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Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915

"Phantom Fortune, a Novel"


'Look,' cried Mary, pointing downward, 'you must see the Red Tarn, the
highest water in England?'
But just at this moment there came a blast which shook even Hammond's
strong frame, and with a cry of fear he snatched Mary in his arms and
carried her away from the edge of the hill. He folded her in his arms
and held her there, thirty yards away from the precipice, safely
sheltered against his breast, while the wind raved round them, blowing
her hair from the broad, white brow, and showing him that noble forehead
in all its power and beauty; while the darkness deepened round them so
that they could see hardly anything except each other's eyes.
'My love, my own dear love,' he murmured fondly; 'I will trust you with
my life. Will you accept the trust? I am hardly worthy; for less than a
year ago I offered myself to your sister, and I thought she was the only
woman in this wide world who could make me happy. And when she refused
me I was in despair, Mary; and I left Fellside in the full belief that I
had done with life and happiness.


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