A Fair Fraud — page 31: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

20 A Fair Fraud ‘Marion, my dear, will you please find Horner, and ask him to send round to the stables at once, and say one of the grooms will be wanted to ride into Churston with a telegram.’ Marion was obliged to obey ; but when she had delivered the message, there was nothing to prevent her hastening back to the morning- room. , Her uncle was strutting up and down the room, swinging the cord of his eyeglasses round his finger. ‘But, bless my soul! perfect strangers, Fanny!’ were the first words Marion heard him say. ‘Upon my word, I think it pretty cool cheek of Ken!’ ‘Not at all, John. Why shouldn’t the boy bring his friends down here if he likes? Iam sure we ought to be very glad if he does.’ ‘But who are these people? How do we know if they are respectable ?’ ‘My dear John, how can you imagine Ken would bring anybody down here who wasn’t ?’ cried Mrs Drury, indignantly. ‘ You see it is a mother and daughter—Mrs and Miss Lane —and he says they were kind to him when he was ill in Scotland last year.’ | ‘Well, well, I suppose they must come. But I’m old-fashioned, I suppose, for I don’t under- stand this new craze for women on bicycles eonniclool: oO C' Q)