The Duchess of Powysland A Novel Author:Grant Allen Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. CROSS-PURPOSES. Basil Maclaine and Douglas Harrison occupied the first-floor suite of rooms -- technically known as ' the drawing-rooms ' ... more »-- in Miss Figgins's Furnished Apartments for Gentlemen in Clandon Street, Bloomsbury. The suite below -- technically described as ' the parlours ' -- were filled by Linda herself and her brother Cecil. It was nothing short of grotesque, Douglas Harrison always felt, to address that queenly creature in her statuesque beauty by such a ridiculously plebeian name as Miss Figgins; but since Providence and her progenitors had so willed it, he consoled himself with the thought that in all probability before many years were out she would see cause to exchange it for another and more euphonious one. Meanwhile, he minimized the evil as far as possible by employing to her in private life her Christian name of Linda. He had first adventured such familiarity in fear and trembling as a tribute to friendship; but Linda's gracious permission to use the shorter mode of address was so frankly and readily conceded that he used it now, in spite of his native shyness, with perfect freedom. ' What were you doing so long upstairs, Linda ?' her brother asked, when she went down to ' the parlours,' tray in hand, after clearing the breakfast-table. Any other girl in her place would most likely have answered : ' Taking away the tea- things, Cecil.' But Linda's ways were not as other girls' ways -- she was infinitely more independent and more transparent. ' Talking to Mr. Maclaine,' she replied truthfully. ' You talk a great deai too much to Mr. Maclaine, in my opinion,' her brother said, half displeased. ' That's entirely a matter for my own consideration,' Linda answered, not haughtily, but with a quiet self-respect. ' My talking...« less