Penny Blood Serial Fiction — page 129: what you’re looking at

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

112 REYNOLDS’ WORKS But having no very high opinion of Sir John Marston’s integrity, I insisted upon receiving the money before. I would conclude the strange bargain. He told me that the moment the ceremony was over I should have to sign a certain paper, without reading its contents, and that the object which he had in view would not be answered unless I afhxed my name io that document. He therefore pro- posed that immediately after the ceremony, and previous to the signing of the paper, the money should be placed in my hands. To this I consented, and Sir John Marston then told me that in a couple of hours the bridegroom would be there. I returned to my own chamber, and he immediately issued from the hotel. ‘When I was alone, — the children being at the time with their mother, Mrs. Lloyd, — I reflected upon the step I was about to take. That Sir John Marston had some deep, selfish purpose to serve, there could be no doubt, but what it was, seemed impossible for me to fathom. If I rejected his proposal, how should I better myself? If a large sum of money were due to me, and he only meant to pay me a part, what measures could I take for obtaining the whole? Where was I to look for the source of such money? To whom was I to address myself for information or com- plaint? I was profoundly anxious to escape from the thraldom of a governess’s life, and here was a little fortune within my reach. All things considered, and all the circum- stances being well weighed, I resolved to persevere. Thus making up my mind with coolness and firmness, I main- tained a remarkable equanimity of mind, experiencing no nervousness nor anxiety nor excitement. I looked upon the whole affair as a purely business transaction, and was prepared to go through with it in that sense. “It was a little after nine o’clock in the morning when the interview between me and Sir John Marston had oc- curred; it was about half-past eleven when Lady Marston and Mrs. Lloyd entered my chamber and bade me accom- pany them to another room. They knew what was about to take place, and-spoke to me encouragingly on the subject. They were evidently fearful that I should retract my promise, and they addressed me in terms sickeningly fawning and - coaxing. I gave them to understand that I required no such show of false friendship on their part, that I had made up Gomicbooks:.com