“Iaminducedtoacceptyourproposaltemporarily，“shesaid，inavoiceofquerulousprecision，“onaccountofpressingpecuniarycircumstanceswhichwouldnothavehappenedhadmyclaimagainsttheshipownersformydearhusband’slossbeenproperlyraised。I
hopeyoufullyunderstandthatIamunfittedbothbyillhealthandearlyeducationfromdoinganymenialormanualworkinyourhousehold。Ishallsimplyoverseeanddirect。Ishallexpectthatthestipendyouoffershallbepaidmonthlyinadvance。Andasmymedicalmanprescribesacertainamountofstimulationformysystem，Ishallexpecttobefurnishedwithsuchviands——oreven“——
shecoughedslightly——“suchbeveragesasmaybenecessary。Iamfarfromstrong——yetmywantsarefew。“
“EzfarezIamketchin’onandfollowin’ye，ma’am，“returnedProspertimidly，“ye’llheveverythingyewant——jestlikeitwasyerownhome。Infact，“hewenton，suddenlygrowingdesperateasthedifficultiesofadjustingthisunexpectedlyfastidiousandsuperiorwomantohisplanseemedtoincrease，“ye’lljestconsidermeezyer“——Butherehermurkyeyeswerefixedonhisandhefaltered。Yethehadgonetoofartoretreat。“Yesee，“hestammered，withahystericalgrimnessthatwasintendedtobeplayful——“yesee，thisisjestalittlesecretbetwixtandbetweenyouandme；there’llbeonlyyouandmeinthehouse，anditwouldkinderseemtotheboysmorehomelike——ef——ef——youandmehad——youbein’awidder，youknow——akindof——of“——herehissmilebecameghastly——“closerelationship。“
ThewidowofCaptainPottingerheresatupsosuddenlythatsheseemedtoslipthroughhersombreandpreciseenwrappingswithanexposureoftherealMrs。Pottingerthatwasalmostimproper。Herhighcolordeepened；thepupilsofherblackeyescontractedinthelighttheinnocentProsperhadpouredintothem。Leaningforward，withherfingersclaspedonherbosom，shesaid:“Didyoutellthistothemanager？“