The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 91: what you’re looking at

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74 THE COURT OF. LONDON on your part, and a proof that you understand and appre- ciate the sentiments by which my conduct is actuated. I shall now leave yoy, Miss Owen, for the present, and at six o’clock I shall have the pleasure of rejoining you at the dinner-table, when I hope that no frowns or black looks will await me on the part of any one.”’ Having thus spoken, Jocelyn rose from his seat, bowed, and quitted the apartment, leaving Agatha a prey to all the conflicting and unenviable feelings which her own dis- appointed sensuality and the young man’s decisive conduct had so deeply aroused in her bosom. Mrs. Ranger, Emma, and Julia shortly afterward returned; and the intelligence which Agatha at once imparted struck them with consternation. They were amazed, terrified, bewildered. But Mrs. Ranger, who in an emergency was prompt at laying aside the airs of an old coquette and look- ing matters deliberately in the face, soon recovered her presence of mind; and, consulting her watch, she said, “ It is now five o'clock; we dine at six, and there is one hour before us. In that hour much may be done.” “ But what can we do?’ inquired the three sisters, as if in the same breath. “Tf we persist in continuing our journey to join the princess,” proceeded Agatha, “ Jocelyn Loftus will hasten on in advance and poison the mind of her Royal Highness, so that we shall be dismissed in ignominy when we seek her presence; and to abandon the enterprise without a struggle would be to compel our return in equal ignominy to London.” “ Acatha,”’ said Mrs. Ranger, fixing her eyes with a pecul- iar but unmistakable meaning upon the eldest girl, “‘ were there no means by which you could have silenced this moralizing babbler? Ah! if I were of your age and possessed such sweet lips as yours, they should have been employed as a seal to set upon his mouth.”’ “He is beyond temptation,” replied Agatha, the blood rushing to her cheeks and suffusing its crimson glow on her neck and shoulders, down to the very hemispheres of her bosoms. “Ah! I understand,” said Mrs. Ranger, now observing the luxurious exposure of Agatha’s charms and comprehend- ing the motive. ‘‘ We must adopt another course. Sit down at once and pen a few lines to your mother: tell her Gomichbooks (E(0)