" And she took a loose
full dress out of her wardrobe, and made Mary Wells put it on; but
first she inserted some stuffing so adroitly that Mary seemed very
buxom, but what she wished to hide was hidden. Not so Lady Bassett
herself. Her figure looked much rounder than in the last dress she
wore.
With all this she was late for dinner, and when she went down Mr.
Angelo had just finished telling Mr. Oldfield of the mishap to the
villagers.
Lady Bassett came in animated and beautiful.
Dinner was announced directly, and a commonplace conversation kept up
till the servants were got rid of. She then told Mr. Oldfield how she
had been refused admittance to Sir Charles at Bellevue House, a plain
proof, to her mind, they knew her husband was not insane; and begged
him to act with energy, and get Sir Charles out before his reason could
be permanently injured by the outrage and the horror of his situation.
This led to a discussion, in which Mr. Angelo and Lady Bassett threw
out various suggestions, and Mr. Oldfield cooled their ardor with sound
objections. He was familiar with the Statutes de Lunatico, and said
they had been strictly observed both in the capture of Sir Charles and
in Mr. Salter's refusal to let the wife see the husband. In short, he
appeared either unable or unwilling to see anything except the strong
legal position of the adverse party.
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