Once more Captain Wragge warned Magdalen by a look,
and, in spite of Noel Vanstone's hospitable protest, wisely rose to say
good-night.
"I have got my information," remarked the captain on the way back. "Mrs.
Lecount's brother lives at Zurich. He is a bachelor; he possesses a
little money, and his sister is his nearest relation. If he will only
be so obliging as to break up altogether, he will save us a world of
trouble with Mrs. Lecount."
It was a fine moonlight night. He looked round at Magdalen, as he said
those words, to see if her intractable depression of spirits had seized
on her again.
No! her variable humor had changed once more. She looked about her
with a flaunting, feverish gayety; she scoffed at the bare idea of
any serious difficulty with Mrs. Lecount; she mimicked Noel Vanstone's
high-pitched voice, and repeated Noel Vanstone's high-flown compliments,
with a bitter enjoyment of turning him into ridicule. Instead of running
into the house as before, she sauntered carelessly by her companion's
side, humming little snatches of song, and kicking the loose pebbles
right and left on the garden-walk. Captain Wragge hailed the change in
her as the best of good omens.
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