Should She Have Left Him? — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

£4 SHOULD SHE HAVE LEFT HIM? indeed, that when she emerged from her abstrac- tion, her head ached, but, she had reached a conclu- sion as to what she should do in the event of a certain great big IF. The next time Trescotte called, Dorothy told him she would be his wife. But not, of course, until after he had asked. He lingered at the door a moment as he was taking his leave, on this momentous occasion, and, after a little hesitation, said: “I shall go at once to your father. There isa certain episode in my life of which I must speak before I can take his consent. It is not a bar, only an unpleasant remembrance. The knowledge shall be yours, should I be fortunate enough to obtain your father’s approval.” A young man of prompt execution, he went straightway to Mr. Countenay and placed that gentleman in a very embarrassing position. Mr. Courtenay knew that his wife destined Dorothy for Waldemar. In such matters Mr. Courtenay deferred to his wife as much the easier way; but there was another side to this situation. He passed in the world for a man of strict probity and upright dealing; yet, in his heart of hearts, he knew that he had largely contributed to the diminu- tion of the property of the elder Trescotte, by inducing that old gentleman to exchange excellent Broadway property for certain railroad bonds which had rapidly lessened in value until they were worth comparatively nothing, while the real estate, in the GOMMGIOO cS (GO)