She had been sharp enough to suspect Mr.
Noel Vanstone of coming to the house in the character of a sweetheart
on approval; and she had dimly interpreted certain expressions of
impatience which had fallen from Magdalen's lips as boding ill for the
success of his suit, but her utmost penetration had never reached as far
as a suspicion of the impending marriage. She rose from one climax of
amazement to another, as her husband proceeded with his disclosure. A
wedding in the family at a day's notice! and that wedding Magdalen's!
and not a single new dress ordered for anybody, the bride included! and
the Oriental Cashmere Robe totally unavailable on the occasion when
she might have worn it to the greatest advantage! Mrs. Wragge
dropped crookedly into a chair, and beat her disorderly hands on her
unsymmetrical knees, in utter forgetfulness of the captain's presence
and the captain's terrible eye. It would not have surprised her to hear
that the world had come to an end, and that the only mortal whom Destiny
had overlooked, in winding up the affairs of this earthly planet, was
herself!
Leaving his wife to recover her composure by her own unaided efforts,
Captain Wragge withdrew to wait for Magdalen's appearance in the lower
regions of the house.
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