A Struggle for a Ring — page 351: what you’re looking at

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

ADMIRATION IS NOT LOVE. 347 building lay in darkness; from the windows of the smok- ing-room, on the ground floor, there came a broad stream of light; from the windows of the rooms on the second floor came a lesser light ; and Ailie saw her husband look, with wistful eyes, at the window of the room where Lady Ethel slept. ‘*You thought that so near the house we might be seen?” she said. ‘‘I had the same idea. It is much safer here.” Then they did not speak again until they reached the lake-side, and Lord Carsdale said, gravely : ‘Sit down here, Ailie. That which I have to say will take some time. I must not tire you.” Ailie sat down. He stood leaning against the iron seat, thinking to himself it would be easier to kill her than to break her heart. In the darkness he could just see the fair, innocent face; the eyes so full of trust and faith; the sweet, sensitive lips. He could see it, and he hated to speak the words which would bring the bitterness of death and sorrow there. It had to be done, and he knew that the longer he stood watching her, the more unwilling he would be to begin. ) ‘* Ailie,” he said, with desperate earnestness, ‘‘I want to speak to you as I have never spoken to you before—heart to heart. I want to tell you my story—my love—my sor- row—my. desire.” Even in the darkness he saw the sudden gloom that came over her face. She rose from her seat. ‘‘Let me be nearer to you then, Lord Carsdale,” she said. ‘‘Sitting here, it seems to me that I am twenty miles away. Let me be nearer to you. Somewhere— where I can hold your hand.” ' «Tt will be better not, Ailie,” he said, gravely. EOMIcboo c 3 (E(0)