She was the youngest daughter of the youngest brother of the existing
Duke of Omnium, and the first cousin, therefore, of Mr. Plantagenet
Palliser, who was the eldest son of the second brother. And as her
mother had been a Bavilard there could be no better blood. But
Adelaide had been brought up so far away from the lofty Pallisers and
lofty Bavilards as almost to have lost the flavour of her birth. Her
father and mother had died when she was an infant, and she had gone
to the custody of a much older half-sister, Mrs. Atterbury, whose
mother had been not a Bavilard, but a Brown. And Mr. Atterbury was a
mere nobody, a rich, erudite, highly-accomplished gentleman, whose
father had made his money at the bar, and whose grandfather had
been a country clergyman. Mrs. Atterbury, with her husband, was
still living at Florence; but Adelaide Palliser had quarrelled with
Florence life, and had gladly consented to make a long visit to her
friend Lady Chiltern.
In Florence she had met Gerard Maule, and the acquaintance had not
been viewed with favour by the Atterburys.
Pages:
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290