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