WIVES AND DAUGHTERS

CHAPTER I

THE DAWN OF A GALA DAY


To begin with the old rigmarole of childhood. In a country there was a
shire, and in that shire there was a town, and in that town there was a
house, and in that house there was a room, and in that room there was a
bed, and in that bed there lay a little girl; wide awake and longing to
get up, but not daring to do so for fear of the unseen power in the
next room--a certain Betty, whose slumbers must not be disturbed until
six o'clock struck, when she wakened of hers...