When they reached the inn at which the carriage was waiting for them,
Captain Wragge left Mrs. Lecount in undisturbed possession of her
master, and signed to Magdalen to drop back for a moment and speak to
him.
"Well?" asked the captain, in a whisper, "is he fast to your
apron-string?"
She shuddered from head to foot as she answered.
"He has kissed my hand," she said. "Does that tell you enough? Don't let
him sit next me on the way home! I have borne all I can bear--spare me
for the rest of the day."
"I'll put you on the front seat of the carriage," replied the captain,
"side by side with me."
On the journey back Mrs. Lecount verified Captain Wragge's prediction.
She showed her claws.
The time could not have been better chosen; the circumstances could
hardly have favored her more. Magdalen's spirits were depressed: she was
weary in body and mind; and she sat exactly opposite the housekeeper,
who had been compelled, by the new arrangement, to occupy the seat of
honor next her master. With every facility for observing the slightest
changes that passed over Magdalen's face, Mrs. Lecount tried he r first
experiment by leading the conversation to the subject of London, and to
the relative advantages offered to residents by the various quarters
of the metropolis on both sides of the river.
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