Sentence:  “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your <WSD>life</WSD> would not be worth a curse.” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The period during which one (a person, an animal, a plant; a civilization, species; a star; etc) is alive.