CHAPTER I. The drawing-room within was very different from the wild conflict of light and darkness outside. There was music going on at one end, some people were reading, some talking. There were flirtations in hand, and grave discussions. In short, the evening was being spent as people are apt to spend the evening when there is nothing particular going on. There had been a good deal of private yawning and inspection of watches throughout the evening, and some of the party had already gone to bed, or rather to their rooms, where they could indulge in the happiness of fancying themselves somewhere else-an amusement which is very popular and general in a country house. But seated in an easy-chair by the fire was a tall man, carefully dressed, with diamond studs in his shirt, and a toilette which, though subdued in tone as a gentleman's evening dress must be, was yet too elaborate for the occasion. The fact that this new guest was a stranger to him, and that his father was seated by him in close conversation, made it at once apparent to Ned that it must be Golden. Clara was close to them listening with a look of eager interest to all they said. These three made a little detached group by one side of the fire. At the other corner sat Mrs Burton, with her little feet on a footstool, as near as possible to the fender. She had just said good-night to the dignified members of the party, the people who had to be considered; the others who remained were mere young people, about whose proceedings she did not concern herself. She was taking no part in the talk at the other side of the fire. She sat and warmed her little toes and pondered; her vivid little mind all astir and working, but uninfluenced by, and somewhat contemptuous of, what was going on around; and her chilly little person basking in the ruddy warmth of the fire. Ned came up and stood by her when he came in. No one took any notice of him, the few persons who remained in the room having other affairs in hand. Ned was fond of his mother, though she had never shown any fondness for him. She had done all for him which mere intellect could do. She had been very just to the boy all his life; when he got into scrapes, as boys will, she had not backed him up emotionally, it is true, but she had taken all the circumstances into account, and had not judged him harshly. She had been tolerant when his father was harsh. She had never lost her temper. He had always felt that he could appeal to her sense of justice-to her calm and impartial reason. This is not much like the confidence with which a boy generally throws himself upon his mother's sympathy, yet it was a great deal in Ned's case. And accordingly he loved his mother. Mrs Burton, too, loved him perhaps more than she loved any one. She was doing her best to break his heart; but that is not at all uncommon even when parents and children adore each other. And then Ned was not aware that his mother had any share intentionally or otherwise in the cruel treatment he had received.....
About the Author: Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant, née Margaret Oliphant Wilson le 4 avril 1828 à Wallyford près de Musselburgh dans l'East Lothian et morte le 25 juin 1897 à Wimbledon, est une romancière et historienne écossaise. Elle épouse en 1852 son cousin Frank Wilson Oliphant, dont elle a six enfants. Toute sa vie, elle fait preuve d'une ténacité devant l'adversité remarquable dans le contexte de l'époque: à la mort de son mari, elle assure par son talent d'écrivain, la sécurité et l'éducation de ses enfants (elle enverra d'abord ses deux fils à Eton, puis à Oxford). Elle soutient ensuite financièrement et moralement ses deux frères Willie et Frank, et assure l'éducation de trois enfants de ce dernier. Mais ses efforts sont contrecarrés par la maladie et la mort: aucun de ses enfants ne lui survivra et, des enfants de Frank qu'elle a pris en charge, seule Janet vivra plus longtemps qu'elle. Dans les années 1880 elle guide les débuts en littérature de la romancière irlandaise Emily Lawless. Fille de Francis W. Wilson (1788-1858) et de Margaret Oliphant (1789-1854), elle passe son enfance à Lasswade, près de Dalkeith, à Glasgow et Liverpool et s'adonne dès son plus jeune âge aux expérimentations littéraires. En 1849, elle publie son premier roman Passages in the Life of Mrs Margaret Maitland (Épisodes de la vie de Mme Margaret Maitland) où il est question du mouvement de l'église libre d'Écosse dont ses parents sont des sympathisants. Ce premier roman connait un certain succès. Il est suivi en 1851 par Caleb Field et la même année, Margaret rencontre le major William Blackwood à Édimbourg, qui l'invite à participer à la rédaction du Blackwood's Magazine, une revue littéraire célèbre de l'époque. Cette collaboration débutée de façon précoce durera toute sa vie. Le nombre de ses contributions sera considérable puisqu'elle signera dans cette revue plus de cent articles, parmi lesquels une critique du personnage d'Arthur Dimmesdale dans The Scarlet Letter de Nathaniel Hawthorne.