Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. The world is full of love stories. The city, the plain, the crowded street, the meanest hovel as well as the palace, have or have had their love tale once on a time. It may have been sad or gay, an idyll or an elegy—it matters little, wherever you may go, wherever you may be, there love stories have been before you or are still, for they are spirits, and all the night and all the day long they haunt the whole of this broad earth. A real love-story, such a love-story as it had not known for many a day, now visited old Carnoosie. Mr. Gervoise, who never read novels, perused the opening pages of this with infinite pleasure. His satisfaction indeed rather lessened as the tale proceeded, for he could not help seeing that one of these two persons who always make up a love-tale went on much faster than the other; but then he remembered that heroines rarely fall in love in the first page of the book, and with the consideratekindness of his character he requested Mrs. Ger- voise to dispense more and more with the society of her daughter, so that the fitting opportunity might never fail Beatrice. Guessing likewise that his presence might interfere with the course of Gilbert's true love, Mr. Gervoise wore the ring of Gyges, for he saw everything, and, unless at meal times, remained invisible. Beatrice, though usually on her guard against this astute gentleman, now quite forgot to take note of conduct so unusual. Gilbert engaged all her attention. His serenity was incomprehensible to her; the laboratory and its crucibles took much of his time, and seemed to have charmed his grief away. The fifteenth came round. This was Mademoiselle Joanne's wedding day, and Gilbert looked actually cheerful. Had he forgotten it? Beatrice charitably sounded him, and ascertained that he ha...