“I know I am,” said Magdalen. “I wish to remove Mrs. Wragge from the miserable room she is in now, and to take her upstairs with me.”
“For the evening?”
“For the whole fortnight.”
Captain Wragge followed her into the dining-room, and wisely closed the door before he spoke again.
“Do you seriously mean to inflict my wife's society on yourself for a fortnight?” he asked, in great surprise.
“Your wife is the only innocent creature in this guilty house,” she burst out vehemently. “I must and will have her with me!”
“Pray don't agitate yourself,” said the captain. “Take Mrs. Wragge, by all means. I don't want her.” Having resigned the partner of his existence in those terms, he discreetly returned to the parlor. “The weakness of the s*x!” thought the captain, tapping his sagacious h
