The Price He Paid — page 36: what you’re looking at

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

CARRYING OUT ORDERS. 27 “My dear brother-in-law, what a pleasure it is to see you again at last!” cried a lady, seated in the carriage. stretching out her hand to him with much animation and tender haste. “| bid you welcome, Matilda,” said Raven, with his customary cool politeness, as he opened the door and helped her toalight. “Have you hada pleasant journey? It was rather disagreeably warm for traveling.” “Oh, terribly! The long drive has quite shat- tered my nerves. We had at first intended to stay and rest a day in K——, but the longing to see our dear uncle was so strong within us, we really, could not wait.” The “dear uncle” received the compliment with great indifference. ) “You would have done wisely to make a halt at EK——, certainly,” he said. “But where is the child, Gabrielle?” That young lady, in the act of springing lightly from the carriage without waiting for his aid, flushed scarlet with indignation at this most insult- ing question. The baron himself gave a slight start of astonishment, and looked long and curiously at the “child,” whom he had not seen for full three years, and whose appearance now evidently took him by surprise. But his astonishment and Gabrielle’s consequent triumph were of short dura- tion. “T am glad to see you, Gabrielle,” he said, quietly, and stooping, touched her forehead with his lips. It was the same slight, formal caress which he had formerly bestowed on the maiden of fourteen, and. as he vouchsafed it, his stern, dark eyes rapidly surveyed her with one single look, sharp and pene- trating as though he would at once read the inmost workings of her mind. Then he offered his arm to his sister-in-law to lead her up stairs, and left the young lady to follow them. | ~ The baroness launched intoa torrent of pretty speeches and affectionate inquiries, which met with monosyllabic answers alone. Her flow of words, however, was not to be checked; it only ceased on 6S (E(@) Gomichboo