{"product_id":"2940013755802","title":"The Face of the Abbot","description":"If Madame Sara had one prerogative more than another it was that of\u003cbr\u003etaking people unawares. When least expected she would spring a mine at\u003cbr\u003eyour feet, engulf you in a most horrible danger, stab you in the dark, or\u003cbr\u003einjure you through your best friend; in short, this dangerous woman was\u003cbr\u003elikely to become the terror of London if steps were not soon taken to\u003cbr\u003eplace her in such confinement that her genius could no longer assert\u003cbr\u003eitself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMonths went by after my last adventure. Once again my fears slumbered.\u003cbr\u003eMadame Sara's was not the first name that I thought of when I awoke in\u003cbr\u003ethe morning, nor the last to visit my dreams at night. Absorbed in my\u003cbr\u003eprofession, I had little time to waste upon her. After all, I made up my\u003cbr\u003emind, she might have left London; she might have carried her\u003cbr\u003emachinations, her cruelties, and her genius elsewhere.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat such was not the case this story quickly shows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe matter which brought Madame Sara once again to the fore began in the\u003cbr\u003efollowing way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the 17th of July, 1900, I received a letter; it ran as follows:--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"23, West Terrace,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Charlton Road, Putney.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"DEAR MR. DRUCE,--I am in considerable difficulty and am writing to beg\u003cbr\u003efor your advice. My father died a fortnight ago at his castle in\u003cbr\u003ePortugal, leaving me his heiress. His brother-in-law, who lived there\u003cbr\u003ewith him, arrived in London yesterday and came to see me, bringing me\u003cbr\u003efull details of my father's death. These are in the last degree\u003cbr\u003emysterious and terrifying. There are also a lot of business affairs to\u003cbr\u003earrange. I know little about business and should greatly value your\u003cbr\u003eadvice on the whole situation. Can you come here and see me to-morrow at\u003cbr\u003ethree o'clock? Senhor de Castro, my uncle, my mother's brother, will be\u003cbr\u003ehere, and I should like you to meet him. If you can come I shall be very\u003cbr\u003egrateful.--Yours sincerely,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"HELEN SHERWOOD.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI replied to this letter by telegram:---\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Will be with you at three to-morrow.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHelen Sherwood was an old friend of mine; that is, I had known her since\u003cbr\u003eshe was a child. She was now about twenty-three years of age, and was\u003cbr\u003eengaged to a certain Godfrey Despard, one of the best fellows I ever met.\u003cbr\u003eDespard was employed in a merchant's office in Shanghai, and the chance\u003cbr\u003eof immediate marriage was small. Nevertheless, the young people were\u003cbr\u003edetermined to be true to each other and to wait that turn in the tide\u003cbr\u003ewhich comes to most people who watch for it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHelen's life had been a sad one. Her mother, a Portuguese lady of good\u003cbr\u003efamily, had died at her birth; her father, Henry Sherwood, had gone to\u003cbr\u003eLisbon in 1860 as one of the Under-Secretaries to the Embassy and never\u003cbr\u003ecared to return to England. After the death of his wife he had lived as\u003cbr\u003ean eccentric recluse. When Helen was three years old he had sent her\u003cbr\u003ehome, and she had been brought up by a maiden aunt of her father's, who\u003cbr\u003ehad never understood the impulsive, eager girl, and had treated her with\u003cbr\u003ea rare want of sympathy. This woman had died when her young charge was\u003cbr\u003esixteen years of age. She had left no money behind her, and, as her\u003cbr\u003efather declined to devote one penny to his daughter's maintenance, Helen\u003cbr\u003ehad to face the world before her education was finished. But her\u003cbr\u003echaracter was full of spirit and determination. She stayed on at school\u003cbr\u003eas pupil teacher, and afterwards supported herself by her attainments.\u003cbr\u003eShe was a good linguist, a clever musician, and had one of the most\u003cbr\u003echarming voices I ever heard in an amateur. When this story opens she was\u003cbr\u003eearning a comfortable independence, and was even saving a little money\u003cbr\u003efor that distant date when she would marry the man she loved.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079720157424,"sku":"2940013755802","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013755802_p0.jpg?v=1763589833","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013755802","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}