The Argosy — page 107: what you’re looking at

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

90 The White Witch. strange confusion the baronet seemed to have made between mother and daughter? Which of the two was really implicated, and in what way? Was Mary trying to take upon herself her mother’s act, or bearing the consequences of her own? And which of their faces was it that he saw in the shop? Godfrey was silent on the way back and at dinner. Afterwards, Mr. Mayne went up to his wife, and his son looked wistfully at Mary as she was following. She turned back towards the drawing-room and, opening the piano, sang two or three songs softly, so that her voice should not be heard elsewhere. “Thank you, I should not have dared to ask you for sucha pleasure,” said Godfrey, holding himself well under control. He had taken the precaution to shut the windows, lest any ears outside should catch a note of that treacherous voice. She had now risen from the piano and was gazing with a dull stare of hopelessness out of one of the windows towards the meadow. ‘We had better not talk about—what would make us both uncom- fortable and unhappy,” said she in a low voice. ‘‘ But I must just say this to you: I heard what you said to Sir William to-day and— and I wanted to show you that I thanked you.” “How could you have heard it?” he exclaimed impulsively, in his surprise. : ‘“‘T had followed to the bay-window where you were both standing —Lady Hunt was engaged with those other callers and Mr. Mayne— and I waited behind that great bunch of side curtains; they quite shielded me from view.” Godfrey said nothing more; he did not look at her. If he had spoken, if he had looked, the “‘ selfish infatuation ” with which she had reproached him would have burst all bounds. He turned away, trying to hum the air of the song she had just sung, but not doing it justice. When he did dare to let his eyes steal again towards her, the sight of her pale, sad face as she took up her work pierced him to the heart. He mustn’t comfort her; he couldn’t comfort her: Ze had no right to do that. Why was not Ernest Underwood here, he was generous enough to go on to think. What was the fellow made of, to let a whole day pass—and the day after she had promised to be his wife—without coming near her, when he, Godfrey, would have died for the privilege of spending his time at her feet ? If he stayed here much longer he felt that he should have to tell her so, and should get reproved for it; so he made a pretext to leave the drawing-room. As he went outside, he saw a figure approaching the house, and made it out through the gathering twilight to be that of Ernest. Godfrey tapped at the window, and she rose and opened it. He seized one of her hands in great excitement, and pressed it tenderly, with misty, shining eyes. ‘You will be all right now, Mary. He is coming up the avenue GEomicbooks.co m