Sapphira of the stage Author:George Knight Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V. THE LOVE-MAKING OF JOHN MOIR'S DAUGHTER. It was well for Sebastian Goss that Amos Lent had added to his confidence in himself. Strong though tha... more »t confidence had originally been, it might have quailed before the trial which each succeeding day rendered more acute. For Sapphira Carey—or Sapphira Moir, as the phrenologist had called her—fell in love, and cast about to compass her desire, even under the tortured eyes of Sebastian Goss. But the dumb man comforted himself with the recollected touch of certain lank fingers, and the repeated REPEATED assurances of a quavering voice. Yet for long enough he seemed in hard case. Sapphira's inamoroso was a tall, good-looking youth of a most ordinary type. He had a clear skin, a slight moustache, displayed much starched linen, and wore jewellery. Heaven alone, in Its inscrutable wisdom, knows what Sapphira, with her undoubted abilities and shrewd, if selfish, perceptions, could see in this five feet six of extremely ordinary flesh and bone. In her time, youthful though she yet was, she had broken the hearts of many better and many worse men, but hitherto no such exquisite specimen of the male cipher had crossed her path. If he had dared to cast a glance of appreciation at her she would have despised him initially. But he did nothing of the sort, and she promptly fell upon adoration. ADORATION. His name was Calderon— Herbert Calderon — called Bertie for short. The most dignified " Christian " names have frequently the most inane diminutives. So with this. Where is there a more blandly ornate title than that of Herbert—where a more daintily ineffable nickname than that of Bertie ? Sapphira was a very Cleopatra for wil fulness, and the thrill of love was absolutely new to her. She could not understand how it w...« less