I Forbid the Banns! — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

TAR le “7 FORBID THE BANNS!” A sensible man was, in his estimation, a man who would listen to his nonsense without a murmur. In the course of the drone that followed on the well-known phrases “international intercourse,’ ‘‘our dependencies beyond the sea,” “Imperial Federation,” ‘“ strengthening of the ties,” “the mother country,” “ the van of civilization ”’ —in the course of this drone, lasting over an hour, Charlton had many opportunities of observing the quarter-deck. He saw that Bertha was lying back with inimitable grace in his chair, and that she had not opened her novel. Never had the Nuisance found a more rapt audience than Charlton. Even the Nuisance could see that he was lost in thought, now that he was placed in possession of the facts bearing upon the photograph question ; and so he droned away more diligently than ever. Why was she sitting in that way, Charlton was wondering. Why was she sending her eyes wandering vaguely over the wide expanse of waters, instead of over the pages of fiction lying on her knee? What was she thinking of ? Was it possible that she was thinking over that sentence which he had said to her, “I have met you”? Was he justified in saying those words to her? Did he really believe in the depths of his heart that the satisfaction of his life was meeting with her? Most certainly he felt this. Then was he satisfied that his life should end here— that to obtain her love should be the be-all and the end-all of his life? Ah, could he doubt the reply that his heart made to his questions? He was not only content that his_ life should end in her—that apart from her he should never live in the world—but he felt that, having met her, he would not have the courage to face the future apart from her. And yet he had not known her for longer than eighteen hours. The possibility of securing to the nations of the earth per- petual peace by means of an exchange of photographs, was CONMNIELOOKS (€(0)