Читать книгу On the Brink of a Chasm: A record of plot and passion онлайн

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Barbara was tall; her eyes were soft brown with a starry light in them. She had quantities of dark hair, too, which was coiled in a classical fashion round her stately head. She was dressed in white silk, and held in her hand a large feather fan.

“I have made up my mind,” she said again to herself—“if Dick proposes to-night I shall accept him. When mother really knows that I am engaged to Dick she will think of some other way of getting out of her difficulties. I cannot and will not marry Lord Selwyn. As to Luke Tarbot, they say he is rich too.” She shuddered slightly.

“Dick is the only man I will marry. If I were Dick’s wife I could be a good woman. It is true that he is only a briefless barrister at present, but he has got brains. He suits me, I suit him. I love him, and I will never, never marry or love anybody else.”

The crush in the beautiful rooms grew greater and greater. Voices sounded close to Barbara. She feared any moment that her hiding place might be discovered; if so, good-by to the treat she had promised herself when Dick Pelham appeared. Presently one or two men came and stood just outside the velvet curtain. They talked and laughed, and once or twice Mrs. Evershed’s name passed their lips. One said to the other—