I fretted and pined and lost my appetite and never wrote a line in my blank book . Nancy was half frantic and insisted on dosing me with her favorite patent pills . I took them meekly , because it is a waste of time and energy to oppose Nancy , but , of course , they did n't do me any good . My trouble was too deep-seated for pills to cure . If ever a woman was punished for telling a lie I was that woman . I stopped my subscription to the Weekly Advocate because it still carried that wretched porous plaster advertisement , and I could n't bear to see it . If it had n't been for that I would never have thought of Fenwick for a name , and all this trouble would have been averted . One evening , when I was moping in my room , Nancy came up . `` There 's a gentleman in the parlor asking for you , Miss Charlotte . '' My heart gave just one horrible bounce . `` What -- sort of a gentleman , Nancy ? '' I faltered . `` I think it 's that Fenwick man that there 's been such a time about , '' said Nancy , who did n't know anything about my imaginary escapades , `` and he looks to be mad clean through about something , for such a scowl I never seen . '' `` Tell him I 'll be down directly , Nancy , '' I said quite calmly . As soon as Nancy had clumped downstairs again I put on my lace fichu and put two hankies in my belt , for I thought I 'd probably need more than one . Then I hunted up an old Advocate for proof , and down I went to the parlor . I know exactly how a criminal feels going to execution , and I 've been opposed to capital punishment ever since . I opened the parlor door and went in , carefully closing it behind me , for Nancy has a deplorable habit of listening in the hall . Then my legs gave out completely , and I could n't have walked another step to save my life . I just stood there , my hand on the knob , trembling like a leaf .
A man was standing by the south window looking out ; he wheeled around as I went XXXXX , and , as Nancy said , he had a scowl on and looked angry clear through .
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