The Top of the World by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
page 57 of 489 (11%)
page 57 of 489 (11%)
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She scarcely noticed where she went, so completely did he fill her
mind. He had changed enormously, developed in a fashion that she had never deemed possible. He walked with a free swing, and carried himself as one who counted. He had the look of one accustomed to command. She seemed to read prosperity in every line. But was he prosperous? If so, why had he not sent for her long ago? They reached the hotel. He led the way without pause straight to a small private room where a table had been prepared for a meal. "Sit down!" he said. "Take off your things! You must be starved." He rang the bell and gave an order while she mutely obeyed. All her confidence was gone. She had begun to tremble. The wonder crossed her mind if perhaps she, too, had altered, grown beyond all his previous conception of her. Possibly she was as much a stranger to him as he to her. Was that why he had looked at her with that oddly critical expression? Was that why he did not now take her in his arms? Impulsively she took off her hat and turned round to him. He was looking at her still, and again that awful sense of doubt mastered and possessed her. A great barrier seemed to have sprung up between them. He was formidable, actually formidable. The Guy of old days, impetuous, hot-tempered even, had never been that. She stood before him, controlling her rising agitation with a great effort. "Why do you look at me like that?" she said. "I feel--you |
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