GRIFFITH GAUNT; OR, JEALOUSY

BY

CHARLES READE

In Three Volumes. Vol I

London

CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY

1866

CHAPTER	I
CHAPTER	II
CHAPTER	III
CHAPTER	IV
CHAPTER	V
CHAPTER	VI
CHAPTER	VII
CHAPTER	VIII
CHAPTER	IX
CHAPTER	X
CHAPTER	XI
CHAPTER	XII
CHAPTER	XIII
CHAPTER	XIV

CHAPTER I

"Then I say once for all, that priest shall never darken my doorsagain."

"Then I say they are my doors and not yours, and that holy man shallbrighten them whenever he will."

The gentleman and lady, who faced each other pale and furious, andinterchanged this bitter defiance, were man and wife. And had lovedeach other well.

Miss Catherine Peyton was a young lady of ancient family in Cumberland,and the most striking, but least popular, beauty in the county. She wasvery tall and straight, and carried herself a little too imperiously;yet she would sometimes relax and all but dissolve that haughty figure,and hang sweetly drooping over her favorites: then the contrast wasdelicious, and the woman fascinating.

Her hair was golden and glossy; her eyes a lovely grey; and she had away of turning them on slowly and full, so that their victim could notfail to observe two things: 1. that they were grand and beautiful orbs;2. that they were thoughtfully overlooking him instead of looking athim.

So contemplated by glorious eyes, a man feels small; and bitter.

Catherine was apt to receive the blunt compliments of the Cumberlandsquires with this sweet, celestial, superior gaze, and for this, andother imperial charms, was more admired than liked.

The family estate was entailed on her brother; her father spent everyfarthing he could; so she had no money, and no expectations, except

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