Stella Rosevelt — page 351: what you’re looking at

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

THE MOCK MARRIAGE. 345 CHAPTER XXXVII. THE MOCK MARRIAGE, When Lady Sherbrooke informed her son that she had invited Mr. Richards and his family to spend the foilowing week with . them at their country residence, and to help them make merry with a number of their friends, his face had clouded instantly, and she saw that he was not pleased with the arrangement. ‘‘Have I done anything wrong, Archier” she asked, much disturbed. ‘‘I thought you would be pleased. ‘They spoke of your spending several days with them when you were in America, and I supposed you would be glad to return the civility.” His lips had curled slightly when she had mentioned that they had told of his visit to Yonkers. He thought they should have preferred to keep it to themselves, rather than boast of it in order to get a return, under the circumstances. But he said nothing of this, and answered, as brightly as he could: ‘‘No, mother dear; you have done nothing wrong, and I will try and make myself as agreeable as possible to your guests. But I must confess that neither Mrs. nor Miss Richards is acreeable to me.” ‘*Why, Archie?” ‘‘] would prefer to say nothing more just now, since they are coming to visit us. Perhaps sometime I can tell you why,” he answered, thoughtfully. | ‘‘T am sorry,” Lady Sherbrooke returned, regretfully, while she studied her son's face wistfully. ‘‘I wish I had known of this in season to have avoided anything so extremely unpleasant. GOMmMiicbooks (E)