Weaker than a Woman — page 144: what you’re looking at

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

~ wh ge tanh Dy aa en) PLO dg ee Py ok yes ao ee Soe : ay 34 © M4 ee eae ot) oS DiS == . +. f ~ Coe a +, - _ af ~ - WEAKER THAN A WOMAN. 135 Towers everything was sure to go well; he had a keen sense of justice—he gave himself the trouble to examine thoroughly into everything. He was never hasty, impa- tient, or unjust. He was almost idolized in the county. Most of the town of Lilford belonged to him, and he took the greatest possible interest in the place. He made a point of attending the public meetings; he would have justice— “Justice” was his motto. “Let justice be,done, though the heavens fall” was a favorite quotation of his. Woe to any man who tried to belie another, and then fell into his hands. Woe to any voter who trifled with his votes. Lord Arlington was a straightforward, honest, honorable Englishman—all devious ways and tortuous paths were un- known to him. It was always observed that if he were ab- sent for any length of time things went wrong. His first concern on his return was to endeavor to set them right. He had been nearly three years this time, lingering with his beautiful wife and daughter in the quaint cities of old Spain. He reached home on the eleventh of September, and he feared that, as usual, during his absence much had gone wrong. His return was hardly known in the neighborhood, for one of the things that Lord Arlington disliked was fuss ; why should there be a scene every time he returned? So he generally kept his intention secret. The countess was a beautiful, quiet, refined woman. One of her great characteristics was her sympathetic manner. She possessed that keen insight into the hearts and feel- ings of others which creates sympathy. It was natural to her to feel intensely the sorrows and joys of others. There were two children—the young heir, Lord Bramber, who was still at Oxford, and Lady Maude Bramber, a lovely girl about two years older than her brother. Lady Maude inherited her mother’s peculiarly sympa- thetic nature. She was as gifted as she was beautiful, and the one thing in which she excelled was art. She would have made one of the finest painters of the day had she not been an earl’s daughter; as it was, her pictures were far superior to those of many well-known artists. It was at her solicitation that Lord Arlington returned home that autumn. She had seen the finest parts of Kurope—the most picturesque—the most beautiful; but there was noth- ing she liked better than the fine old woods round Bramber ; and she loved them best in autumn, when the leaves were falling and the glorious tints of the foliage made a picture the tints of which could not be transferred to canvas. She had begged that they might spend the autumn at Eomicbooks (E(@) m .