Her Faithful Knight — page 174: what you’re looking at

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

170 For Phyllis’ Sake. would. enter his family or any other in which she was not welcome. But, beyond all this, and an infinitely stronger argument in Dorothy’s favor, was his suggestion of that yachting cruise in the Mediterranean which, if Phyllis could but enjoy it also, might be the means of restoring her to health. Dorothy thought of all these things, tossing restlessly upon her sleepless bed. She could not bring herself to regard the absolute personality of Darcy Derrick, as a necessary part of the bargain, with any sentiment but a slight repugnance. The womanish beauty of his delicate white hands, the transparent pallor of his skin, the lan- guishing look in his long, blue eyes under their silky, dark eyelashes, and, above all, the vivid red of his under- lip which he perpetually gnawed when excited—all these ‘things, and even his graceful figure and smooth, sweet voice, which other women regarded as irresistible, inspired in Dorothy a feeling of impatience and irritation. Her nature instinctively revolted against allying her- self with a type for which she had neither sympathy nor liking, and although, owing in part to her mother’s early death and her sheltered home education, Dorothy under- stood little more of the married state at twenty than she had done at four, she yet shrank from the thought of becoming the wife of a man for whom she could not bring herself to care. She had been very well educated accord- ing to the accepted ideas for the education of wealthy young ladies of the middle class. She knew by heart all the stock anecdotes of kings and queens which are supposed to constitute the History of England; she could add up easy sums, play dance music more or less imper- fectly at sight, read Goethe’s “Faust” (revised) in the original, make herself understood among intelligent French people, sing Italian songs of moderate compass moderately in tune, dance the waltz popular when she was COMME OOS