Sealed Lips — page 124: what you’re looking at

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

116 SEALED LIPS. “You can see how it is if you have a young father. Sooner or later one may depend upon having a step- mother. If you think that our friendship will suffer from it——” “Our friendship!” said Godefroid, returning to his one fear that never left him night or day. “Perhaps you hate me at this moment. Why should you not hate me if you love her?” “By Jove! must I repeat it?” commenced Patrice. Godefroid had arisen, and was walking up and down the room as he used to do before his illness. Without giving his companion time to reply he continued: “You have only loved her afew weeks. I have loved her for four years, ever since a certain even- ing, when astranger that I hardly knew, invited me to her house without warning me of her object. All of asudden I saw a young girl approach the piano. She sang passably well, I think; I hardly listened. When she had finished, and they told her that she had sung before the composer, Godefroid, this charming creature before whom I have so often trembled became white as a sheet, and trembled all over. I was obliged—oh! the irony of fate!—to talk to her, and reassure her, to encour- age her by telling her that I had taken great pleas- ure in hearing her. I was the one who stammered, who could think of no words, and was more embar- rassed than when as a child they took me to your mother, I, the little country lad, who had never GOmicbdoo KS (€(@)