Her Faithful Knight — page 296: what you’re looking at

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

292 The Exhumation. burst out laughing over Rosa’s irresponsible sallies. The girl’s unrefined naturalness, her naive vanity and openly expressed desire to get married, came as an amusing relief to Dorothy after a long period of over-strain on the emo- tions and the brain. She felt as if she could sit still all day and laugh at Rosa’s nonsense, and Rosa, on her part, was charmed with so sympathetic a listener. “T don’t wonder you’re in love with Dorothy,” she said keartily to Aylmer, meeting him in the garden a little be- fcre lunch time. “In love with Dorothy!” he repeated in amazement. “What in the world are you talking about?” “Well, Mrs. Ransome’s Christian name is Dorothy, and you're in love with her, aren’t you? Of course she says she will never marry again, and that she treasures her wedding-ring more than anything in the world, and will never move it from her finger. But you can persuade her out of all that.” “Did she say that about her wedding-ring?” he asked eagerly, his heart taking a leap of delight. “Tell me the exact words, Rosa.” . “We'd been pottering about in the conservatory,” Rosa answered readily, “and we were washing our hands for _lunch a few minutes ago. I asked Dolly if she took her rings off, as I do mine, to wash her hands, and she said: ‘T have only one ring—this,’ and she pointed to her wed- ding-ring, ‘and as long as I live I will never take that off.. ‘Do you treasure it so much?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ she said, quite solemnly, ‘I treasure it more than anything in the world.’ That was just all that passed. But you needn‘t be disheartened. You haven’t an idea the things I've heard widows say, cracking up the dear departed and ali that sort of thing, I mean, and they’ve always been the first to marry again directly anybody asked them.” “I am not disheartened,’ Aylmer said gravely. xd | COMMIGCGOOOKXSS (S@)