A Struggle for a Ring — page 269: what you’re looking at

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

. “MY LOVE IS MY TORTURE.” 265 anger mount to his face, his eyes gleamed ; he was terribly annoyed; she could see it, and her heart sank at the thought. ‘¢You do not mean to tell me, Ailie, that you Zve here?” he asked. ‘* Yes, I do,” she replied. ‘*Have you really ventured to introduce yourself here as my mother’s companion?” he asked, coldly. ‘Yes I have so ventured.” ‘‘Then you have done wrong; you have broken our contract; you have acted in-a manner that will deprive you of my esteem, and I did esteem you.” ‘“You are very hard, very cruel, Lord Carsdale!” she replied, shivering as he spoke to her. ‘“Tt is true that you have done a most unjustifiable ~ deed, one that I shall never forgive or forget. Iam more annoyed than I ever thought to be with you. Why did you do it?” She flung up her arms with a little cry of despair. ‘¢T will tell you,” she cried; ‘‘nothing could be more foolish than my dream, my fond, foolish hope. You can trample me under your feet when you have heard it.” CHAPTER XXXIX. ‘(My LOVE IS MY TORTURE.” Lord Carsdale listened in silence as she told her story. ‘‘And you were foolish ehough to do this,” he said; ‘foolish enough to believe that my mother, one of the proudest women in England, could learn to love you? cGomicboo S.co