Weaker than a Woman — page 120: what you’re looking at

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

ae WEAKER THAN. A WOMAN. °°" 111 —but he was not afraid even then. No man is so completely blind as a man in love. | “Then you sanctioned it to try me—you sanctioned it to gee how much I loved you? Listen, Violet sweet—I shall go home and I shall work as no man ever did. I shall begin at once to get your house ready for you—I shall wait no longer—and when it is ready, if your mother does not give her consent, I shall run away with you. Do you hear, my darling; I shall do as Jock o’ Hazledean did.” She laughed faintly. Even then she had not the courage | to say, “ The letter was all true, and I have given you up of my own accord.” Even then she deceived him by her look and smile, if not by her words. “TI must not stay longer,” he said. “Ishall go back home a different man. It is a terrible thing to know that one’s fate lies altogether in the hands of a single creature; but, when they are such true, sweet hands as yours, Violet, there is nothing to fear. I will go back now to my work, which is sweetened by my love. Darling, say once more for me the words I love so dearly—‘l belong to you, Felix.’ ” She had always said them before while looking up at him with an arch, sweet smile, her beautiful eyes seeking his; now the fair face. drooped with a burning flush. She was nervous, weak, and guilty, but not guilty enough to repeat those false words. “T am afraid Miss Western will find you here, Felix,” she said ; “if she does, she will send for mamma.” “Are you so closely guarded, my darling?” he laughed. “Ah, well, never mind. It will not be for long. I shall hasten home; I shall prepare your house, and when itis ready I will take you if all the world should try to prevent me, for you are my own. I shall go home happy because I trust in you, and believein you. I shall never believe that you have changed tome until you tell me so yourself. Good-by, my darling, love of my heart—good-by !” She watched him as he went down the high-road, and the impulse was strong upon her to call him back and say to him that she had given him up; that the life of love and struggle that he offered her had no charm for her; that she had weighed both, and had deliberately given the prefer- ence to wealth; that he must go home and learn to forget her. _ She knew that she was in honor and in conscience bound to tell him this, but she did not. She watched him as he walked down the high-road, knowing that he went away = comicbooks €oO