At first she was nearly vanquished; the meat smelt so acrid, the potatoes so sour; each afflicting vegetable asserted itself peculiarly; and the bread, the salt even, on the wings of her morbid fancy, came steaming about her, subtle, penetrating, thick, and hateful, like the pressure of a cloud out of which disease is shot.
Such it seemed to her, till she could have shrieked; but only a few fresh tears started down her cheeks, and she lay enduring it.
Dead silence and stillness hung over the dinner-service, when the outer door below was opened, and a light foot sprang up the stairs.
There entered a young gentleman in evening dress, with a loose black wrapper drooping from his shoulders.
He looked on the table, and then glancing at the sofa, said:
"Oh, there she is!" and went to the window and whistled.
After a minute of great patience, he turned his face back to the room again, and commenced tapping his foot on the carpet.
"Well?" he said, finding these indications of exemplary self-command unheeded. His voice was equally powerless to provoke a sign of animation. He now displaced his hat, and said, "Dahlia!"
She did not move.
"I am here to very little purpose, then," he remarked.
A guttering fall of her bosom was perceptible.
"For heaven's sake, take away that handkerchief, my good child! Why have you let your dinner get cold? Here," he lifted a cover; "here's roast-beef. You like it—why don't you eat it? That's only a small piece of the general inconsistency, I know. And why haven't they put champagne on the table for you? You lose your spirits without it. If you took it when these moody fits came on—but there's no advising a woman to do anything for her own good. Dahlia, will you do me the favour to speak two or three words with me before I go? I
Get ALL YOU CAN BOOKS absolutely FREE for 30 days. Download our FREE app and enjoy unlimited downloads of our entire library with no restrictions.
Have immediate access and unlimited downloads to over 200,000 books, courses, podcasts, and more with no restrictions.
Everything you download during your trial is yours to keep and enjoy for free, even if you cancel during the trial. Cancel Anytime. No risk. No obligations.
For just $24.99 per month, you can continue to have unlimited access to our entire library. To put that into perspective, most other services charge the same amount for just one book!
As avid readers, we understand the joy of immersing ourselves in a captivating story or getting lost in the pages of a good book. That's why we founded All You Can Books back in 2010, to create a platform where people can access an extensive library of quality content and discover new favorites.
Since our founding days, we’ve continuously added to our vast library and currently have over 200,000 titles, including ebooks, audiobooks, language learning courses, podcasts, bestseller summaries, travel books, and more! Our goal at All You Can Books is to ensure we have something for everyone.
Join our community of book lovers and explore the world of literature and beyond!