The Grey Monk

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Grey Monk by Thomas Wilkinson Speight, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas Wilkinson Speight ISBN: 9781465622693
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Thomas Wilkinson Speight
ISBN: 9781465622693
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English

It was a wild and stormy October night. The big moon-faced clock in the entrance-hall, in its slow and solemn fashion, as of a horologe that felt the burden of its years, had just announced the hour of eleven. In his study alone, busy among his coins and curios, sat Sir Gilbert Clare of Withington Chase, Hertfordshire, and Chase Ridings, Yorkshire, a handsome, well-preserved man, in years somewhere between fifty and sixty. He had a tall, thin, upright figure, strongly marked features of an aquiline type, a snow-white moustache, and an expression at once proud and imperious. It would, indeed, have been difficult to find a prouder man than Sir Gilbert. He was proud of the long line of his ancestors, of the brave men and beautiful women who, from their faded frames in the picture gallery, seemed to smile approval on the latest representative of their race. He was proud of the unsullied name which had come down to him from them, on which no action of his had ever cast the shadow of a stain. He was proud of the position, which he accepted as his by right, in his native county; he was proud of his three sturdy boys, at this hour wrapped in the sleep of innocent childhood. But his pride was strictly locked up in his own bosom. No syllable ever escaped him which told of its existence. To the world at large, and even to the members of his own household, he was a man of a quick and irascible temper, of cold manners and unsympathetic ways. Proud as Sir Gilbert had just cause for being, there was one point, and one that could in no wise be ignored, at which his pride was touched severely. His eldest son and heir was a disappointment and a failure. He had fought against the knowledge as long as it had been possible for him to do so, but some months had now gone by since the bitter truth had forced itself upon him in a way he could no longer pretend to ignore. He had caused private inquiries to be made, the result of which had satisfied him that, from being simply a good-natured harum-scarum spendthrift, the young man was gradually degenerating into a betting man and a turf gambler of a type especially obnoxious to the fastidious baronet. He told himself that he would almost as soon have had his son become a common pickpocket. It never entered his mind to suspect that the evidence of Alec's delinquencies which had been laid before him, and to obtain which he had paid a heavy price, might, to some extent, have been manufactured; that the shadows of the picture might have been purposely darkened in order that he might be supplied with that which he presumably looked for. He had accepted it in full and without question.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

It was a wild and stormy October night. The big moon-faced clock in the entrance-hall, in its slow and solemn fashion, as of a horologe that felt the burden of its years, had just announced the hour of eleven. In his study alone, busy among his coins and curios, sat Sir Gilbert Clare of Withington Chase, Hertfordshire, and Chase Ridings, Yorkshire, a handsome, well-preserved man, in years somewhere between fifty and sixty. He had a tall, thin, upright figure, strongly marked features of an aquiline type, a snow-white moustache, and an expression at once proud and imperious. It would, indeed, have been difficult to find a prouder man than Sir Gilbert. He was proud of the long line of his ancestors, of the brave men and beautiful women who, from their faded frames in the picture gallery, seemed to smile approval on the latest representative of their race. He was proud of the unsullied name which had come down to him from them, on which no action of his had ever cast the shadow of a stain. He was proud of the position, which he accepted as his by right, in his native county; he was proud of his three sturdy boys, at this hour wrapped in the sleep of innocent childhood. But his pride was strictly locked up in his own bosom. No syllable ever escaped him which told of its existence. To the world at large, and even to the members of his own household, he was a man of a quick and irascible temper, of cold manners and unsympathetic ways. Proud as Sir Gilbert had just cause for being, there was one point, and one that could in no wise be ignored, at which his pride was touched severely. His eldest son and heir was a disappointment and a failure. He had fought against the knowledge as long as it had been possible for him to do so, but some months had now gone by since the bitter truth had forced itself upon him in a way he could no longer pretend to ignore. He had caused private inquiries to be made, the result of which had satisfied him that, from being simply a good-natured harum-scarum spendthrift, the young man was gradually degenerating into a betting man and a turf gambler of a type especially obnoxious to the fastidious baronet. He told himself that he would almost as soon have had his son become a common pickpocket. It never entered his mind to suspect that the evidence of Alec's delinquencies which had been laid before him, and to obtain which he had paid a heavy price, might, to some extent, have been manufactured; that the shadows of the picture might have been purposely darkened in order that he might be supplied with that which he presumably looked for. He had accepted it in full and without question.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Al primer vuelo by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book The Book of Dreams and Ghosts by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book In Paradise: A Novel (Complete) by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Egypt by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book A Journey From Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to The NorThern Ocean in The Years 1769, 1770, 1771 and 1772 by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Heroes of the Middle Ages by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book The White Conquerors: A Tale of Toltec and Aztec by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Selected Short Stories of William Le Queux: A Move on the Forty, A Run With Rosalie, A Sentimental Swindle, The Six New Novels, and The Story of a Secret by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Bagh O Bahar Tales of Four Derwish by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Kate Coventry: An Autobiography by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Fielding by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book The Stone Chamber by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book Molly Brown's Senior Days by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
Cover of the book A Hunter's Sketches by Thomas Wilkinson Speight
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy