Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/13

 CHAPTER VI

"WORMWOOD" AND "THE SOUL OF LILITH"

Pauline de Charmilles: a Character Sketch—Her Engagement to Beauvais and the Arrival of Silvion Guidèl—"First Impressions"—Pauline's Confession and Beauvais' First Bout of Absinthe-drinking—The Exposure on the Wedding-Day—More Absinthe, and the Murder of Guidèl—The Meeting between Beauvais and Pauline, and the Suicide of the Latter—Pauline's Corpse at the Morgue—A Denunciation of Absinthe—A Suggestion to Marie Corelli Concerning the Drink Question in this Country.

"The Soul of Lilith" an Attempt to Prove the Apparently Unprovable—A Reason for Marie Corelli's Immense Popularity—El-Râmi and the Dead Egyptian Girl—His Experiment—Heliobas again—"The Two Governing Forces of the Universe"—"Poets are often the Best Scientists"—"The Why, Why, Why of Everything"—A Solution of Life's Problems     112

CHAPTER VII

MR. BENTLEY'S ENCOURAGEMENT

The Thorny Path of the Literary Pilgrim—Old Publishers and New—Mr. George Bentley an Honorable Example of the Former Type—The Happy Relations that existed between Miss Corelli and her Publisher—A List of the Novelist's Works Published by Bentleys—Mr. Bentley's Appreciation of "Ardath"—His Refusal to make Overtures to the Press—A Reference to Miss Rhoda Broughton and the Treatment dealt out to her by Critics—Mr. Gladstone's Visit—Concerning "Wormwood"—Maarten Maartens and his Opinion of "Ardath"—Press Attacks on "The Soul of Lilith"—The Late Queen Victoria and Marie Corelli's Books—A Comment on the Chivalry of the Press—A Carlyle Anecdote—Mr. Bentley as Author—His Book: "After Business"—The Inestimable Value of Mr. Bentley's Advice to the Young Novelist     134