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Donovan Pasha, and Some People of Egypt — Volume 3 by Gilbert Parker
page 42 of 82 (51%)
going to do about it?"

So saying he left them, laughing, and went down the garden-path to the
riverside. The two on the veranda sat silent for a moment, then Kingsley
spoke.

"These weren't the things we talked about when we saw the clouds gather
over Skaw Fell and the sun shine on the Irish Sea. We've done and seen
much since then. Multitudes have come and gone in the world--and I have
grown grey!" he added with a laugh.

"I've done little-nothing, and I meant and hoped to do much," she almost
pleaded. "I've grown grey too."

"Not one grey hair," he said, with an admiring look. "Grey in spirit
sometimes," she reflected with a tired air. "But you--forgive me, if I
haven't known what you've done. I've lived out of England so long. You
may be at the head of the Government, for all I know. You look to me as
though you'd been a success. Don't smile. I mean it. You look as
though you'd climbed. You haven't the air of an eldest son whose way is
cut out for him, with fifty thousand a year for compensation. What have
you been doing? What has been your work in life?"

"The opposite of yours."

He felt himself a ruffian, but he consoled himself with the thought that
the end at which he aimed was good. It seemed ungenerous to meet her
simple honesty by such obvious repartee, but he held on to see where the
trail would lead.

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