{"product_id":"2940013654914","title":"A Girl Of The Commune","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJeremiah Brander was one of the most prominent personages in the\u003cbr\u003eCathedral town of Abchester. He inhabited an old-fashioned, red brick\u003cbr\u003ehouse near the end of the High Street. On either side was a high wall\u003cbr\u003efacing the street, and from this a garden, enclosing the house,\u003cbr\u003estretched away to a little stream some two hundred yards in the rear; so\u003cbr\u003ethat the house combined the advantage of a business residence in front,\u003cbr\u003ewith those of seclusion, an excellent garden, and an uninterrupted view\u003cbr\u003ebehind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJeremiah Brander enjoyed, in a very large degree, the confidence and\u003cbr\u003erespect of his fellow-townsmen. His father and his grandfather had been,\u003cbr\u003elike himself, solicitors, and he numbered among his clients most of the\u003cbr\u003ecounty families round. Smaller business he left to the three younger men\u003cbr\u003ewho divided between them the minor legal business of the place. He in no\u003cbr\u003eway regarded them as rivals, and always spoke of them benevolently as\u003cbr\u003eworthy men to whom all such business as the collection of debts,\u003cbr\u003ecriminal prosecutions, and such matters as the buying and selling of\u003cbr\u003ehouses in the town, could be safely entrusted. As for himself he\u003cbr\u003epreferred to attend only to business in his own line, and he seldom\u003cbr\u003eaccepted fresh clients, never, indeed, until a new-comer had taken his\u003cbr\u003eplace among the accepted society of the county.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the public business of the city, however, he played a very important\u003cbr\u003epart. He was Town Clerk, treasurer of several societies, solicitor to\u003cbr\u003ethe Abchester County and City Bank, legal adviser of the Cathedral\u003cbr\u003eAuthorities, deacon of the principal Church, City Alderman, president of\u003cbr\u003ethe Musical Society, treasurer of the Hospital, a director of the Gas\u003cbr\u003eCompany, and was in fact ready at all times to take a prominent part in\u003cbr\u003eany movement in the place.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was a man of some fifty years of age, inclined to be stout, somewhat\u003cbr\u003eflorid in complexion, and always dressed with scrupulous care. There was\u003cbr\u003enothing about him to indicate that he belonged to the legal profession.\u003cbr\u003eHis talk as a rule was genial and almost cheery, but his manner varied\u003cbr\u003eaccording to the circumstances. In his capacity as treasurer he was\u003cbr\u003econcise and business-like; in matters connected with the Church he was a\u003cbr\u003elittle given to be dogmatic, which, considering the liberality of his\u003cbr\u003esubscriptions to all the Church objects and charities was but natural.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs president of the Musical Society he was full of tact, and acted the\u003cbr\u003epart of general conciliator in all the numerous squabbles, jealousies,\u003cbr\u003eand heart-burnings incidental to such associations. In every one of the\u003cbr\u003enumerous offices he filled he gave unbounded satisfaction, and the only\u003cbr\u003eregret among his fellow-townsmen was that he had on three occasions\u003cbr\u003erefused to accept the honor of the Mayoralty, alleging, and with a fair\u003cbr\u003eshow of reason, that although ready at all times to aid to the utmost in\u003cbr\u003eany movement set afoot for the advantage of the city, it was impossible\u003cbr\u003efor him to spare the time required to perform properly the duties of\u003cbr\u003eMayor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJeremiah Brander had married the daughter of a gentleman of an old\u003cbr\u003ecounty family which had fallen somewhat in circumstances. It was rumored\u003cbr\u003eat the time that he had lent some assistance to the head of the family,\u003cbr\u003eand that the match was scarcely a willing one on the lady's part.\u003cbr\u003eHowever that might be, no whisper had ever been heard that the marriage\u003cbr\u003ewas an unhappy one. It was regarded as rather a come-down for her, but\u003cbr\u003eif so she never showed that she felt it as a fall. The marriage had\u003cbr\u003ecertainly improved his standing in the county. His wife formed a sort of\u003cbr\u003elink between him and his clients, and he occupied a considerably better\u003cbr\u003eposition among them than his father had done, being generally accepted\u003cbr\u003eas a friend as well as a legal adviser.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is not to be supposed that so successful a man had no detractors. One\u003cbr\u003eof his legal brethren had been heard to speak of him contemptuously as a\u003cbr\u003ehumbug. A medical practitioner who had failed to obtain the post of\u003cbr\u003eHouse Surgeon at the Hospital, owing to the support the President had\u003cbr\u003egiven to another competitor for the post, had alluded to him bitterly as\u003cbr\u003ea blatant ass; and a leading publican who had been fined before the\u003cbr\u003emagistrates for diluting his spirits, was in the habit of darkly\u003cbr\u003euttering his opinion that Jerry Brander was a deep card and up to no\u003cbr\u003egood.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47177548038384,"sku":"2940013654914","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013654914_p0.jpg?v=1763583543","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013654914","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}