The Middle of Things (Classic Reprint)

FACED WITH REALITY. On that particular November evening, Viner, a young gentleman of means and leisure, who lived in a comfortable old house in Markendale Square, Bays-water, in company with his maiden aunt Miss Bethia Penkridge, had spent his after-dinner hours in a fashion which had become a habit. Miss Penkridge, a model housekeeper and an essentially worthy woman, whose whole day was given to supervising somebody or something, had an insatiable appetite for fiction, and loved nothing so much as that her nephew should read a novel to her after the two glasses of port which she allowed herself every night had been thoughtfully consumed and he and she had adjourned from the dining-room to the hearthrug in the library. Her tastes, however, in Viner's opinion were somewhat, if not decidedly, limited. Brought up in her youth on Miss Braddon, Wilkie Collins and Mrs. Henry Wood, Miss Penkridge had become a confirmed slave to the sensational. She had no taste for the psychologi

Table of Contents

I FACED WITH REALITY

II NUMBER SEVEN IN THE SQUARE

III WHO WAS ASHTON?

IV THE RING AND THE KNIFE

V LOOK FOR THAT MAN!

VI SPECULATIONS

VII WHAT WAS THE SECRET?

VIII NEWS FROM ARCADIA

IX LOOKING BACKWARD

X THE PARISH REGISTER

XI WHAT HAPPENED IN PARIS

XII THE GREY MARE INN

XIII THE JAPANESE CABINET

XIV THE ELLINGHAM MOTTO

XV THE PRESENT HOLDER

XVI THE OUTHOUSE

XVII THE CLAIMANT

XVIII LET HIM APPEAR!

XIX UNDER EXAMINATION

XX SURPRISING READINESS

XXI THE MARSEILLES MEETING

XXII ON REMAND

XXIII