She was dressed
with her customary elegance and propriety; and she was the only one
of the party on that sultry summer's day who was perfectly cool in the
hottest part of the journey.
As they left the carriage on their arrival at Dunwich, the captain
seized a moment when Mrs. Lecount's eye was off him and fortified
Magdalen by a last warning word.
"'Ware the cat!" he whispered. "She will show her claws on the way
back."
They left the village and walked to the ruins of a convent near at
hand--the last relic of the once populous city of Dunwich which
has survived the destruction of the place, centuries since, by the
all-devouring sea. After looking at the ruins, they sought the shade of
a little wood between the village and the low sand-hills which overlook
the German Ocean. Here Captain Wragge maneuvered so as to let Magdalen
and Noel Vanstone advance some distance in front of Mrs. Lecount and
himself, took the wrong path, and immediately lost his way with the
most consummate dexterity. After a few minutes' wandering (in the wrong
direction), he reached an open space near the sea; and politely opening
his camp-stool for the housekeeper's accommodation, proposed waiting
where they were until the missing members of the party came that way and
discovered them.
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