Her Faithful Knight — page 275: what you’re looking at

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

Aylmer’s Household. 271 had taken up their abode in Aylmer’s home propinquity had not led, as it usually does in the case of healthy and comely young persons of opposite sex, to love. This thought flashed instantly into Dorothy’s mind, fol- lowed by a slightly sore and hurt feeling, for which she could not account and of which she felt immediately heartily ashamed. As to Rosa, she screwed up her pretty little mouth into an “Oh!” of admiration when she beheld Dorothy in the full light. “Why, you are perfectly lovely!” she cried ingenu- ously. “And that stupid old Aylmer said something about ‘some people thinking you handsome.’ Fancy your having been a widow three years! I wonder you haven't been snapped up long ago. And you look so wonderfully young, too—ever so much younger than [!” “You don’t look very old,” said Dorothy, smiling. She was so greatly relieved by the informal nature of her reception that Miss Read’s schoolgirl-like lack of breeding did not annoy her in the least. Besides, the girl was so pretty and her voice was so-musical that her blunt- ness and rather bouncing manners were easily condoned. “Oh, I’m fearfully old,” exclaimed Rosa. “Do take off your gloves and warm your hands at the fire. Isn’t that a duck of acat? I shall be twenty-seven next Christ- mas. Isn’t it dreadful? Quite an old maid they’d think me in France. And I’m always getting engaged; but somehow it never comes to anything. Dear me! How nice it is to have some one of my own age to talk to. And I do so love pretty people. The spare room is quite ready, luckily. Last week Aylmer half expected a man from Clofield, but he didn’t come. We were so dreadfully dis- appointed. You can’t think what a break it makes some one coming to stay, especially a man—no, I. don’t mean COMME NOK) S (€(@) =|