the character studies are wonderfully human and strong.”—Daily News.

THE SWEETNESS OF LIFE

By Marcelle Tinayre

“A brilliant and exciting story, instinct with the voluptuous magic of Italy past and present.”—Daily Mail.

THE MUMMY By Riccardo Stephens

“It reminds one very much of Wilkie Collins ... he has the knack of putting and keeping us on good terms with the men and women we meet in his pages.”—Evening Standard.

WITHOUT TRACE

By William Le Queux

A new Egyptian mystery which has for its central figure a fashionable ladies’ doctor, who is also an expert in certain newly-discovered poisons, and is as exquisitely polite as he is unscrupulous.

THE SOUL OF A DANCER

By Theodore Flatau

“A deeply interesting and picturesque tale, with Ariha, the wonderfully fascinating, weird and wayward dancer, as the central figure.... ‘The Soul of a Dancer’ is, moreover, remarkable for its atmospheric effects ... amazingly realistic indeed, is the picture he gives of existence in Cairo.”—Daily Telegraph.


3/6 NET NOVELS

HEART OF THE WEST By O. Henry

Author of “Cabbages and Kings”

“Vivid, racy, artful and exquisitely droll.”—Glasgow Evening News.

“Bright, fresh and vivid as Bret Harte at his best.”—Nottingham Guardian.

THE GOLDEN VENTURE

By J. S. Fletcher

Author of “The Harvest Moon,” etc.

“A good, bustling story.”—Times.

“He has utilised the coming of the airship for purposes of romance ... a spirited and interesting story.”—Daily Telegraph.


TWO-SHILLING NOVELS

SETH OF THE CROSS

By Alphonse Courlander

THE SPLENDID SINNER

By Arthur Lambton

THE INDISCRETIONS OF A LADY’S MAID

By William Le Queux

QUEEN SHEBA’S RING

By H. Rider Haggard

THE HOUSE OF FORTUNE

By Max Pemberton


THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SPORTS AND PASTIMES

NEW VOLUMES

Ski-ing and other Winter Sports. By Arnold Lunn. With 32 Action Photographs. 2/- net

Bridge and Auction Bridge. By “Valet de Pique.” With 48 Problems. 2/- net

PREVIOUS VOLUMES

Cricket. Batsmanship. By C. B. Fry. With 32 Action Photographs. 2/- net

Hockey. By Eric H. Green (English International) and Eustace E. White (Author of “The Complete Hockey-Player”). 32 Action Photographs. 2/- net

Athletics. By E. H. Ryle (Ex-President Cambridge University Athletic Club), with contributions by famous Athletes. With 32 Action Photographs. 2/- net


 

 

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Archaic, unusual and inconsistent spellings have been maintained in the text. The only change which was made to the text was the sentence on page 74 which was originally written: “At unawares she joined the gusty sigh ...” In the next edition it was changed to “All unawares ...” which is clearer to me.

The cover page was produced from the original cover of the book by the transcriber and is hereby placed in the public domain.