Her Royal Lover: A Novel — page 334: what you’re looking at

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

326 HER ROYAL LOVER. country, these vast steppes, these solitary endless verstes where, mounted upon a fiery courser, she galloped entire hours, letting the sharp north winds of the sea whip her face. And then that vast chamber in which she slept, in a soft, warm nest placed near to that of her father.. Every morning, she said her first prayer in the arms of this man who had so tenderly sheltered her infancy; then later, she had been separated from this loving heart and united to two wretches, one, jealous and morose, the other, weak and unworthy that the happiness and the fortune of a woman should be confided to him. Najeska Ivanowna, desiring to shake off those remembrances which were besetting her, bravely endeavored to occupy herself with her charming: babies. She was now no longer rich, and with the advo- cates whom she would have to pay, it was neces- sary to think of sufficing with a very little: so she undertook all the necessary needlework for these dear little beings. She commenced by cutting the garments of which they would have need, and gave herself, like a laborer, a regular task for each day. Thus her ideas would wander less, she would become calmer; for she realized perfectly that by constant thinking she would become insane. Then, obstinately determined to counteract it, she seated herself in her easy-chair, and, bending her adorable head over her work, she resolutely commenced. But the more she buried her needle in the light material, the more her recollections were concen- trated upon the last weeks, upon the unpardonable outrage of which she had been the victim. Then, her languishing fingers were scarcely able to draw Gomicbooks.co