His Other Wife: A Novel — page 108: what you’re looking at

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

100 MR. CROFT’S WARD. Rachel went slowly away from the house, and walked back to the city, a dreary and dismal black shadow moving through the sunlight. “e * x k x * * Some weeks have elapsed since the honey-moon of the bridal pair at Lucerne was so suddenly eclipsed by the un- timely apparition of the other wife. Very marked changes have been wrought in the mOUSE- hold at Lucerne. have been sum- The upper circle of society in moned to welcome within its charmed orbit a new star— Miss Hilary, whom Mr. Croft Disney to Madam Grundy as his ward. All that Faith knows concerning the change in tne for- tunes is that directly after her mother’s departure Eastward — a strange gentleman came to her, bringing a letter from her mother, commanding her to place herself with con- fidence under the protection and charge of Mr. Croft, whom she had appointed Faith’s guardian, and with whom Faith would reside in future, or, at least, during her mother’s absence in Europe, whither, Rachel stated, that she had gone for the restoration of her health at the Ger- man baths. Strange as such a proceeding would have seemed in an average mother, it scarcely astonished Faith, who had a life-long acquaintance with the eccentricities of her moth- er’s singular and moody character. Uriel had accustomed the girl to pay little heed to Eomicbooks,. co 3