Contents ( 91)
- THE PRETTY LADY
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- ARNOLD BENNETT
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- Contents
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- The Pretty Lady
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- Chapter 1 - The Promenade
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- Chapter 2 - The Power
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- Chapter 3 - The Flat
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- Chapter 4 - Confidence
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- Chapter 5 - Ostend
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- Chapter 6 - The Albany
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- Chapter 7 - For the Empire
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- Chapter 8 - Boots
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- Chapter 9 - The Club
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- Chapter 10 - The Mission
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- Chapter 11 - The Telegram
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- Chapter 12 - Rendezvous
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- Chapter 13 - In Committee
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- Chapter 14 - Queen
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- Chapter 15 - Evening Out
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- Chapter 16 - The Virgin
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- Chapter 17 - Sunday Afternoon
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- Chapter 18 - The Mystic
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- Chapter 19 - The Visit
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- Chapter 20 - Mascot
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- Chapter 21 - The Leave-Train
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- Chapter 22 - Getting on with the War
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- Chapter 23 - The Call
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- Chapter 24 - The Soldier
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- Chapter 25 - The Ring
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- Chapter 26 - The Return
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- Chapter 27 - The Clyde
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- Chapter 28 - Salome
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- Chapter 29 - The Streets
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- Chapter 30 - The Child's Arm
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- Chapter 31 - "Romance"
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- Chapter 32 - Mrs. Braiding
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- Chapter 33 - The Roof
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- Chapter 34 - In the Boudoir
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- Chapter 35 - Queen Dead
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- Chapter 36 - Collapse
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- Chapter 37 - The Invisible Powers
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- Chapter 38 - The Victory
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- Chapter 39 - Idyll
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- Chapter 40 - The Window
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- Chapter 41 - The Envoy
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- * * *
Christine's attitude towards the war was uncomplicated by any subtleties. Disregarding all but the utmost spectacular military events, she devoted her whole soul to hatred of the Germans—and all the Germans. She believed them to be damnably cleverer than any other people on earth, and especially than the English. She believed them to be capable of all villainies whatsoever. She believed every charge brought against them, never troubling about evidence. She would have imprisoned on bread and water all Germans and all persons with German names in England. She was really shocked by the transparent idiocy of Britons who opposed the retirement of Prince Louis of Battenberg from the Navy. For weeks she had remained happily in the delusion that Prince Louis had been shot in the Tower, and when the awakening came she had instantly decided that the sinister influence of Lord Haldane and naught else must have saved Prince Louis from a just retribution. She had a vision of England as overrun with innumerable German spies who moved freely at inexpressible speed about the country in high-powered grey automobiles with dazzling headlights, while the marvellously stupid and blind British police touched their hats to them. G.J. smiled at her in silence, aware by experience of the futility of argument. He knew quite a lot of women who had almost precisely Christine's attitude towards the war, and quite a lot of men too. But he could have wished the charming creature to be as desirable for her intelligence as for her physical and her strange spiritual charm: he could have wished her not to be providing yet another specimen of the phenomena of woman repeating herself so monotonously in the various worlds of London. The simpleton of fifty made in his soul an effort to be superior, and failed. "What is it that binds me to her?" he reflected, imagining himself to be on the edge of a divine mystery, and never expecting that he and Christine were the huge contrivances of certain active spermatozoa for producing other active spermatozoa.