Octavia's Pride; or, The Missing Witness — page 158: what you’re looking at

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

148 - OCTAVIA'S PRIDE great powers and mental strength to Felix. Poor Felix! I wonder—no, I do not wonder. I believe he has trampled upon that foolish love of his, and conquered it.” And then she sighed, and knew not wherefore, and en- tered the drawing-room and talked pensively with Lady Mary Falkner, and when they asked for her to sing, she hunted up a wild, melancholy air, which made them all shiver, and becoming presently aware of its effect, she struck off into a fairy extravaganza, in the midst of whose gay echoes arrived Lord Ronald, and dispersed both the song ‘and the melancholy. Felix meanwhile brightened out of his secret perplexities and anxieties to give the old general one of the old-time tele-a-tetes, and though he did not give the latter anything like a satisfactofy account of his singular and abrupt leave- taking, he kept him entertained and in good humor with all around him. Octavia glanced around the spacious rooms when she en- tered them, more charming than ever in her tasteful even- ing costume, and decided that Felix was still sulky and meant to avoid her. She knew how pleasantly he had be- guiled the time for her father, because she had slipped into the general’s room to obtain his approval of her dress, for Octavia Wainwright had hitherto taken most pleasure in her toilet, because of the proud sparkle of admiration its effect would bring to a father’s eve. She had looped a spray of jasmine in among the golden braids to-night, from a queer caprice. Would Felix remem- ber how once, when they had been sketching in the garden, he had laid just such a spray across her hair, and smiled ap- proval? And then it occurred to her how odd it was she should be thinking more of pleasing the eye of the humble secretary than of the noble Lord Ronald. But Felix was nowhere to be seen. Octavia, pees was none the less dazzling in Lord Ronald’s eyes. au : ar. : Ay ee! 7 ‘y g te pe bez Me . ne