Sentence:  But Richmond...appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, <WSD>peeping</WSD> around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To look, especially through a narrow opening, or while trying not to be seen or noticed.