His visit to
London had not improved his spirits. The shadow of some unconquerable
doubt still clouded his face; his restless tongue was strangely quiet,
while Magdalen waited on him at his solitary meal. That night the
snoring resounded once more on the inner side of the screen, and old
Mazey was back again in the comfortless truckle-bed.
Three more days passed--April came. On the second of the month
--returning as unexpectedly as he had departed a week before--Mr. George
Bartram re-appeared at St. Crux.
He came back early in the afternoon, and had an interview with his uncle
in the library. The interview over, he left the house again, and was
driven to the railway by the groom in time to catch the last train to
London that night. The groom noticed, on the road, that "Mr. George
seemed to be rather pleased than otherwise at leaving St. Crux." He also
remarked, on his return, that the admiral swore at him for overdriving
the horses--an indication of ill-temper, on the part of his master,
which he described as being entirely without precedent in all his former
experience. Magdalen, in her department of service, had suffered in like
manner under the old man's irritable humor: he had been dissatisfied
with everything she did in the dining-room; and he had found fault with
all the dishes, one after another, from the mutton-broth to the toasted
cheese.
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