The Argosy — page 280: what you’re looking at

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

264 Edina. worst was that she did not, and could not, regard these pictured fancies as possible delusions, emanating from her own brain, and to be received cautiously ; but she converted them into undoubted facts. The sounds from the surgery of Sam’s movements, with his answers to applicants who came in, penetrated to her, through the half open door ; but, though they touched her ear in a degree, they did not touch her senses. She was as one who heard not. Thus she sat on, until mid-day, indulging these visions to their full bent, and utterly miserable. At least, perhaps not quite utterly so; for when people are in the state of angry rage that Daisy was, they cannot feel very acutely: the brunt of distress is thrown off. A few minutes after twelve,Sam appeared. He stared to see his mistress sitting just as she had come in, not even her warm cloth cloak removed, or her bonnet untied. “ A letter for you, please, ma’am. The postman have just brought it in.” Daisy took the letter from him without a word. It proved to be from her sister Charlotte, Mrs. Townley. Mrs. Townley wrote to say that she was back again at the house in Westbourne Terrace, and would be glad to see Daisy. She, with her children, had been making a long visit of several months to her mother at the Mount, and she had but now returned. “I did intend to be back for the New Year,” she wrote; “but mamma and Lydia would not hear of it. I have many things to tell you, Daisy: so come to me as soon as you get this note. If your husband will come to dinner—seven o’clock—there will be no difficulty about your getting home. Say that I shall be happy to see him.” Should she go, or should she not? Mrs. Frank Raynor was in so excited a mood as not to care very much what she did. And—if she went, and he did #o¢ come in the evening, he would no doubt seize on the opportunity of passing it with Rosaline Bell. She went upstairs, took her things off, and passed into the drawing- room. ‘The fire was burning brightly. Eve was a treasure of a servant, and attended to it carefully. Frank had given orders that a fire should be always lighted there: it was a better room for his wife than the one downstairs, and more cheerful. Certainly more cheerful ; for a greater expanse of the street could be seen, and its busy traversers, The opposite fish-shop displayed its wares more plainly to this room than to the small room below. Just now, Monsieur and Madame, the fish proprietors, were enjoying a wordy war, touching some haddock that Madame had sold under cost price. He had an oyster knife in his hand, and was laying down the law with it. She stood, in her old black bonnet, her wrists turned ‘yack on her capacious hips, and defied his anger. Daisy had the pleasure of assisting at the quarrel, as the French say; for the tones comicbooks.com