EVERYDAY LIFE LIBRARY No. 5
Published by EVERYDAY LIFE, Chicago

[Illustration]

Marion Arleigh's Penance

BY CHARLOTTE M. BRAEME.

_Author of "Dora Thorne," "Madolin's Lover," "Lord Elesmere's Wife," "A
Rose in Thorns," "The Belle of Lynn," Etc._




CHAPTER I.


Three o'clock on a warm June afternoon. The great heat has caused
something like a purple haze to cloud over the deep blue of the sapphire
sky. There is not one breath of wind to stir the leaves or cool the
flushed faces of those whose duties call them out on this sultry June
day. Away in the deep green heart of the broad land broad streams are
flowing; in the very heart of the green woods there is cool, silent
shade; by the borders of the sea, where the waves break with a low,
musical murmur, there is a cooling breeze; but here in London on this
bright June afternoon there is nothing to lessen the white, intense
heat, and even the flowers exposed for sale in the streets are drooping,
the crimson roses look thirsting for dew, the white lilies are fading,
the bunches of mignonette give forth a fragrance sweet as the "song of