His Other Wife: A Novel — page 257: what you’re looking at

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

AN UNYUST STEWARD. 249 and, long ere he reached his office, he had decided on his measures to prevent any third party from meddling with the Lucerne property. Atan early hour of the following day he called, uninvited, at the villa. Mrs. Morgan received him with great coldness. Croft, on the other hand, wore an air of the most profound sympathy and regard, touched with tender deference. He opened the conversation thus : ‘‘Dear madam, I can well comprehend how, in the pain and mortification you must have suffered under the announcement of your business trouble, you should have done me the injustice which your words betrayed in our conference yesterday. 1 do not complain of it; on the contrary, I excuse and understand it. I feel, too, that I may deserve your reproaches in part. It would surely have been best had I nerved myself long ago to the dis- agreeable duty, which, at last, became inevitable, instead of supplying from my own means the large sums which, of course, could not be always forthcoming to meet the improvident demands which you, in your ignorance of affairs, made upon your property.” Here Mrs. Morgan fixed a look of proud resentment upon him, as she said: ‘It is the second time you have reminded me of your beneficent. charity, Mr.. Croft ;- but I imagine you know me better than to suppose I will not repay you every farthing you advanced, if it requires the last acre of land, and even the last trinket I possess.” Eomicbooks:.co