The Illegal Marriage — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE. 9 clutching the coverlet in her hands, and—thinking of him. But a few minutes before she had seen Alfred Guerry, the man to whom she was engaged, and had now come to pray away the doubts that would torture her heart. Even then she was humiliated to think that she had failed to win his love. She thought that she loved Alfred Guerry, but—ah! that terrible doubt. It was too late now; her promise was given; he could not have loved her; and she would have made Alfred a good wife. 3 Could each have known the truth what suffering might have been spared. Fora long time Stannard sat there thinking of her beauty, her grace, all the little ways she had that were so charming to him, and tried in vain to stifle the pain in his heart. Again he wondered at his depression, and en- deavored to account for it. “Pshaw!” he muttered, rising from his chair, “why should I bother my head with thinking! What a puny thing is man’s reason—do what we may. the length of our tether is soon reached. Philip Sidnev was right when he said that ‘Reason cannot show itself more reasonable than to leave reasoning on things above reason.’” The air grew dump and heavy. A southerly wind was rising, which, sighing through the trees, made the night still more uncomfortable. Throwing away his cigar after one long puff, he paused to watch the parabola of light until it ended in a bed of garden violets, and shone like a glow-worm among the leaves. He retired, but only to find his slumber broken and uneasy. A sense of impending ill hung heavy on his mind, Throughout the long night, it seemed GomilEcboo “S (E(0) 3