Courtship -- Fiction; England -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Love stories; Single women -- Fiction
There were but two chairs in the room besides the one occupied by the
man at the table, and these were taken by John Ball and his cousin.
She sat herself down, armed with patience, indifferent to the delay
and indifferent to the dusty ugliness of everything around her, as
women are on such occasions. He, thinking much of his time, and
somewhat annoyed at being called upon to wait, sat with his chin
resting on his umbrella between his legs, and as he did so he allowed
his eyes to roam around among the names upon the boxes. There was
nothing on any one of those up on the shelves that attracted him.
There was the Marquis of B----, and Sir C. D----, and the Dowager
Countess of E----. Seeing this, he speculated mildly whether Mr Slow
put forward the boxes of his aristocratic customers to show how well
he was doing in the world. But presently his eye fell from the shelf
and settled upon the box on the floor. There, on that box, he saw the
name of Walter Mackenzie.
This did not astonish him, as he immediately said to himself that
these papers were being searched with reference to the business on
which his cousin was there that day; but suddenly it occurred to him
that Margaret had given him to understand that Mr Slow did not expect
her. He stepped over to her, therefore, one step over the papers, and
asked her the question, whispering it into her ear.
"No," said she, "I had no appointment. I don't think he expects me."
He returned to his seat, and again sitting down with his chin on
the top of his umbrella, surveyed the parchments that lay upon the
ground. Upon one of them, that was not far from his feet, he read the
outer endorsements written as such endorsements always are, in almost
illegible old English letters--
"Jonathan Ball, to John Ball, junior--Deed of Gift."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account