Page:Notable women authors of the day (IA notablewomenauth00blaciala).pdf/255

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LADY DUFFUS HARDY. IZA DUFFUS HARDY.
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brought out by Hurst and Blackett, but have been since published by Mr. F. V. White in a single volume. Then came a short rest, after which the young author wrote “ The Girl He Did Not Marry," of which Messrs. Hutchinson are abou$ to produce a new edition in their " Popular Series." Then the first journey to San Francisco gave Miss Hardy fresh ground to break, and suggested the leading ideas of the incidents and graphic description of the life in the beautiful Cali- fornian valleys, so charmingly depicted in "Hearts and Diamonds” and “ The Love that He Passed By" (F. V. White).

"The nucleus of this plot," says Iza Duffus Hardy, was a story told to me by a fellow-passenger on the cars, who had been governor of the gaol at the time of the attack by the Vigilantes. I connected that with certain incidents in a celebrated murder trial which was going on about that time, and built up all the rest of the story around those scenes."

'Love in Idleness" is a picture drawn from the life, of a winter spent among the orange groves of South Florida, a happy and peaceful time of which Lady Hardy and her daughter speak most enthusiastically, and declare to have been quite idyllic, the days gliding a way in dream-like fashion, boating on the lakes, driving through the open woods of the rolling pine lands, and lounging on the piazzas, enjoying the exquisite effects of the morning sunshine, the sunset hazes, or the glorious tropical moonlight. Besides these books, Iza Duffus Hardy has also embodied her American experiences in two interesting volumes, "Oranges and Alligators” (Ward and Downey) and