It was really very nice of Bill to do this, and a month ago Sylvia would
have looked forward to seeing him. But now everything was changed, and
Sylvia could well have dispensed with Bill Chester's presence.
The thought of Chester at Lacville filled her with unease. When she had
left her English home two months ago--it seemed more like two years than
two months--she had felt well disposed to the young lawyer, and deep in
her inmost heart she had almost brought herself to acknowledge that she
might very probably in time become his wife.
She suspected that Chester had been fond of her when she was a girl, at
a time when his means would not have justified him in proposing to her,
for he was one of those unusual men who think it dishonourable to ask
girls to marry them unless they are in a position to keep a wife. She
remembered how he had looked--how set and stern his face had become when
someone had suddenly told him in her presence of her engagement to George
Bailey, the middle-aged man who had been so kind to her, and yet who had
counted for so little in her life, though she had given him all she could
of love and duty.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255