
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
In the sun‑lit parlor of the Sacred Heart Convent at Bryn, the rhythm of prayer and the scent of blooming heathers create a world of quiet discipline. Here Laurence, an eighteen‑year‑old “Enfant de Marie,” moves with a graceful poise that masks a fierce pride in her French‑shaped habits and immaculate appearance. Though praised as a model pupil, she feels the weight of expectation pressing against the stone walls of the cloistered school.
The fragile peace shatters when her aunt, Lady Seton, arrives from England with a crisp British accent and a determined plan to whisk her away. Their terse exchange reveals a clash of cultures—Laurence’s cultivated French elegance versus the aunt’s brisk, aristocratic urgency. As the clock ticks toward a hurried departure, Laurence must decide whether to cling to the life she knows or confront the unfamiliar world waiting beyond the convent’s gates.
Language
en
Duration
~10 hours (615K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Andrew Sly, MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2021-02-13
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1859–1927
A French-born writer who turned royal courts, society intrigue, and European history into popular books and newspaper columns. Her career moved between fiction, biography, and journalism, giving readers a lively window into the world of titled families and power politics.
View all books
by Vinceslas-Eugène Dick

by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé

by Abraham Cahan

by Dion Boucicault

by Maria Edgeworth

by Eliza Fowler Haywood

by Ben Jonson