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"Romance"—Its Reception by the Public, and its Effect
on Readers—Marie Corelli and the Supernatural—Synopsis
of Plot—Heliobas and his "Electric Creed"—X-Rays
and Wireless Telegraphy foretold in this Book 48


CHAPTER IV

"VENDETTA" AND "THELMA"

Mr. Bentley's Opinion of "Vendetta"—Practically a True
Story of Naples during the Cholera Epidemic of 1884—The
Remarkable Ingenuity of its Construction—The
Novelist's Habit of Creating a Pretty Picture only to
Destroy it, as Exemplified by the Opening Chapters of
"Vendetta" and After Events—The Appalling Ferocity
of Count Fabio and the Culminating Scene of his
Vengeance.

Mr. Bentley's Enthusiastic Comments on "Thelma"—The
Story Compared with "She," to the Latter's Disadvantage—A
Romantic Setting—The Main Theme of the Book—Thelma's
Bewilderment at the Hollowness of Society—Her
Husband's Alleged Unfaithfulness—Her Flight to
Norway and the Sequel—Miss Corelli's "Unsparing
Brush"—The Weak Spot in the Book—Thelma's Winning
Personality 64


CHAPTER V

"ARDATH"

Its Theme—Congratulations from Lord Tennyson—A suggested
Corelli City in Colorado—An Example of the
Novelist's Descriptive Powers—Theos Alwyn, Agnostic—His
Interview with Heliobas—The Dream and the Poem—The
Field of Ardath—The City of Al-Kyris—Sah-Lûma,
the Poet Laureate—The Religion of Al-Kyris—Lysia,
High Priestess of the God-Serpent—The Prophet Khosrûl
and his Predictions—The Fall of Al-Kyris—The Awakening
of Alwyn and his Return to London—The Converted
Poet—"Ardath" a Book for all who Doubt—Six Tests
for Spiritualists 79