The Man in Possession — page 290: what you’re looking at

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

TH MAN IN POSSESSION. 285 ‘¢Of course it will be all up with my chance now, ” he said. ‘‘He'll stay at their house, and be nursed by Kate—confound his luck !—and then pity and sen- timent and that sort of thing will come into play. You know what women are—if a fellow’s ill and helpless they can’t do enough for him. She'll think she’s bound in honour now to keep her engagement.” “Well,” said the Colonel dryly, ‘‘I may be wrong and old-fashioned in my idea, but it seems to me she was equally bound to keepit before this accident happened, if she had given her promise to do so.” ‘‘Butdon’t you see—hasn't Mrs, Lafaye explained— that she was driven into this d—d engagement? She dislikes the fellow, but her father worried her into it, and then, unfortunately, I—offended her. If she had been free to act as she pleased, nothing of this sort would have happened.” ‘‘Well, it has happened,” said Colonel Lawrence. ‘‘And now, it has assumed quite a complicated ap- pearance. I confess I do not understand women, but it seems to me that Miss O’Brien has voluntarily brought herself into this predicament, and that you cannot assist her in any way by interference.” It was strange and sad to see the look that came into the young man’s good-looking face, changing it into something hard and cold and almost cynical. ‘*No doubt you are right. It would be a thousand times better if I gave up this wild hope. ... And after all, perhaps she doesn’t care—she as good as told me.” ‘‘Oh,” said the Colonel unwisely, ‘‘I think she— cares. But you must ask yourself whether it would ECOMNCE OOO SS) (SO