A Fair Fraud — page 162: what you’re looking at

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

A Fair Fraud 151 forgive a fraud or make allowances for the double life of an adventuress. He was in love now, and if Hester persisted in her refusal of him, his love might be strong enough in the end to override all the very strong objections to the marriage, but if she gave in to him now with- out telling him the truth, and he discovered it a few days hence, then Marion felt certain that his disgust and horror at the deception practised upon him would be so great as to destroy all his affection for her. Nevertheless, she could not well do other- wise than undertake the message with which Hester chose to entrust her. She had remon- strated, and remonstrated in vain; and all she could do now was to fulfil her request. She waited about in the hall, leaving Hester alone in the morning-room. The gentlemen were a very long while in the dining-room, or perhaps the time only seemed longer to her because of her anxiety. Marion hung about aimlessly, looking at the well-known pictures on the walls and listening to the murmur of voices behind the closed doors of the dining and drawing-rooms. Out of the latter she knew that she would not be missed. Mrs Drury’s companion was not of sufficient consequence to be noticed if she made her escape. At last the dining-room door opened, and COMNMUC JOO <S (GO) uu