The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 153: what you’re looking at

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

136 REYNOLDS’ WORKS dwelt sufficiently in her mind to amount to a suspicion as to the real state of Lord Octavian’s feelings toward her. But, at the expiration of a few weeks, a little incident occurred which began to produce a change in Christina’s mind and make her think tremblingly on several subjects. It was one day — while her brother was still in the em- ployment of the German prince — that Christina, while descending with some degree of rapidity from her own chamber to the drawing-room, trod upon one of the brass rods of the stair-carpet which had got loose, and as it rolled beneath her foot, she fell heavily backward. Her head came with such sudden concussion against the stairs that she was so stupefied as to be unable to raise herself up. Some one was at the moment ascending the lower flight; it was Lord Octavian, and on perceiving what had happened, he sprang to our heroine’s assistance. He raised her up in his arms, exclaiming, ‘‘ Good God, are you hurt? Oh, speak to me! for Heaven’s sake, speak to me! Sooner my own life, ten thousand times over, than yours.” These words startled Christina into fullest vitality again. Blushing, and full of confusion, she extricated herself from Lord Octavian’s arms; bewildered by the effects of the blow and the impassioned ejaculations which had just burst: from his lips, she could not murmur forth a single syllable of thanks for the succour he had rendered her; she staggered into the drawing-room, and sank upon a sofa with a return- ing sense of faintness. Octavian, who had now recovered his own self-possession, rang the bell violently, and ordered the maids to administer at once to Miss Ashton, describing the accident that had occurred. He then, with considerate delicacy, left the apartment, and in a short time Christina was so far recovered that she felt nothing beyond the pain arising from a severe contusion. We should observe that Lady Octavian Meredith was passing an hour with her father, Mr. Armytage, at the time that the accident occurred, and on her return, she was much distressed to hear of it. But when Christina was alone, and enabled to deliberate without restraint upon the incident just described, what was the nature of her thoughts? Guileless and unsophisticated though she were, she could not possibly help feeling that there was in Octavian’s ejaculations a certain enthusiasm and a wildness of fervour thoroughly disproportionate to (E(0) CONNIE DOO KS