' Do you know, I think Mafflin is a
very clumsy man with his feet.
CAPT. G. (_Aside._) Good old Jack! (_Aloud._) Why, dear?
MRS. G. He had put his cup down on the ground then, and he literally
stepped into it. Some of the tea spirted over my dress--the gray one.
I meant to tell you about it before.
CAPT. G. (_Aside._) There are the makings of a strategist about Jack,
though his methods are coarse. (_Aloud._) You'd better get a new dress,
then. (_Aside._) Let us pray that that will turn her.
MRS. G. Oh, it isn't stained in the least. I only thought that I'd
tell you. (_Returning to letter._) _What_ an extraordinary person!
(_Reads._) 'But need I remind you that you have taken upon yourself
a charge of wardship'--what in the world is a charge of
wardship?--'which, as you yourself know, may end in Consequences--'
CAPT. G. (_Aside._) It's safest to let 'em see everything as they come
across it; but 'seems to me that there are exceptions to the rule.
(_Aloud._) I told you that there was nothing to be gained from
rearranging my table.
MRS. G. (_Absently._) What _does_ the woman mean? She goes on talking
about Consequences--'almost inevitable Consequences' with a capital
C--for half a page.
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