A Struggle for a Ring — page 370: what you’re looking at

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

. eras *,* oe ; 7" aw & > ~ ; ~~“ 366 “THAT SEALS MY FATE!” saw him at luncheon, always at dinner, and she had not foreseen the least difficulty in giving him the note. ‘¢There will be no need for keeping him twenty-four hours in suspense,” she said to herself; ‘‘I will give him my answer as soon as I see him.” During the morning she was free at intervals, and could have seen him had he been in the house. She went to the library, the dining-room, the morning-room, the picture- gallery; but there was no trace of him. Then she heard by accident that he had gone out with the earl, and was not expected to return before dinner-time. ‘‘T shall see him at dinner,” she thought; but several fresh visitors made their appearance, and she hardly caught one glimpse of him. She tried to get near him as the long procession of guests passed to the dining-room, but it was impossible. During dinner he sat by. Lady Ethel; but Ailie saw that he was pale and absent-minded—that he said little, but looked very sad. ‘If the worst comes to the worst,” she thought, ‘‘I can but follow him to the grounds when he goes out this evening ;” but again, as fortune would most cruelly have it, there came on a terrible storm of thunder and rain, so that no one could go out of doors. Still Ailie was not disturbed. Living in the same house, it was absurd to believe that she would have any real difficulty in giving him a note—quite absurd. The evening was passing; the party assembled in the 3? - large drawing-room was a very brilliant one; there was music, cards, songs—and more than once Ailie saw her husband's eyes fixed on her with an inquiring glance, as though he would fain ask what was the answer, . She tried time after time to get near him—to find sume little excuse for speaking to him ; but it was all in vain, m , ‘ | Eomicbooks.co