Sentence:  Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids <WSD>fluttered</WSD>, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, [...] 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.