Lady Evelyn — page 161: what you’re looking at

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

154 “The Red Queen.” face to swear by her ever after, as the most bewitching fairy on earth. | The Red Queen was an especially privilege d person in the St. Louis hospital, coming and going at her own | sweet will. She was attached to her profession—to the doublet and rapier, and jaunty stage swagger; the dancing and sing- ing, and so forth, and was nightly showered with bou- quets and vociferous applause. But eyery day she was among her favored patients, with fruits and flowers, and ice and dainties, and soothing words and tender smiles, and patient nursing, writing long letters to friends at home, reading aloud, singing if they chose—as devoted, as tender, as sweet as any Sister of Charity. She wasa living riddle, a brilliant, sparkling stream, with the sunshine ever rippling on its surfaée, but with depths below that no line or plummet of all her friends had sounded yet. Her secret was her secret still. Not one of those who had known her for months and yeafs knew more of her than you know now. She tripped away to the end of the ward, her hands thrust into her sash, the black cap, with its crimson plume, set jauntily on the crisp curls. She looked like a saucy boy—an au- ‘daciously saucy boy—yet a woman’s heart beat brightly under her dainty bodice—a heart that of late had been _mutinous and rebellious, and not at ail the well-trained little organ hitherto. She had nursed.a certain dark-eyed hero from the very jaws of death. That was nothing; she had nursed scores; but the great, luminous brown eyes of this especial patient floated strangely before Mignonnette, in the golden noontide, in the black mid- night, and a soft, slow voice, very sweet, very eloquent, rang ever in her ears like distant music. When, night after night, she came, saucy and bright, before an enthusiastic audience, the big, black, eyes flashed first of all to a certain box, where one face in- variably showed; when bouquets were literally showered upon their pet and their favorite, the most brilliant ex- otics were neglected for some tiny bunch of violets or rosebuds, if his hand flung them. And Minnette knew the symptoms of her complaint perfectly well, and grew bitter and restive, and angrily (ele) impatient worth herself for her folly. ) comicbooks eS)