The Craze of Christina — page 100: what you’re looking at

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

96 The Craze of Christina, maney sweetly; ‘but there is nothing at all to prevent his being engaged. There is nothing that keeps a young man steadier, and I may add happier, than an engagement to a clever and charming girl. Don’t you agree with me, Mrs. Leroy?’ turning to a lady by her side who was also the mother of a marriageable daughter. Mrs. Leroy agreed entirely, and her thoughts flew to her own Louisa, whilst Mrs. Ommaney’s remained confidently fixed upon Maud. Maud at least, she reflected, had had the start of these other girls who were grouped in shoals about him; and it gave her a warm glow of aat- isfaction when she observed through the open door of the tea-room beyond that Mr. Clifford was at that moment engaged in dropping a lump of sugar into Maud’s tea-cup. For the next few minutes he appeared to be conversing with her, and Mrs. Ommaney’s heart beat high with triumph; for what opportunities for tender words might there not lurk in a lump of loaf sugar at twopence halfpenny a pound! Her riotous imagination conjured up all sorts of delightful things her would-be son-in-law might be saying to her child, for the distance was of course too great for her to hear their conversation. ‘“‘Sweets to the sweet,’ he might possibly be saying, as he dropped the EGComicbooks:; cc