Do you know, Miriam,"
flashing a sudden look up, "if he had taken off that mask, and showed me
the handsome face of one of my rejected suitors I did not absolutely
abhor, I think I should have consented to stay with him always. He was
so nice to talk to, and I liked his bold stroke for a wife--so much in
the 'Dare-Devil Dick' style. But I would have been torn to pieces before
I'd have dropped a hint to that effect."
"If it had been Doctor Oleander, would you have consented to stay with
him as his wife?"
"Doctor Oleander? No. Didn't I say if it were some one I did not
absolutely abhor? I absolutely and utterly and altogether abhor and
detest Doctor Oleander!"
"What is that? Some one is listening."
Miriam had started in alarm to her feet; Mollie rose up also, and stood
hearkening. There had been a suppressed sound, like a convulsive sneeze,
outside the door. Mollie flung it wide in an instant. The hall lamp
poured down its subdued light all along the stately corridor, on
pictures and statues and cabinets, but no living thing was visible.
"There is no one," said Mollie.
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