Ruby's Reward — page 50: what you’re looking at

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

There was another and stronger reason why Robert Gordon had tried to sound his sister’s feelings. From time to time he had warnings that all was not as well with him as he could wish, or as it should be with a man of his years. Severe gains in his left side, certain sen- sations as if his heart suddenly turned over and then .ceased its action entirely, made him fear that he might not remain long in the world to care for his beautiful, orphaned sister, and he experienced a strong ‘desire to have her happily settled in life be- fore any ill should overtake him and thus leave hor without a protector and at the mercy of unprincipled fortune-hunters, He had been correct in his suspicions. Edmund Carpenter had resolved to win lovely Ruby Gordon for his wife, if pos- sible. She was not only beautiful in form and feature, charming in manner, winning every heart by her sweetness, piquancy, and grace, bub nobility itself in character and principle. He had been astonished, as his acquaintance with her progressed, at the depth of thought which she manifested, the intellectual ability that she displayed ‘and the lofty sentiments which pervaded her conversation and shone forth in all her deeds and bearing. He had never met anyone like her, and he had set his whole heart upon making her his wife and the mistress of his elegant | home. With this object in view, it is not strange that he sought to mask the baser clements of his own nature, carefully governing his language and deportment when in_ her presence, and exerting every art and fas- cination of which he was master to achieve his cherished purpose. comidhooks.com |