The Dugdale Millions — page 299: what you’re looking at

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

THE DECISIVE BLOW. 289 took her place beside Dick, and assumed a relation to him which made Wallis open her black eyes in wide wonder. It seemed to her that the interview for which she had maneuvered had borne its fruits. 5o much engrossed had she been with the exciting scene of Dick’s fall and the previous one of Merrimount’s love-making, that she had utterly forgotten the one to which she had said she was the guardian angel. When she saw Merrimount appear, she experienced. a nervousness quite unusual. Indeed her face flushed, much to her annoyance, and there was a marked air of constraint in her manner toward the young Englishman. With extreme care, she placed herself as remote from him as possible, and was dis- tinctly conscious that she talked in a most spasmodic way, jerky as she described it afterward, sometimes voluble beyond her wont and at others strangely Bllent, -After they had conversed for possibly a half an hour, Merrimount, to her great alarm, asked Mr. Stan- ton if he would grant him a few moments of private conversation. Intuitively grasping his purpose she rose from her seat half in protest, but sank back again, realizing the impropriety of assuming to know what that purpose was. Her action was not noticed by anyone else, nevertheless she felt the hot blood rushing to her face, as she imagined that everyone had noticed her action and knew its meaning. The old lawyer, acceding to Merrimount’s request, led the way into the library, supposing the conference requested bore some relation to the matter which was uppermost in the minds of all. His astonishment was vast, and even ludicrous, when the young nobleman abruptly announced that he had done himself the honor todeclare his love for Wallis. Mr. Stanton fairly fell back in his chair limp through amazement. So ludicrous indeed was his appearance that Merrimount struggled hard to conceal his desire to laugh. Comicboclk co 3