The Argosy — page 207: what you’re looking at

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

1g2 The White Witch. to see that she was as much excited as he was himself, though not with all the same feelings. The re-action, after his dark suspicions, had roused in Godfrey a feeling of wild devotion to this beautiful girl with the strangely touching voice, and mournful, eloquent eyes. The clasp of her slight fingers round his own hand had sent a thrill through his veins. When she turned back to the seat she had left by the window, he followed her. She looked up at him in surprise. ‘‘T am very miserable,” said he. And he looked it. ‘“ T am afraid it is my fault,” she remarked, very gently, rising again. T will make what amends I can. You are fond of music?” ‘Yes, passionately.” “Then I will give you a pleasure, if it proves a pleasure,” she said, moving towards the piano. ‘‘ But I can only do it at the cost of great pain to myself. Will that satisfy you?” The character of her excitement had quite changed. Instead of being outwardly calm,her hands now moved restlessly, her lips trembled, her eyes glanced about the room. ‘‘No, of course that will not satisfy me,” replied Godfrey, wounded again. ‘‘JI have caused you pain enough already ; 1 ——’” ‘Sit there, please,” she said, imperiously, indicating a chair. ‘ But I thought you did not play,” he exclaimed, involuntarily. In- deed that had been one of his private grievances against her. She sat down to the piano without reply. He had obeyed her, and listened wonderingly while her fingers felt their way upon the notes with faint timid sounds, as hands do that have not touched a once familiar instrument for some time. She fell into an air that was unknown to him and played it over two or three times with tender, musicianly touch, but without any special power of exciting enthusiasm ; then the melody changed to an accompaniment. © The first notes of her voice chained his attention; before the end of the first verse he had risen to his feet and was drawn nearer and nearer to her by an attraction he could not resist, till the end of the song found him at her side on a low ottoman, looking up at her face, which it was too dark for him to see clearly, with the rapture of a worshipper. He had known by the very first notes that it was not merely an ordinarily good voice he was listening to, and long before the song was over he had recognised that it was not to an ordinarily good singer. It was to one of those voices that the world waits for, culti- vated as the world demands. His passionate love of music had never been gratified so before. For to the charms of the rich melody were added the seductions of twilight, of surprise, and the youth and beauty of the girl from whose lips the enthralling sound came, It was not until she had sung the last note and her fingers remained inactive upon the keys, that Godfrey, half on his knees beside her, and stammering incoherent words of thanks, discovered that his step-mother was in the room. She was standing behind them, her back to the dim light of the lamp, which had not yet been turned up ; Gomicbooks (E(0)