A Fair Fraud — page 58: what you’re looking at

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

A Fair Fraud 47 to her as to the real meaning of the young lady’s kindness. Hester made her come and sit down by her on a sofa at the far end of the room, a long way from the two older women. ‘Now, just you stay and talk to me, Miss Blake, and leave mamma to look after your aunt. I told her she really must do the talking to the good old dear after dinner, for it bores me to death to have to sit and listen to her descriptions of the incubator and the new fowl pens, or else it's about the calves and the new litters of pigs. How deadly dull middle-aged women who always live in the country do become! Aren’t you sick of it? Oh, now dou’'t pretend to be so good and virtuous that you ¢#zoy your dear aunt's conversation, for I know you can’t / You are dull, too, you say? Well,’ with a little careless laugh, ‘it’s not for me to contra- dict you, but still you are my own age, and though you have not been to London, or seen anything of society, you are at least more amusing to talk to than dear old Mrs Drury.’ And Marion found it very difficult to reply suitably to such remarks, although she thought she now understood why Miss Lane had asked that she might dine downstairs with the rest. GOMMGIOO oO C' Q)