only she didn't fall down! She turned and, "What do you mean, give the Archdeacon away?" she asked.
He stared at her stupidly. "By heck!" he thought, "what do I mean by it? I mean absolutely nothing by it. That's what I mean. There's not the faintest reason why I shouldn't tell her. With 'Trixie' it was different. Then he didn't want it to be known. But now he does want it to be known. It's I that don't want it to be known, not for the present, at any rate. But, by hock! if I tell her, she'll blab it all over Ranlingham this afternoon, as sure as eggs. I mustn't." He slammed the door in his wife's face.
"Oh!" she hissed through the keyhole. "How I shall flirt with Captain Yarborough!"
He flung the door open again, caught her by the wrist and dragged her in to the study.
