Romance Malet, Lucas: Deadham Hard. v1. 18 Jan 2014

[crutledge]

Lucas Malet was the pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley (4 June 1852 - 1931), a Victorian novelist. She was born in Eversley, Hampshire, the daughter of Charles Kingsley (author of The Water Babies). In 1876, she married William Harrison, Minor Canon of Westminster, and Priest-in-Ordinary to the Queen.

Excerpt
Hence the unsavoury reputation of the place. For not only did it supply a convenient receiving house for smuggled goods, but a convenient rendezvous for the more lawless characters of the neighbourhood—a back-of-beyond and No Man's Land where the devil could, with impunity, have things very much his own way. In the intervals of more serious business, the vaults and cellars of Tandy's frequently resounded to the agonies and brutal hilarities of cock-fights, dog-fights, and other repulsive sports and pastimes common to the English—both gentle and simple—of that virile but singularly gross and callous age. Nevertheless to Thomas Clarkson Verity, man of peace and of ideas, Tandy's represented—and continued to represent through over half a century—rescue, security, an awakening in something little short of paradise from a long-drawn nightmare of hell. He paid an extortionate price for the property at the outset, and spent a small fortune on the enlargement of the house and improvement of the grounds, yet never regretted his bargain.

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