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

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

72 Cousin Barbara's Prejudice. about ten miles from London, where Trevor Lane’s studio and pretty home were situated, came and went with but few incidents to disturb the even current of the cousins’ ways—till Madge Craigie came. This was the evil day for which Cousin Barbara had never ceased to look—the day on which Trevor Lane would elect to devote to another some portion of the love she wished to appropriate wholly to herself. ‘Trevor was not yet thirty, how could she expect it to be other- wise?” she would ask herself, repeatedly. Then she would shake her head and mutter: ‘If I could only like her: but this Madge, this flizhty, silly Madge—to marry my Trevor! Ah,me!” Cousin Bar- bara failed utterly to recognise that whoever the girl was on whom Trevor bestowed his affection, she would consider her objectionable and displeasing. For a long while there was no sound heard in the studio save the flies buzzing on the window-panes and the old clock ticking on the mantel-shelf. Trevor himself at last broke the silence. ‘*‘ Madge is coming here this evening, Cousin Barbara—you will be civil to her for my sake, will you not?” Miss Barbara looked up suddenly and saw the light of love in Trevor’s flashing eyes, the glow of a deep passion on his handsome face, and the sight of it seemed to chill her heart to ice. She answered coldly: ‘‘ Miss Craigie wants no warm words from me; since you can utter them so glibly it is enough; but for the last time I say—beware.” Trevor Lane went on working deliberately at his picture ; and Miss Barbara, huddling up the white work on which she was engaged into a bundle, escaped with it to her own apartment. Whea this scene took place the afternoon was already pretty far advanced, and the month being May it was not very late when the sun finally departed behind the western hills. Trevor could no longer see to paint, but he lingered on in the studio, gazing dreamily at his. picture till it was nearly dark. At last he shook himself back into reality, and raising some porti- eres which divided the studio from the dwelling room in which he and Barbara usually sat, he went in, struck a match and lighted a lamp which stood on his own particular writing-table. “‘T wonder if she will come—lI almost hope she will not. Till this. prejudice of Cousin Bab’s is over-ruled, I must try and keep her from the house. I would not for worlds that she should know that Bab. has taken fancies into her head about her.” And, half-murmuring his thoughts aloud, he proceeded to answer two or three business letters which had arrived during the day. One: of them necessitated reference to some old papers, and, taking a key from his pocket, he unlocked the side drawer of his table and began. to look for the document he required. So absorbed was he in his search, or the subject that caused it, that Eomicbooks.co m