Her Faithful Knight — page 274: what you’re looking at

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

-270 Aylmer’s Household. “Mrs. Ransome, I am Rosa Reed; no doubt my cousin has told you about mamma and me. Weare so delighted to have you. Now do run in with me out of the fog. Isn’t it a fearful evening? Don’t speak or you will catch cold !’’ She led the way into the drawing-room immediately on the left of the hall, a charming, old-fashioned apart- ment, with many unexpected turns and corners, furnished in homely comfort and excellent taste; the walls covered with water-color drawings; the chairs and lounges either of the roomy, “saddle-bag”’ order or of cushioned basket- work. The ceiling was low, colored a warm amber, and prettily molded; the prevailing tints in the apartment were a bright gold color and a warm cinnamon-brown. Long, brown curtains hung before the wide French win- dow, which opened upon the garden at the back, and in front of the bright fire burning in the tiled fireplace, a fender-stool, several cushions and a handsome fur rug, upon which a bull terrier and a Persian kitten were en- sconced, gave the finishing touches of comfort and home- liness to the room. Rosa Read led the visitor to the fire under the pretext of getting her warm, but in reality to have a good look at her. Rosa herself was six-and-twenty, a charming rep- resentative of one kind of English prettiness. She was not in the least beautiful, but she was undeniably pretty, her delicately-modeled retrousse nose, short upper lip and small, curved mouth; her bright complexion, bluish-gray eyes under black lashes and dark-brown hair, combining to produce a very pleasing whole. Add to this that Rosa was very good tempered and affectionate, that she sang like a bird, and that her speak- ing voice was sweet as any choir boy’s, and it seemed strange that in the twelve weeks since she and her mother Comichbooksnco in a)