A Struggle for a Ring — page 31: what you’re looking at

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

“WHAT SHALL WE DO?” 27 smiling sea! You have chanted sweet music to me all day. Good-by, bright, dear sun! You will never shine so brightly for me again. I feel as Eve must have felt when she left the sweet-scented Garden of Paradise. Good-by !” Then they drove to the station. How it happened can never be told—whether Lord Carsdale had mistaken the time for the train, whether Alice had lingered too long’on the balcony, whether they had driven too slowly—for some cause or other they were too late; the train had started, and there was no other that night for Ladywell. Lord Carsdale was shocked himself when he heard it; his hand- some face paled, his kindly heart ached. ‘True, it was all his own fault, but it would not hurt him. She would have to suffer. For the first time in his life he felt something like fear as he went up to the young girl, whose very life lay, as it were, in his hands. ‘¢ Alice,” he said, gently. She turned to him a startled face. ‘‘Oh, Lord Carsdale, what is it? Why do _you look like that? What is the matter?” ‘‘T am very sorry,” he said, even more gently; “*but we are late—the train has gone.” He never forgot the deadly, awful despair that came over her face—the ghastly pallor-—how the blue eyes darkened with awful fear. ‘¢Good Heaven!” she said, in a hoarse whisper, ‘‘ what shall we do?” ‘‘Do not distress yourself,” he said. ‘‘It is seven now; I will order a carriage, and we will drive there. We shall - be in time, do not fear.” | She clasped her trembling hand round his arm. Eomicboo