The Man in Possession — page 97: what you’re looking at

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

92 THE MAN IN POSSESSION. and ‘go for everything,’ it accounts for many of the foolish things they do and say.” The young baronet looked somewhat bewildered. He was not used to being disagreed with, and utterly unqualified to carry on a prolonged conver- sation. ‘‘ Chaff” he could understand, also the light and easy badinage of his music-hall friends, but Kate was totally different. Her last speech quite ‘‘ finished” him, to use his ownexpression, uttered in confidence to his own bosom. He was so exhausted indeed by the effort he had made to be agreeable, that he con- tented himself now with watching the clock, and wishing he could slip out and ask the butler for a glass of sherry and bitters before dinner was an- nounced. However, theroom was filling rapidly, and he had to prepare himself to take Kate in to that ceremony unnerved as he was. The effort of presenting his arm and murmuring ‘‘Pleasaw, to take you—Miss O’Brien?” still further taxed his exhausted energies, so that he was quite incapable of making any further remark while the soup and fish were under discussion. Kate was also somewhat silent. She was perfectly aware of the indignant glances and satirical whispers - of which she was the subject, but none of these affected her so much as the surprised look and sar- castic smile that Tom Rivers had bestowed on her as she marched to that much coveted place of honour | beside her host, leaning on his arm. ‘* How dare he look like that? Whatcan it matter to him?” she thought indignantly ; and thereupon COMicloe (Sri C(O)