The Argosy — page 159: what you’re looking at

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

146 Dr. Baill. “You will say just what I have told you—won’t you?” asked Dulcinea, anxiously. ‘‘T shall say you have certain faults I would gladly see amended,” said the Curate, sadly; ‘‘ but I cannot bring myself to malign you, Dulcinea, and, of course, the Bishop knowing you—though slightly —must have formed an opinion of his own about you.” ‘‘He is such an old bore,” said Miss Vane, irreverently, “ that I don’t believe he could form an opinion on avy subject.” In which she wronged the Bishop. ‘‘T must beg you won’t speak of your Bishop like that,” said the Curate earnestly. ‘‘ He has been of much service to the Church. He is a great and good man. Well,” he continued, with a sigh, after a pause, “I will go to him and intercede for you. I shall write and ask him for an interview—but I doubt if good will come of it. And what shall I do there, in a strange place, amongst strange faces, after all these years : bag In truth, it seemed a terrible thing to him, this undertaking. He would haye to leave his home, for the first time these ten years, and go beyond his beloved boundary, and launch himself, as it were, upon the world. . But he wrote to the Bishop, nevertheless, asking for an interview, without stating the object he had in view, and received a very friendly letter from that dignitary in return, who, indeed, was a very kindly man, au fond, and most wilfully misunderstood by Dulcinea. The Bishop granted Dr. Ball the desired interview with pleasure, and begged he would come to the Palace early in the ensuing week, not on business alone, but as a guest for a day or two. On the Monday following Dr. Ball rose betimes, and having shaved himself with extra care, and donned his best clothes, (oh! that he should have to call them so!) he started for the cathedral town in the heaviest snowstorm they had known that year. On entering the episcopal drawing-room he found there, not only the Bishop and his wife, Mrs. Craik, but a goodly company of guests. He was at first bewildered by the lights, and the fine small chatter, and the frou-frou of the silken gowns, and in his progress up the room fell over several chairs and tables. But presently he came to his senses and a comfortable ottoman close to his hostess—a handsome woman with great kindly eyes and a delicious voice. He saw that she was pouring out tea, and that everyone was drink- ing it. He saw, too, that there was a good deal of cake going about, and thin bread-and-butter, and some delicate wafery little things he had never seen before. He glanced at the ormolu clock on the chimney-piece behind him, and saw it was nearly six o’clock. ‘“ And a very reasonable hour for tea, too,” he said to himself, complacently, and ate a good deal more bread-and-butter, and told himself the tea was excellent. He looked round him and beamed through his glasses GEomichbooks.com