the moment. I mentioned the groom's name. "I dare say the man
meant no harm--but the thing has been observed. I can't have you
made the subject of scandal, Mina. My wife makes a point of
it--Michael must go.

"You don't mean to say that she has insisted on your sending
Michael away?"

Before he could answer me, a footman appeared with a message. "My
lady wishes to see you, sir."

The General rose directly. My curiosity had got, by this time,
beyond all restraint. I was actually indelicate enough to ask if
I might go with him! He stared at me, as well he might. I
persisted; I said I particularly wished to see Lady Claudia. My
uncle's punctilious good breeding still resisted me. "Your aunt
may wish to speak to me in private," he said. "Wait a moment, and
I will send for you."

I was incapable of waiting: my obstinacy was something
superhuman. The bare idea that Michael might lose his place,
through my fault, made me desperate, I suppose. "I won't trouble
you to send for me," I persisted; "I will go with you at once as
far as the door, and wait to hear if I may come in." The footman
was still present, holding the door open; the General gave way. I
kept so close behind him that my aunt saw me as her husband
entered the room. "Come in, Mina," she said, speaking and looking
like the charming Lady Claudia of everyday life. Was this the
woman whom I had seen crying her heart out on the sofa hardly an
hour ago?