Sentence:  [I]f Marian's girlish slimness showed faint, prophetic signs of degenerating into <WSD>scragginess</WSD>, George was still far too deeply in love to heed such evil and irreverent prophecies. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Leanness or thinness, especially as tending toward haggardness; scrawniness.