{"product_id":"2940013663664","title":"Mary of Marion Isle","description":"\"I think, Clara, that your cousin Andrew is a damned young fool. You\u003cbr\u003emust excuse the language, but on the whole I consider him the\u003cbr\u003edamnedest young fool with whom I ever had to do.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThus in cold and deliberate tones did Lord Atterton express himself\u003cbr\u003econcerning Andrew West, the only son of his deceased brother. Clara\u003cbr\u003eMaunsell, his sister's child who was also an orphan, studied her uncle\u003cbr\u003efor a while before she answered, which there was no need for her to do\u003cbr\u003eat once as he was busy lighting a cigar. An observant onlooker might\u003cbr\u003ehave thought that she was thinking things out and making up her mind\u003cbr\u003ewhat line to take about the said Andrew West.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese two, uncle and niece, presented a somewhat curious contrast\u003cbr\u003ethere on that September day in the richly furnished but yet\u003cbr\u003euncomfortable library of Lord Atterton's great house in Cavendish\u003cbr\u003eSquare. He was a medium-sized, stout man of about sixty-eight years of\u003cbr\u003eage. His big, well-shaped head resembled that of a tonsured monk,\u003cbr\u003einasmuch as it was completely bald save for an encircling fringe of\u003cbr\u003ewhite hair. His face was clean-cut and able, with rather a long nose\u003cbr\u003eand a fierce, determined mouth remarkable for the thinness of the lips\u003cbr\u003eand absence of any curves. There was much character in that mouth;\u003cbr\u003eindeed, his whole aspect gave an impression of cold force. \"Successful\u003cbr\u003eman\" was written all over him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe niece was a young lady of about four-and-twenty, of whom at first\u003cbr\u003esight one would instinctively say, \"How pretty she is, and how neat!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn fact, she was both. Small in build but perfectly proportioned, fair\u003cbr\u003ein complexion with just the right amount of colour, with crisp auburn\u003cbr\u003ehair carefully dressed, and steady, innocent-looking blue eyes, a\u003cbr\u003ewell-formed mouth and a straight little nose, she was the very\u003cbr\u003eembodiment of prettiness as distinguished from beauty, while in\u003cbr\u003eneatness none could surpass her. Her quiet-coloured dress suited her\u003cbr\u003eto perfection, no one had ever seen that auburn coiffure disordered\u003cbr\u003eeven in a gale of wind, her boots and gloves were marvels of their\u003cbr\u003esort, and even the pearl drops on the necklace she wore seemed to\u003cbr\u003earrange themselves with a mathematical exactitude. \"Little Tidy\" they\u003cbr\u003ehad called her in the nursery, and \"Clever Clara\" at school, and now\u003cbr\u003ethat she was grown up these attributes continued to distinguish her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a way there was about her more than a hint of her uncle, Lord\u003cbr\u003eAtterton. Between a young lady and this old man, especially as the one\u003cbr\u003emight be said to represent decorated ice-cream and the other something\u003cbr\u003every much on the boil, there could be no real resemblance. And yet the\u003cbr\u003eset of their mouths and the air of general ability common to both of\u003cbr\u003ethem, did give them a certain similitude, due no doubt to affinity of\u003cbr\u003eblood.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47179609637104,"sku":"2940013663664","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013663664_p0.jpg?v=1763583647","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013663664","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}