positively changed again! She flew into a passion with me for the
first time in her life.

"Lies!" she cried. "Impudent lies on the face of them--invented
to appeal to your interest. How dare you repeat them? General! if
Mina had not brought it on herself, this man's audacity would
justify you in instantly dismissing him. Don't you agree with
me?"

The General's sense of fair play roused him for once into openly
opposing his wife.

"You are completely mistaken," he said. "Mina and I have both had
the shawl and the letter in our hands--and (what was there
besides?)-- ah, yes, the very linen the child was wrapped in."

What there was in those words to check Lady Claudia's anger in
its full flow I was quite unable to understand. If her husband
had put a pistol to her head, he could hardly have silenced her
more effectually. She did not appear to be frightened, or ashamed
of her outbreak of rage--she sat vacant and speechless, with her
eyes on the General and her hands crossed on her lap. After
waiting a moment (wondering as I did what it meant) my uncle rose
with his customary resignation and left her. I followed him. He
was unusually silent and thoughtful; not a word passed between
us. I afterward discovered that he was beginning to fear, poor
man, that his wife's mind must be affected in some way, and was
meditating a consultation with the physician who helped us in
cases of need.