"Providence?" she whispered faintly to herself. "Or chance?"
Her eyes closed, and her head fell back. When the sense of life returned
to her, the morning sun was warm on her face--the blue heaven looked
down on her--and the sea was a sea of gold.
She fell on her knees at the window and burst into tears.
* * * * *
Toward noon that day, the captain, waiting below stairs, and hearing no
movement in Magdalen's room, felt uneasy at the long silence. He desired
the new maid to follow him upstairs, and, pointing to the door, told her
to go in softly and see whether her mistress was awake.
The maid entered the room, remained there a moment, and came out again,
closing the door gently.
"She looks beautiful, sir," said the girl; "and she's sleeping as
quietly as a new-born child."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE morning of her husband's return to North Shingles was a morning
memorable forever in the domestic calendar of Mrs. Wragge. She
dated from that occasion the first announcement which reached her of
Magdalen's marriage.
It had been Mrs. Wragge's earthly lot to pass her life in a state of
perpetual surprise. Never yet, however, had she wandered in such a maze
of astonishment as the maze in which she lost herself when the captain
coolly told her the truth.
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