English fiction -- 19th century; Tailors -- Fiction
Then they parted. Juliana went to her bed-room, and flung herself upon
the bed hysterically. As the tears came thick and fast, she jumped up
to lock the door, for this outrageous habit of crying had made her
contemptible in the eyes of Lady Jocelyn, and an object of pity to
Rose. Some excellent and noble natures cannot tolerate disease, and are
mystified by its ebullitions. It was very sad to see the slight thin
frame grasped by those wan hands to contain the violence of the frenzy
that possessed her! the pale, hapless face rigid above the torment in
her bosom! She had prayed to be loved like other girls, and her
readiness to give her heart in return had made her a by-word in the
house. She went to the window and leaned out on the casement, looking
towards Fallowfield over the downs, weeping bitterly, with a hard shut
mouth. One brilliant star hung above the ridge, and danced on her
tears.
“Will he forgive me?” she murmured. “Oh, my God! I wish we were dead
together!”
Her weeping ceased, and she closed the window, and undressed as far
away from the mirror as she could get; but its force was too much for
her, and drew her to it. Some undefined hope had sprung in her
suddenly. With nervous slow steps she approached the glass, and first
brushing back the masses of black hair from her brow, looked as for
some new revelation. Long and anxiously she perused her features: the
wide bony forehead; the eyes deep-set and rounded with the scarlet of
recent tears, the thin nose—sharp as the dead; the weak irritable mouth
and sunken cheeks. She gazed like a spirit disconnected from what she
saw. Presently a sort of forlorn negative was indicated by the motion
of her head.
“I can pardon him,” she said, and sighed. “How could he love such a
face!”
CHAPTER XXX.
THE BATTLE OF THE BULL-DOGS. PART I.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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