Her Faithful Knight — page 231: what you’re looking at

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

Good News that Came Too Late. 227 her message, or her subsequent announcement of her sister’s married name to Dr. Wentworth, in that spirit. The suddenness of her loss had stunned her faculties; she had not stopped to reflect that Mr. Derrick had no means of ascertaining which of the sisters was dead. She pre-supposed that he knew it was Phyllis and she imagined that he would take the message as coming from her (Dorothy) in the defiant spirit in which she had framed it. But as she re-read Darcy’s letter a new thought came into her mind. Had not he himself by his mistake opened out to her a new way of escape from him? ‘Tears of thankfulness gushed from her eyes as she gazed from the open sheet in her hand to her sister’s face, calm in the peaceful dignity of death. That gentle heart could never again be wounded by Darcy’s cruelty, nor could his bitterest taunts have any more power to cause her tears to flow. The beauty of her early girlhood had come back to Phyllis’ face, ennobled by Death’s first idealizing touch. Very mean and small and petty, of the world worldly, and torn by a thousand distracting emotions, Dorothy felt herself to be before her, and she who had petted and protected Phyllis in her lifetime felt strangely awed and reverent in the presence of Phyllis dead. “Thank God, she never read this letter!” Dorothy whispered to herself, gushing hot with anger for the in- sults which Darcy addressed to the woman who had so loved him. “If only I can contrive not to undeceive him! He seems almost as anxious not to see Phyllis as I am not to see him. If he thinks I am Phyllis he will avoid me, and I shall at least escape the sin of murder, for if I see him and if he should speak to me or try to touch me I feel I must kill him! If he were to find “S (S@) out the truth, he has sworn he will never rest fraaficdorem: