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Earle Wayne's Nobility
Excerpt from Earle Wayne's Nobility
"Guilty!"
The deep, sonorous voice of the foreman of the jury sounded out upon the solemn stillness of the crowded courtroom like the knell of doom.
And doom it was, and to one who never consciously committed a mean act in all his life.
The effect which that one word produced was marked.
There was a rustle of excitement and disapproval among the crowd, while deep-drawn sighs and expressions of sorrow showed that sympathy was strong for the prisoner at the bar, who for the last hour, while the jury was absent to decide upon the verdict, had sat with bent head and listless attitude, as if wearied out with the bitter trial to which he had been subjected.
Now, however, as he had been commanded "to look upon the jury," his head was proudly lifted, revealing an exceedingly intelligent and handsome face, and a pair of fine dark eyes met those of the foreman unflinchingly while the least smile of scorn and bitterness disturbed the firm, strong mouth, showing that he had believed he had not much to hope for from him.
As the word was spoken which sealed his fate, a gray pallor settled over his face, and he dropped into his former attitude; otherwise he betrayed no sign of emotion.
Then something occurred which very seldom occurs in a crowded court-room.
A low cry of pain not far from the prisoner made every eye turn that way, and made him shiver as with a sudden chill.
A tender, sorrowful gleam crept into his dark eyes, the proud lips unbent and trembled slightly, and a heavy sigh heaved his broad chest.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
"Guilty!"
The deep, sonorous voice of the foreman of the jury sounded out upon the solemn stillness of the crowded courtroom like the knell of doom.
And doom it was, and to one who never consciously committed a mean act in all his life.
The effect which that one word produced was marked.
There was a rustle of excitement and disapproval among the crowd, while deep-drawn sighs and expressions of sorrow showed that sympathy was strong for the prisoner at the bar, who for the last hour, while the jury was absent to decide upon the verdict, had sat with bent head and listless attitude, as if wearied out with the bitter trial to which he had been subjected.
Now, however, as he had been commanded "to look upon the jury," his head was proudly lifted, revealing an exceedingly intelligent and handsome face, and a pair of fine dark eyes met those of the foreman unflinchingly while the least smile of scorn and bitterness disturbed the firm, strong mouth, showing that he had believed he had not much to hope for from him.
As the word was spoken which sealed his fate, a gray pallor settled over his face, and he dropped into his former attitude; otherwise he betrayed no sign of emotion.
Then something occurred which very seldom occurs in a crowded court-room.
A low cry of pain not far from the prisoner made every eye turn that way, and made him shiver as with a sudden chill.
A tender, sorrowful gleam crept into his dark eyes, the proud lips unbent and trembled slightly, and a heavy sigh heaved his broad chest.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
348 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1880
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
81 books11 followersSarah Elizabeth Forbush Downs (1843–1926) was a "dime novelist" from the United States.
In 1868, she married George Sheldon Downs. She used a form of his name as a pseudonym in much of her writing.
Her career began with newspaper contributions in 1869. She was signed by Theodore Dreiser to write for his Smith's Magazine. Dreiser considered her to be one of the "three most popular authors in the world." Between 1880 and 1889, she serialized 47 romances for Street and Smith's New York Weekly.
In 1868, she married George Sheldon Downs. She used a form of his name as a pseudonym in much of her writing.
Her career began with newspaper contributions in 1869. She was signed by Theodore Dreiser to write for his Smith's Magazine. Dreiser considered her to be one of the "three most popular authors in the world." Between 1880 and 1889, she serialized 47 romances for Street and Smith's New York Weekly.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 1, 2020
Well this was a strange book, but considering when it was written and by a woman who was considered a "dime novelist", maybe not so strange after all.
Earle Wayne comes across two burglars and after they flee the scene he is arrested & found guilty of the burglary, even though there is no evidence except that of a dropped bracelet that was found at the scene and is convicted to 3 years in prison.
Earle is in love w/ Editha, the young woman whose bracelet it is and she promises to wait for him, but her father is a right tight mamzer and waylays the weekly letters & tokens of friendship she sends him.
The young woman is left a fortune by her Uncle with the promise to give Earle $10,000 and a packet of letters upon his release.
Unbeknownst to Earle, his mother who died in near poverty, was still the legal heir of the marquis of Wycliffe and Earle the current Marquis.
The book goes on & on in a series of misfortunes for Earle & Editha and the "nobility" that gets them through the worst of trials and to forgiveness.....
The story was seriously a bit much & soppy, but it held my interest & I was up until 5:00 am in order to finish it.
Earle Wayne comes across two burglars and after they flee the scene he is arrested & found guilty of the burglary, even though there is no evidence except that of a dropped bracelet that was found at the scene and is convicted to 3 years in prison.
Earle is in love w/ Editha, the young woman whose bracelet it is and she promises to wait for him, but her father is a right tight mamzer and waylays the weekly letters & tokens of friendship she sends him.
The young woman is left a fortune by her Uncle with the promise to give Earle $10,000 and a packet of letters upon his release.
Unbeknownst to Earle, his mother who died in near poverty, was still the legal heir of the marquis of Wycliffe and Earle the current Marquis.
The book goes on & on in a series of misfortunes for Earle & Editha and the "nobility" that gets them through the worst of trials and to forgiveness.....
The story was seriously a bit much & soppy, but it held my interest & I was up until 5:00 am in order to finish it.
August 9, 2013
Wow. Never have I met with a book so determined to make everything resolve with the help of the most fantastical coincidences. I am normally just a little bit dense about plot twists and don't always see them coming ahead of time, but the melodrama in this one was so thick and heavy-handed that I not only saw a major plot twist coming up, I could also see how that plot twist would get a second plot twist. Made it slightly boring. And Mrs. Georgie Sheldon sure does love her fake-outs with real/fake/real marriages, and deserving young people finding out the secret of their parentage. Not as much fun as the first one or two of her books I read.
Earle Wayne is sentenced to three years prison for a crime he didn't commit. Meanwhile, he's in love with his employer's niece (or, wait, is there a terrible secret about her parentage?) She's in love with him too, but her father won't hear of an engagement, even if Earle's name were cleared and he became rich, because of a SECRET, also terrible, also about his parentage.
Earle Wayne is sentenced to three years prison for a crime he didn't commit. Meanwhile, he's in love with his employer's niece (or, wait, is there a terrible secret about her parentage?) She's in love with him too, but her father won't hear of an engagement, even if Earle's name were cleared and he became rich, because of a SECRET, also terrible, also about his parentage.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews