Her Faithful Knight — page 224: what you’re looking at

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

220 A Widower’s Letter. “Are you a-wanting one of them young ladies as lives in that ‘ouse?’” she inquired.’ “Yes,” he answered, bestowing one of his sweetest smiles on the questioner. She was forty-five and took in washing, but she colored high with pleasure and drew down her rolled-up sleeves. “They are old friends and relatives of mine,’ he went on, “and I am anxious to know how they are.” ~. “T’m afaraid you’ve come at a bad time,” the woman said ; “one of the young ladies died suddenly last night, so they’re saying.” “One of them! Which one?” he faltered, growing pale to the lips. : “Bless me, sir, you do look bad! And as to which it is, I can’t rightly say. They’re that alike I never could tell one from the other, and though they’ve lived here a good ‘while they’ve been so quiet and so kep’ themselves to them- selves you’ve ‘ardly known they was there. But you ring, sir, and ask that old servant of theirs what’s happened. She’s a very close, stock-up, old body; but in the case of a gentleman like you, and a relative, too, she’s bound to tell you the truth.” Darcy thanked her, hesitated a moment, and then, with trembling hand, pulled the bell by the gate of No. 4. There was a delay of some minutes before his ring was answered. Dorothy’s eyes had fallen on him from an upper window, and had remained fixed upon him in fas- cinated horror. There stood her sister’s murderer, and on the bed, by which she herself had knelt all night in tear- less agony, lay his victim, with quiet face and still, cold hands. Meeting Darcy, as she had done, close to the cottage on the preceding evening, Dorothy had no doubt at all that it was the shock of seeing him which had killed her sister. It was the one thing needed to complete the full Eomichboo .<S (ce)