The Fighting Chance by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
page 20 of 570 (03%)
page 20 of 570 (03%)
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"I'm trying to remember what it is I have heard about you," she continued amiably; "you are--" An odd expression in his eyes arrested her--long enough to note their colour and expression--and she continued, pleasantly; "--you are Stephen Siward, are you not? You see I know your name perfectly well--" Her straight brows contracted a trifle; she drove on, lips compressed, following an elusive train of thought which vaguely, persistently, coupled his name with something indefinitely unpleasant. And she could not reconcile this with his appearance. However, the train of unlinked ideas which she pursued began to form the semblance of a chain. Coupling his name with Quarrier's, and with a club, aroused memory; vague uneasiness stirred her to a glimmering comprehension. Siward? Stephen Siward? One of the New York Siwards then;--one of that race-- Suddenly the truth flashed upon her,--the crude truth lacking definite detail, lacking circumstance and colour and atmosphere,--merely the raw and ugly truth. Had he looked at her--and he did, once--he could have seen only the unruffled and very sweet profile of a young girl. Composure was one of the masks she had learned to wear--when she chose. And she was thinking very hard all the while; "So this is the man? I might have known his name. Where were my five wits? Siward!--Stephen Siward! . He is very young, too . much too young to be so horrid. . Yet--it wasn't so dreadful, after all; only the publicity! Dear me! I knew we were going too fast." |
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