The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 320: what you’re looking at

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

THE FABRICATION 303 All this was torture and excruciation for poor Florina, and Lady Saxondale saw it. Every varied expression which swept over the young maiden’s countenance, and every new effort which she made to conceal her emotions, tended to confirm Lady Saxondale’s suspicion that she now knew who her rival was in the love of William Deveril. Therefore, to deal in bare allusions without coming immedi- ately to the point itself was now a source of malignant pleas- ure to the jealous lady. She saw how she was torturing poor Florina, how she was angling as it were with her feelings, and she endeavoured to prolong this cruel game as much as possible. “Yes, my dear friend,’’ she continued, still appearing to address herself almost entirely to Lady Macdonald, ‘‘ what you in your shrewdness have already conjectured did really take place. You may conceive my astonishment. But who would have thought it of this Mr. Deveril? <A young man of his intelligence to be so besotted. A person of his apparent good breeding to be so utterly ignorant of the ordinary proprieties of life, or at least so far to forget them. Is it not strange? ”’ “Very strange indeed,” returned Lady Macdonald. ‘‘ And yet persons in our sphere of life are liable to the impertinences of presumptuous coxcombs.”’ “That is exactly what Mr. Deveril is,” observed Lady Saxondale, and she saw that poor Florina was literally writh- ing on her chair under these cruel inflictions. ‘‘ The voor. silly fool, because he is rather good-looking, has got some little talent, and has been petted and made much of in the houses of the aristocracy to which he has obtained admit- tance as a preceptor, fancies that the civilities shown him are of a different character from what they seem — ”’ ‘But you have not yet told us,” interrupted Lady Mac- donald, “ exactly what it is that this Mr. Deveril has done, although from the remarks you have made, I have not much trouble to guess. In short, I suppose that he has dared to fancy that your ladyship was in love with him? ”’ “Precisely so,’ returned Lady Saxondale, who now had the secret satisfaction of noticing with her furtive glances that poor Florina was so cruelly tortured as to have been compelled surreptitiously to wipe away the tears which had started from her eyes. “‘ The incident happened yesterday,” CONNIE DOOkKS (FO)