Her Faithful Knight — page 328: what you’re looking at

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

324 Darcy Finds His Wife. daring to speak to me, but any man who had read the case would have felt. the same.” Dorothy shook her head, but she did not answer. She was far indeed from liking Aylmer the less because he could not restrain his contempt for Derrick, but she dreaded the latter’s treacherous slyness, and her horror of him was, if possible, strengthened by the lying testi- mony he had that day given against her dead sister’s name. Never yet since she had sought the shelter of Aylmer’s roof had she felt so anxious and frightened. During din- ner she sat, eating nothing, pretending to listen to Mrs. Read’s prosing, pretending to laugh at Rosa’s chatter, but with all her senses strained and on the alert for some sign from the man she so feared and hated. Before eight o'clock the sign came. Both she and Aylmer were listening for the tardy arrival of the boy with the evening paper containing the fullest account of the day’s proceedings. But when the parlor maid opened the garden gate from the house in response to the lad’s accustomed ring, and proceeded to unlatch the front door, there came a sudden pause, followed by the sound of men’s voices speaking in low, persuasive tones in the passage. Aylmer and Dorothy turned pale at the same moment and glanced at each other. The parlor maid, very red, and evidently much fright- ened, hurriedly entered the dining-room. “Please, sir, there’s two men as wants to see the lady staying here. It’s some mistake, and I’ve told them so; but they won’t go. Will you please come out and speak to them?” Aylmer at once rose and left the room, stopping by a gesture Dorothy, who would have accompanied him. In the hall the two men were waiting; clearly members of COMmicooolkks (©)