The Widowed Bride — page 86: what you’re looking at

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

THE WIDOWED BRIDE. 17 it as a sign that I should remain a single man; if, through -any unforeseen concatenation of circumstances, he declines my assistance ae And leaving the sentence namehed | in his brain, he asked himself over and over again whether it were possible that one so young and so beautiful as Rena Percival could ever be his wite? “But, of course, Mr. Glenholme will accept me,” he thought, rather disconsolately. ‘‘He has a large parish, and work enough for half a dozen curates; there can be no manner of doubt about that.” And Mr. Kent was half sorry that he had written the eventful epistle. In due time, the Reverend Mr. Glenholme’s answer ar- rived. He was ‘‘much obliged to his young friend, quite as much so, in fact, as if it had been practicable for him to accept Mr. Kent’s kind proposition; but, for the ensuing: summer, he had already secured a sufficiency of help.” The Reverend Decimus Kent threw the letter into the air with a hurrah like that of a disfranchised schoolboy. It was as if a dreary cloud had suddenly rolled away from the horizon of his life, disclosing the royal sun in all its blaze of beauty. And then he sat down again, with his heart beat- ing like half a dozen trip-hammers condensed into one, to write the very letter which Miss Percival was now waving — so triumphantly over her sister’s head. “Mr. Kent,” slowly repeated Alice, as if scarcely able to credit her ears. ‘‘An offer of marriage from Mr. Kent!” “Himself and none other,” cried Rena. ‘Only to think of it, Alice, that Mr. Kent, with his polysyllabic words and solemn dignity, should have chanced to fall in love with silly, frivolous little me.” “Tt as strange,” mused Alice. ‘‘May I read the letter, Rena?’ uN “Of course you may,” said Rena, tossing the epistle which had cost poor Decimus Kent so much deliberation and thought into her sister’s lap. Alice glanced over the letter with more interest than her sister had evinced. “Why, Rena, how dearly he must love you!” she exclaim- ed, as she laid it down. “Yes,” said Rena, composedly, ‘‘I think he loves me.’ s ‘Shall yon accept him, Rena?” ‘comtchooks.co!