Spent most of the evening reading particularly horrifying passages of Ethel M. Dell's The Bars of Iron (a huge 1916 romantic bestseller) out loud to Mr. Mousie
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It really does have a number of remarkable similarities - she is a tough child of the streets running from an abusive home, he is older and with a bad reputation and was in love with this beautiful 'pure' woman who instead married this 'good' man - and the couple takes the heroine under their wings. She believes she'll wreck his life/he still loves his old love and runs away and he has to go find her; he kneels to her at the end and she is horrified etc
Hmmm....
TOS is way better though.
The ending is very purple-prosey cute:
That was the first thing that occurred to her--that he should kneel.
"Oh, don't! Oh, don't!" she said quickly. "I am not--not Maud."
He regarded her humorously, but the old derisive lines were wholly gone from his dark face. His eyes held something that was unfamiliar, something that made her quiver with a quick agitation that was not distress.
"So I am only allowed to kneel to Maud!" he said.
She tried to meet his look and, failing, hid her face. "I--I know you have always loved her," she murmured rather incoherently. "You couldn't--you couldn't--pretend to--to--to really love anyone else--after Maud!"
There fell a brief silence, and she thought the beating of her heart would choke her. Then there came the touch of his hand upon her head, and its wild throbbing grew calmer.
"No," he said, and in his voice was a new deep note unknown to her. "I am not pretending, Nonette."
The light touch drew her as it were magnetically. With a swift, impulsive movement she raised herself, gave herself to him, hiding her face still more deeply against his breast.
"But you--you--you couldn't really love me!" she whispered like an incredulous child. "You sure you do?"
His arms went round her, holding her fast. He made no other answer. Saltash, the glib of tongue and ready of gibe, was for once speechless in the presence of that which has no words.
blahblahblah etc...
I love that sort of cheese but not cheese with a topping of rapeage.
Hmmm....
TOS is way better though.
The ending is very purple-prosey cute:
That was the first thing that occurred to her--that he should kneel.
"Oh, don't! Oh, don't!" she said quickly. "I am not--not Maud."
He regarded her humorously, but the old derisive lines were wholly gone from his dark face. His eyes held something that was unfamiliar, something that made her quiver with a quick agitation that was not distress.
"So I am only allowed to kneel to Maud!" he said.
She tried to meet his look and, failing, hid her face. "I--I know you have always loved her," she murmured rather incoherently. "You couldn't--you couldn't--pretend to--to--to really love anyone else--after Maud!"
There fell a brief silence, and she thought the beating of her heart would choke her. Then there came the touch of his hand upon her head, and its wild throbbing grew calmer.
"No," he said, and in his voice was a new deep note unknown to her. "I am not pretending, Nonette."
The light touch drew her as it were magnetically. With a swift, impulsive movement she raised herself, gave herself to him, hiding her face still more deeply against his breast.
"But you--you--you couldn't really love me!" she whispered like an incredulous child. "You sure you do?"
His arms went round her, holding her fast. He made no other answer. Saltash, the glib of tongue and ready of gibe, was for once speechless in the presence of that which has no words.
blahblahblah etc...
I love that sort of cheese but not cheese with a topping of rapeage.
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