I Forbid the Banns! — page 260: what you’re looking at

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

250 “TT FORBID THE BANNS!” She had drawn her circle away from the front of the house and in the direction of one of the summerhouses—thé chief feature of Ashmead—where tea was being served. The approach of the family of Rushton was sufficient to send flying all the youths who were in the neighborhood. They looked forward to such pleasures as were not wholly asso- ciated with plain daughters. Another matron was in the summerhouse partaking of tea, and into her ear Lady Rushton poured the story of That Woman's’ appearance. There was much uplifting of matronly hands and eyes and VOICES. | Meantime the under secretary and his wife had welcomed Charlton and Bertha. So they would have welcomed Baal and Ashtoreth if they had appeared decently dressed, and had influence with the electors. Lady Ashenthorpe was a Personage. Thatshehad become - a Personage proved that she possessed a large amount of tact, and an infinite fund of smiles, no two alike. She had tact enough to perceive that Bertha was wearing a costume which, for beauty, was not likely to be matched in the county, and also that Bertha wore it as if she had never worn anything else all her life; consequently she brought forth out of her treasury her most gracious smile, and sunned Bertha with it for thirty seconds; at the expiration of that time another smile had been slipped over the first, as the dexterous manipulator of the magic lantern makes one picture dissolve into another. A new guest had come up and was being received by Lord Ashenthorpe. The under secretary knew Julian Charlton well. He had heard that Julian had brought a wife home to the Court, consequently he had seen that Mrs. Charlton’s name was put in the invitation card. He now found that the wife whom Charlton had brought home was an extremely pretty woman, He made up his mind that he would have half an hour’s conversation with her in the course of the afternoon, _