A Bachelor’s Dream
By Margaret Wolfe Hungerford Hamilton
She was a most excellent creature, an invaluable manager of the house, the tradespeople, and the maid-servants, and a splendid cook; the Doctor appreciated her highly, but he was not disposed to ask her advice or to invite her consolation.
He beat his knee a little harder, frowned more severely; finally let down the window, put out his head, and called smartly:
“Patrick!”
“Sir.” Patrick pulled up the slim, clean-limbed brown horse as quickly as he could amid the hurrying vehicles and hucksters’ stalls which are usually to be found in Essex Road at about seven o’clock on Saturday evening, and looked questioningly down at his master.
“Don’t go home. Drive me to Petersham Villa,” said Dr. Brudenell.
Patrick obeyed rather sulkily. He did not know what his master could want at Petersham Villa—where he had already been once that day—and he did know that he was exceedingly hungry and desirous of getting home. He gave the brown horse an undeserved cut over the ears with his whip, and when he pulled up he did so with a jerk which he might easily have avoided.
“I shan’t be many minutes,” said the Doctor, alighting in front of a comfortable-looking well-kept house, with red gleams of firelight shining from its parlor windows. “Walk the horse up and down to keep the cold off, but don’t go far.”
“It’s cold enough we’ll both be, I’m thinkin’,” muttered Patrick, gathering up the reins with a shiver; for it was a very cold evening indeed, damp and gray, with a biting east wind.
If the Doctor heard this complaint, he did not heed it, his policy being, when his henchman was attacked with a fit of grumbling, to let him recover his good temper at his leisure. He had hurried up the snow-white flight of steps, given a vigorous knock at the door, and, being admitted by a neat maid-servant, was asking if Mrs. Leslie were at home.
Genre: Fiction And Literature | Romance Books
Read or download Book
Margaret Wolfe Hungerford Hamilton
Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, née Hamilton, (27 April 1855 – 24 January 1897), was an Irish novelist whose light romantic fiction was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the late 19th century.
Biography
She was born in County Cork, Ireland on 27 April 1855. Her father was Canon Fitzjohn Stannus Hamilton, rector and vicar-choral at St. Faughnan’s cathedral in Rosscarbery. As a child, she enjoyed creating stories, and she won prizes for her writing at school. She was educated at Portarlington College.
In 1872, she married Edward Argles, a Dublin solicitor, who died less than six years later. They had three daughters. To support the fatherless family, she wrote her first novel, Phyllis. Soon after its favorable reception, she wrote Molly Bawn, which became her best-known book.
She married Thomas Henry Hungerford, of Cahirmore, in 1882. They had two sons and a daughter. They resided at St. Brenda’s, Bandon, County Cork. By contemporary accounts, Margaret enjoyed country life and was an avid gardener. She rarely traveled far from home. She was one of the few women in Victorian times who was both a prolific author and mother of a sizeable family.
She died at Bandon of typhoid fever on 24 January 1897.
Writing
She approached her writing methodically, setting aside three hours every morning for it. The room where she did her writing had neatly organized manuscripts at her desk, surrounded by many reference works, novels, and other books.
Her books were first published anonymously, and later by “Mrs. Hungerford”. In the United States, her books were mostly published under the pen name “The Duchess”. Some of her early books were published by William Tinsley, a major publisher at the time.
Often writing on commission, she wrote many novels, short stories, and newspaper articles. Her books continued selling as fast as she could write them.
Her plots follow the usual conventions of romantic novels of the day. They contain delicate love scenes that were never offensive to the ideals of Victorian morals. Her works are characterized as entertaining and charming, though usually not of great depth. She tends to have little in the way of character development, tending more towards flirtatious dialogue. She was adept at capturing the tone of her contemporary fashionable society and sometimes used Irish settings.
Margaret Wolfe Hungerford Hamilton
