The Argosy — page 87: what you’re looking at

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

74 The Eve of St. Partridge. Merrick till I drove him perfectly silly, and then I would leave him planté la to pay his fifty pounds and be laughed at by all his friends,” “Tt might be a dangerous game, Mimi. You yourself might have your affections engaged.” “Julia! It cannot be possible that you are in love with Captain Merrick ?” | “Why, Mimi, I never saw him in my life till this evening.” “Of course not, how silly I am,” laughed Mimi. ‘ Dear me, this is a beginning to our shooting party. You w// do the thing thoroughly, won't you, Julia sh Mrs. Bulmer could not help laughing at the girl’s energy. “ll do the best I can—yes—but there are reasons I cannot explain, which make the position rather difficult. I thank you for — warning me, however; you have done me a greater service than you even intended. a And then Mimi kissed her friend, bade her rely on her assistance and silence, and crept very quietly upstairs to her room. She would perhaps have decided that the hour when her assistance would be acceptable was not so very far distant had she seen Julia Bulmer sink down once more into the chair by the window, and remain there for a long while motionless, lost in such deep, grave thought as the contemplation of no mere country house wager could have produced. Next morning when the house-party met at breakfast there was still a shadow on Mrs. Bulmer’s brow, beautiful though she looked in the dark mourning clothes which she had not yet wholly cast off. Mimi did not fail to notice it, and as she passed her pete lie ** Be brave. [ will help you.” Next Mrs. Bulmer was seated Algy Merrick. For a few seconds Mrs. Bulmer scarcely noticed him. She scemed absorbed by her own thoughts, but two or three flashing glances from Mimi awoke her to a recollection of what was required of her, and she began to chat very pleasantly with the guardsman. She looked round the table and saw amusement depicted on all the male faces excepting Arthur’s; he looked graver and sterner than ever, and during the whole of breakfast was never heard to utter a word. The start for the woods was made, the ladies from the windows watching the shooters sally forth. Algy Merrick stood till the last moment, leaning against the porch talking to Julia. ‘* We will meet again at luncheon up at Vidal’s Bar, where there is a Druid temple,” he said, and then he lifted his hat with a grace on which he prided himself, and followed the rest of the party; congratulating himself that he had made so successful a beginning, and already deciding in | his own mind that the widow and the wager were won. As for Arthur Seymour, he did not take the slightest notice of Mrs. Bulmer except when absolute politeness demanded it. Certainly there was nothing in his behaviour that betokened a deep interest in Gomichbooks.Gom —