He returned at once to the
ground-floor, with some faint suspicion of the truth dawning on his mind
at last.
"The devil take that sweetheart of hers!" thought the captain. "Mr. Noel
Vanstone has raised the ghost of him at starting."
CHAPTER V.
WHEN Magdalen appeared in the parlor shortly before seven o'clock, not a
trace of discomposure was visible in her manner. She looked and spoke as
quietly and unconcernedly as usual.
The lowering distrust on Captain Wragge's face cleared away at the
sight of her. There had been moments during the afternoon when he had
seriously doubted whether the pleasure of satisfying the grudge he owed
to Noel Vanstone, and the prospect of earning the sum of two hundred
pounds, would not be dearly purchased by running the risk of discovery
to which Magdalen's uncertain temper might expose him at any hour of
the day. The plain proof now before him of her powers of self-control
relieved his mind of a serious anxiety. It mattered little to the
captain what she suffered in the privacy of her own chamber, as long as
she came out of it with a face that would bear inspection, and a voice
that betrayed nothing.
On the way to Sea-view Cottage, Captain Wragge expressed his intention
of asking the housekeeper a few sympathizing questions on the subject of
her invalid brother in Switzerland.
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